There were a couple of articles in the news today about dead scuba divers, which I'm not going to share here. A novice diver in Australia apparently became "separated" from her group and drowned, and the body of a male Scuba diver missing for two years was pulled out of some lake.
What does this teach us:
1. Do not go anywhere without a buddy! Work together with your buddy so you know what to do in case of emergencies and don't panic. Panic kills.
The problem is of course when you're travelling alone - like on a dive boat - and have no buddy you know, but are assigned one. Do you really want to ruin your trip and not dive because the buddy you've been assigned is no good? What's needed, I think, is a buddy finder. Somebody going on a trip to some prime dive sight, there should be a list of experienced scuba divers at that site who will buddy up with the traveller - for nothing. (After all, he or she is getting to dive!)
2. Beware of pitfalls. The most common problem with scuba divers is running out of air. Always have a "pony" (spare air) and always be aware of your air.
3. Never, ever, ever explore a cavern or cave or wreck without proper equipment. It is very very VERY easy to become lost in these things, and if you have no guide rope to take you out...you are out of luck. Or if your gear gets hug up on some kind of protuberance, and you have no buddy, you have no way of getting your gear free. (Which is why you want to be very careful of lose gear when you're going into a wreck, not to mention avoiding any protuberances from the wreck itself.)
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