Biology:Outline of underwater diving

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Short description: Hierarchical outline list of articles related to underwater diving

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to underwater diving:

Two divers wearing lightweight demand helmets stand back-to-back on an underwater platform holding on to the railings. The photo also shows the support vessel above the surface in the background.
Surface-supplied divers riding a stage to the underwater workplace

Underwater diving – as a human activity, is the practice of descending below the water's surface to interact with the environment.

What type of activity is underwater diving?

Underwater diving can be described as all of the following:

  • A human activity – intentional, purposive, conscious and subjectively meaningful sequence of actions. Underwater diving is practiced as part of an occupation, or for recreation, where the practitioner submerges below the surface of the water or other liquid for a period which may range between seconds to the order of a day at a time, either exposed to the ambient pressure or isolated by a pressure resistant suit, to interact with the underwater environment for pleasure, competitive sport, or as a means to reach a work site for profit or in the pursuit of knowledge, and may use no equipment at all, or a wide range of equipment which may include breathing apparatus, environmental protective clothing, aids to vision, communication, propulsion, maneuverability, buoyancy and safety equipment, and tools for the task at hand.

Diving activity, by type

Modes of underwater diving

Surface-supplied diver with helmet, bailout set and umbilcal cable

There are several modes of diving distinguished by the equipment and procedures used:

  • Freediving – Underwater diving without breathing apparatus
  • Scuba diving – Swimming underwater breathing gas carried by the diver
  • Surface-supplied diving – Underwater diving breathing gas supplied from the surface
  • Saturation diving – Diving for periods long enough to bring all tissues into equilibrium with the partial pressures of the inert components of the breathing gas
  • Atmospheric pressure diving – Diving where the diver is isolated from the ambient pressure by an articulated pressure resistant diving suit or in a crewed submersible
  • Unmanned diving – Diving by mechanisms under the direct or indirect control of remote human operators for observation, data collection or manipulation of the environment using on-board actuator devices

Diving skills and procedures

Technical divers at a midwater decompression stop
Divers decompressing in the water at the end of a dive
Divers doing a buddy check
Sidemount diver pushing a cylinder in front
Solo diver surveying dive site. The bailout cylinder can be seen slung at the diver's left side.

Diving procedures – Standardised methods of doing things that are known to work effectively and acceptably safely

  • Ascending and descending (diving) – Procedures for safe ascent and descent in underwater diving
    • Ear clearing – An ascent to the surface by a diver in an emergency
    • Emergency ascent – An ascent to the surface by a diver in an emergency
      • Controlled emergency swimming ascent – A technique used by scuba divers to return to the surface in an out-of-gas emergency in shallow water
      • Controlled buoyant lift – A technique used by scuba divers to raise an incapacitated diver to the surface
  • Boat diving – Procedures specific to diving from boats
    • Canoe and kayak diving – Recreational diving from a canoe or kayak
  • Decompression (diving) – The reduction of ambient pressure on underwater divers after hyperbaric exposure and the elimination of dissolved gases from the diver's tissues
    • Decompression practice – Techniques and procedures for safe decompression of divers
      • Pyle stop – Type of short deep decompression stops in addition to the standard profile
      • Ratio decompression – Rule of thumb for estimating a decompression schedule for a given set of breathing gases
  • Dive log – Record of diving history of an underwater diver
  • Dive planning – The process of planning an underwater diving operation
  • Diver communications – Methods used by underwater divers to communicate
  • Diver navigation – Underwater navigation by scuba divers
  • Diver rescue – Rescue of a distressed or incapacitated diver
  • Diver trim – Balance and orientation skills of an underwater diver
  • Drift diving – Scuba diving where the diver is intentionally transported by the water flow
  • Finning techniques – Techniques used by divers and surface swimmers using swimfins
    • Combat sidestroke – Variation of side-stroke swimming used by United States Navy SEALs
  • Scuba skills – The skills required to dive safely using a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
    • Buddy breathing – Technique for sharing breathing gas from a single mouthpiece
    • Buddy diving – Practice of mutual monitoring and assistance between two divers
      • Buddy check – Pre-dive safety checks carried out by two-diver dive teams
    • Low impact diving – Scuba diving that has minimal environmental effect
    • Penetration diving – Diving under a physical barrier to a direct vertical ascent to the surface
    • Rebreather diving – Underwater diving using self contained breathing gas recycling apparatus
    • Scuba gas management – Logistical aspects of scuba breathing gas.
      • Gas blending for scuba diving – Mixing and filling cylinders with breathing gases for use when scuba diving
      • Rule of thirds (diving) – Rule of thumb for scuba gas management
      • Scuba gas planning – Estimation of breathing gas mixtures and quantities required for a planned dive profile
    • Sidemount diving – Diving using an equipment configuration where the scuba sets are clipped to the sides of the harness
    • Solo diving – Recreational diving without a dive buddy
  • Surface-supplied diving skills – Skills and procedures required for the safe operation and use of surface-supplied diving equipment
  • Underwater searches – Techniques for finding underwater targets

Underwater diving, by environment

Ice Diving – View from the top

Underwater diving environment – The underwater environment to which a diver may be exposed

  • List of diving environments by type – The variety of environments that people may dive in
  • Open-water diving – Diving in unrestricted water when the diver has unrestricted vertical access to the surface
  • Altitude diving – Underwater diving at altitudes above 300 m
  • Cave diving – Underwater diving in water-filled caves
  • Deep diving – Underwater diving to a depth beyond the norm accepted by the associated community
  • Ice diving – Underwater diving under ice
  • Muck diving – Recreational diving on a loose sedimentary bottom
  • Night diving – Underwater diving during the hours of darkness
  • Recreational dive sites – Specific places that recreational divers go to enjoy the underwater environment or are used for training purposes
  • Underwater environment – The aquatic or submarine environment
  • Wreck diving – Recreational diving on wrecks

Occupational diving

Diver wearing a diving helmet is welding a repair patch on a submarine
Underwater welding.
NAUI Nitrox diver certification card
Pearl diver in Japan
Nesconset fire department scuba rescue team on training exercise
Salvaging a ship's propeller
Diver wearing a diving helmet is sanding a repair patch on a submarine
A diver at work on hull maintenance
Sponge diver putting on his diving suit in Tarpon Springs, Florida.

Professional diving, also known as Occupational diving – Underwater diving where divers are paid for their work, or dive as part of their occupation

  • Ama – Japanese pearl divers
  • Aquarium diving – Occupational diving in large aquariums
  • Commercial diving – Professional diving on industrial projects
    • Commercial offshore diving – Professional diving in support of the oil and gas industry
    • Hyperbaric welding – Welding metal at elevated pressure
    • Nondestructive testing – Evaluating the properties of a material, component, or system without causing damage
  • Dive leader – Recreational diving certification and role
  • Diver training – Processes by which people develop the skills and knowledge to dive safely underwater
    • Diving instructor – Person who trains and assesses underwater divers
    • Diving school – Establishment for training and assessing underwater divers – A venue for training underwater divers
    • Occupational diver training – Processes by which people develop the skills and knowledge to dive safely for diving at work
      • Commercial diver training – Processes by which people develop the skills and knowledge to dive safely for industrial applications
      • Military diver training – Training of underwater divers for service in the armed forces – Processes by which people develop the skills and knowledge to dive effectively for military applications
      • Public safety diver training – Training divers for public safety services – Processes by which people develop the skills and knowledge to dive safely for public safety purposes
      • Scientific diver training – Training divers who will be doing scientific work underwater – Processes by which people develop the skills and knowledge to dive safely for scientific projects
    • Recreational diver training – Processes by which people develop the skills and knowledge to dive safely for recreational purposes
      • Technical diver training – Processes by which people develop the skills and knowledge to dive safely for recreational technical diving
    • Diver certification – Certification as competent to dive to a specified standard
      • List of diver certification organizations – Agencies which issue certification for competence in diving skills
    • Diamond Reef System – System for training divers in buoyancy, trim and maneuvering skills
  • Divemaster, also known as Dive guide – Recreational dive leader certification and role
  • Diving contractor – The legal persona responsible for professional diving operations for a client – A legal entity responsible for professional diving work
  • Haenyeo – Female occupational divers in the Korean province of Jeju
  • Hazmat diving – Underwater diving in a known hazardous materials environment
  • Media diving – Underwater diving in support of the media industries
  • Military diving – Underwater diving in a military context by members of an armed force
    • Defense against swimmer incursions – Methods of protection against incursions by underwater divers and swimmers
    • Army engineer diver – Members of national armies who are trained to undertake reconnaissance, demolition, and salvage tasks underwater
    • Clearance diver – Navy diver specialist with explosives
    • List of military diving units – List of links to articles on notable military diving units
      • Army Ranger Wing – Special operations force of the Irish Defence Forces
      • British commando frogmen – Special Boat Service, whose members are drawn largely from the Royal Marines
      • Canadian Armed Forces Divers – Underwater divers employed by any of the Canadian armed forces
      • Clearance Diving Branch (RAN) – Diving unit of the Royal Australian Navy
      • Comando Raggruppamento Subacquei e Incursori Teseo Tesei – Italian special forces diving unit
      • Commandos Marine – Special operations forces of the French Navy
      • Commandos Marine § Commando Hubert – Special operations forces of the French Navy – Unit with combat swimmers.
      • Decima Flottiglia MAS – Italian naval commando frogman unit of the Fascist era
      • Frogman – Tactical scuba diver
      • GRUMEC, also known as Brazilian commando frogmen – Brazilian Navy special forces diving unit
      • Kommando Spezialkräfte Marine – German postwar commando amphibious warfare force
      • KOPASKA – Indonesian Navy special operations and demolition unit
      • Marine Commandos – Special operations group of the Lebanese Navy
      • Minedykkerkommandoen – Norwegian Navy clearance diver unit
      • Minentaucher – Mine clearance divers of the German Navy
      • PASKAL – Special operations force of the Royal Malaysian Navy
      • Naval Service Diving Section – Diving unit of the Irish Naval Service
      • Naval Special Warfare Command – Special operations force within the Military of Thailand
      • Röjdykare – Clearance divers of the Swedish Navy
      • Russian commando frogmen – Tactical scuba diving unit
      • Shayetet 13 – Special operations unit of the Israeli Navy
      • Special Boat Service – British special forces unit of the Royal Navy
      • Special Service Group – Pakistan Navy special operations force
      • Taifib – Indonesian amphibious reconnaissance unit
      • Underwater Defence – Special operations unit of the Turkish Navy
      • Underwater Demolition Command – Special warfare unit of the Greek Navy
      • Underwater Offence – Special operations Forces of the Turkish Navy
      • United States military divers – Underwater divers employed by the US armed forces, including navy, army, marine corps, air force and coast guard
        • Master diver – Senior diver rating in US Navy
        • Navy diver – US Navy personnel qualified in underwater diving and salvage
        • Explosive ordnance disposal – US Navy personnel who render safe or detonate unexploded ordnance
        • Underwater Demolition Team – US Navy special operations group
        • United States Marine Corps Combatant Diver Course – Military diver training for the US Marines
        • United States Navy SEALs – US Navy special operations force
          • List of United States Navy SEALs – Notable current and former members of the United States Navy SEALs and Underwater Demolition Teams
          • United States Navy SEAL selection and training – Selection and training procedures and criteria
          • National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum – Museum recording the history of US Navy UDT and SEAL teams and their members
    • Underwater warfare – One of the three operational areas of naval warfare
  • Nuclear diving – Diving in an environment where there is a risk of exposure to radioactive materials
  • Pearl hunting – Collecting pearls from wild molluscs
  • Public safety diving – Underwater work done by law enforcement, rescue and search and recovery teams
    • Police diving – A branch of professional diving carried out by police services
      • Special Duties Unit – Hong Kong Police tactical unit
  • Salvage diving – Diving work associated with the recovery of vehicles, cargo and structures
  • Scientific diving – Use of diving techniques in the pursuit of scientific knowledge
  • Ships husbandry diving – Diving related to the maintenance and upkeep of ships
  • Sponge diving – Diving to gather natural sponges
  • Underwater archaeology – Archaeological techniques practiced at underwater sites
  • Underwater demolition – The deliberate destruction or neutralization of man-made or natural underwater obstacles
  • Underwater photography – Genre of photography
  • Underwater search and recovery – Locating and recovering underwater objects
  • Underwater videography – Branch of electronic underwater photography concerned with capturing moving images

Recreational diving

Diver returning from a 600 ft (183 m) technical dive
Two underwater hockey players competing for the puck
Underwater photographer
Divers on the wreck of the Zenobia

Recreational diving – Diving for the purpose of leisure and enjoyment, usually when using scuba equipment

  • Technical diving – Extended scope recreational diving
    • Cave diving – Underwater diving in water-filled caves
    • Doing It Right – Technical diving safety philosophy
  • Shark tourism – Tourism industry based on viewing sharks in their natural habitat
    • Shark cage diving – Diving inside a protective cage to observe sharks in the wild
      • Shark-proof cage – A metal structure to protect divers and snorkellers from potentially dangerous sharks
      • Shark baiting – Attracting sharks by chumming the water
  • Underwater photography – Genre of photography
  • Underwater sports – Competitive underwater recreational activities
    • Aquathlon – Competitive underwater wrestling
    • Competitive apnea – Competitive breathhold diving
      • Constant weight apnea – Freediving discipline in which the diver descends and ascends only by swimming with the use of fins
      • Constant weight without fins – Freediving discipline
      • Dynamic apnea – Freediving disciplines where the breath-hold diver swims horizontally under water with or without fins
      • Free immersion apnea – Freediving discipline in which no propulsion equipment is used, but pulling on the rope during descent and ascent is permitted
      • No-limits apnea – Freediving discipline in which the diver descends and ascends using their method of choice
      • Variable weight apnea – Deep freediving using a weighted sled for descent, pulling along the depth rope for ascent
      • Static apnea – Discipline in which the diver holds their breath underwater for as long as possible, and does not need to swim any distance
      • Skandalopetra diving – Freediving using a stone weight at the end of a rope to the surface
    • Finswimming – Competitive watersport using swimfins for propulsion
      • 2016 Finswimming World Championships – International competition in Volos, Greece
      • 2018 Finswimming World Championships – International competition in Belgrade, Serbia
      • Apnea finswimming – Underwater swimming in a swimming pool using mask, monofin and holding one's breath.
      • Finswimming at the 2009 Asian Indoor Games – Competition held in Mỹ Đình National Aquatics Sports Complex, Hanoi, Vietnam
      • Immersion finswimming – Underwater swimming using mask, monofin and underwater breathing apparatus in a swimming pool
    • Spearfishing – Hunting for fish using a spear
    • Sport diving – Underwater sport using recreational open circuit scuba equipment in a swimming pool
    • Underwater football – Underwater team sport using snorkeling equipment and an American football
    • Underwater hockey – Underwater sport of pushing a puck into the opposing goal
    • Underwater ice hockey – Variant of ice hockey played upside-down underneath frozen pools or ponds on breath-hold
    • Underwater orienteering – Underwater compass navigation and speed competition on scuba.
    • Underwater photography – Competitive underwater digital photography on scuba
    • Underwater rugby – Game where two teams try to score a negatively buoyant ball into the opponents’ goal at the bottom of a swimming pool on breath-hold
    • Underwater target shooting – Breathhold underwater sport of target shooting with a speargun in a swimming pool.
  • Wreck diving – Recreational diving on wrecks

Diving and support equipment, tools and weapons

Small high-pressure breathing air compressor
A small scuba filling and blending station supplied by a compressor and storage bank
Hydrospace Explorer Trimix and rebreather dive computer. Suunto Mosquito with aftermarket strap and iDive DAN recreational dive computers
Three representative wrist-mount dive computers
International code flag Alpha indicates that a diver is underwater nearby
A closed bell used for saturation diving
Lifting bag used to move a heavy object underwater
The Newtsuit atmospheric diving suit
US Navy Diver using Kirby Morgan 37 diving helmet
Helmeted diver entering the water. He has a back mounted Draeger DM40 rebreather system in addition to the surface supply air hose
Scuba diver with bifocal lenses in half mask
A diver wearing an Ocean Reef full face mask
U.S. Navy divers in dry suits prepare to dive
Two men operating a rotary diver's air pump

Diving equipment

Diving equipment

Autonomous underwater vehicles

Autonomous underwater vehicle

Breathing gas

Breathing gas

Decompression equipment

Decompression equipment

Diver propulsion vehicles

Diver propulsion vehicle

Diving safety equipment

Historical diving equipment

Rebreathers

Rebreather

Remotely operated underwater vehicles

Remotely operated underwater vehicle

Underwater breathing apparatus

Underwater breathing apparatus

Diving support equipment

Underwater work tools and equipment

Soviet SPP-1 underwater pistol
Airlift dredging
ROV at work in an underwater oil and gas field. The ROV is operating a subsea torque tool (wrench) on a valve on the subsea structure.

Underwater work tools and equipment – Tools and equipment used for underwater work

Underwater weapons

Underwater weapons – Weapons that are intended for use underwater

Science of underwater diving

Physics of underwater diving

Views through a flat mask, above and below water

Physics of underwater diving

The diving environment

Plunging breaker
Lago Licancabur, site of world's highest ever altitude dive.
Entrance to Peacock Springs Cave System

Underwater diving environment

Physiology of underwater diving

Diagram of the human circulatory system
Decompression profiles based on the Thermodynamic model compared with the US Navy table for the same depth and bottom time
Diagram of the human respiratory system


Diving medicine, disorders and treatment

Oxygen therapy in a multiplace hyperbaric chamber is often delivered via built in breathing systems.
Monoplace chambers can be used for hyperbaric oxygen therapy if the patient is stable

Diving medicine

Diving disorders and treatment

Mask squeeze - a mild form of barotrauma
Staged image showing how victims may black out quietly underwater, often going unnoticed.


Diving safety related articles

A dive team listens to a safety brief from their dive supervisor
Early testing for oxygen toxicity in divers
Tags in place in a powerplant after it was shut down
Folding lockout hasp, allowing six padlocks to lock out one device.
Checklists reduce the risk of omitting a step in a procedure

Diving safety

Notable diving incidents rescues and fatalities

The decompression chamber at the moment the Byford Dolphin accident occurred. D1–D4 are divers; T1 and T2 are dive tenders.
  • Early diving incidents
    • Ebenezer Watson – nephew of Charles Spalding and died in the same accident
  • Freediving incidents
  • Professional diving incidents

Legal aspects of diving

 – how underwater diving and divers are affected by law

Geography of diving

Main page: Biology:Outline of recreational dive sites

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History of underwater diving

Siebe's improved design in 1873.


Frogman operations

Italian Maiale manned torpedo "Siluro San Bartolomeo" displayed at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Gosport, UK.


Notable underwater salvage operations

Salvage of Royal George
  • HMS Royal George (1756)#Salvage attempts – Early salvage operation using bells and surface supplied divers
  • SS Egypt#Salvage – Salvage of gold bullion from wreck using an armoured observation bell
  • Kursk submarine disaster#Salvage operation – Raising the wreck of a Russian nuclear submarine
  • USS Squalus represented by USS Sailfish (SS-192)#Sinking of Squalus and recommissioning as Sailfish – The successful rescue of the crew and later raising of the sunken vessel.

Diver training, certification, registration and standards

Commercial diver training at Blue Rock Quarry

Diver training

    • Autonomous diver – International minimum standard for entry level recreational scuba diver certification
    • Supervised diver – Minimum requirements for a recreational diver to dive in open water under direct supervision
    • Introductory diving – Non-certification scuba diving experience

Diver certification organisations

  • Occupational diver certification authorities
  • Recreational diver certification agencies
    • Freediver certification agencies
    • Recreational scuba certification agencies
      • CEDIP members
        • European Underwater Federation certification
      • WRSTC and RSTC members
    • Technical diver certification agencies
      • Cave diving certification agencies
  • Scientific diver certification authorities

Organisations setting international standards and codes of practice for diving and diver training

Commercial diving schools

Underwater diving organisations

Diver membership organisations

Diver membership organisations

  • Freediver federations
  • Recreational and technical scuba clubs and associations
    • Military services recreational diving organisations
  • Scientific, archaeological and historical diving organisations
  • National underwater-sports federations
  • International underwater-sports federations

Diver nature conservation organisations

  • Organization:Green Fins – Organisation in South East Asia for preservation of coral reefs by improving diver behavior

Diving industry trade associations

Underwater environmental research organisations

Diving medical research organisations

Underwater diving publications

Books and manuals

Legislation

Codes of practice

(National or international codes of practice for diving)

Standards

(National or international standards relating to diving equipment or practices)

Breathing apparatus Swim fins

Swim fin sole showing compliance with German standard DIN 7876:1980
  • DIN 7876:1980 Tauchzubehör. Schwimmflossen. Maße, Anforderungen und Prüfung. Diving accessories for skin divers. Flippers. Dimensions, requirements and testing.
  • BN-82/8444-17.02 Gumowy sprzęt pływacki - Płetwy pływackie (Rubber swimming equipment - Swimming fins).
GOST 20568:1975 compliant Russian and Ukrainian diving masks

Diving masks

A range of 1970s snorkels made to British Standard BS 4532:1969

Snorkels Buoyancy compensators Wet suits Dry suits Depth gauges Diver training Recreational diving practices

Journals and magazines

Repositories

Recreational dive site guides

Notable dive site guides with Wikipedia article.

Authors of publications about diving

Bob Halstead

Authors of general non-fiction works on diving topics who are the subjects of Wikipedia articles.

Documentaries

Documentary movies focused on underwater diving.

Underwater diving in popular culture

Movies, novels, TV series and shows, comics, graphic art, sculpture, games, myths, legends, and misconceptions. Fiction in general relating to all forms of diving, including hypothetical and imaginary methods, and other aspects of underwater diving which have become part of popular culture.


Researchers in diving medicine and physiology

John Scott Haldane c. 1910
Paul Bert

Underwater divers

  • Outline of underwater divers – Hierarchical outline list of biographical articles about underwater divers
  • Index of underwater divers – Alphabetical listing of articles about underwater divers

Pioneers of diving

Jacques Cousteau
  • James F. Cahill – American scuba diving pioneer
  • Alphonse and Théodore Carmagnolle – French inventors of the first anthropomorphic armoured diving suit
  • Charles Condert – Inventor of an unsuccessful early scuba system
  • Jacques Cousteau – Inventor of scuba-diving apparatus and film-maker
  • Charles Anthony Deane – Pioneering diving engineer and inventor of a surface supplied diving helmet
  • Guglielmo de Lorena – Italian inventor of a diving bell used for archaeological work on the Roman ships of lake Nemi
  • Auguste Denayrouze – French inventor of a demand air supply regulator for underwater diving
  • Frédéric Dumas – French pioneer of scuba diving
  • Ted Eldred – Australian inventor of the single hose diving regulator
  • Maurice Fernez – French inventor and pioneer in underwater breathing apparatus
  • Émile Gagnan – French engineer and co-inventor of the open circuit demand scuba regulator
  • Bret Gilliam – Pioneering technical diver and author.
  • Edmond Halley – English astronomer, geophysicist, mathematician, meteorologist, and physicist
  • Hans Hass – Austrian biologist, film-maker, and underwater diving pioneer
  • Stig Insulán – Inventor of an adjustable automatic exhaust valve for variable volume dry suits
  • Jim Jarret – Diver who test dived the first successful atmospheric diving suits
  • Yves Le Prieur – French naval officer and inventor of a free-flow scuba system
  • John Lethbridge – English wool merchant who invented a diving machine in 1715
  • William Hogarth Main – Cave diver and scuba configuration experimentalist
  • Phil Nuytten – Canadian deep-ocean explorer, scientist, and inventor of the Newtsuit
  • Joseph Salim Peress – pioneering British diving engineer
  • Benoît Rouquayrol – French inventor of an early diving demand regulator
  • Dick Rutkowski – American pioneer in hyperbaric and diving medicine and use of mixed breathing gases for diving
  • Joe Savoie – Inventor of the neck dam for lightweight helmets
  • Augustus Siebe – German-born British engineer mostly known for his contributions to diving equipment
  • Charles Spalding – Scottish confectioner and amateur diving bell designer
  • Robert Sténuit – Belgian journalist, writer, underwater archeologist and the first aquanaut.
  • Arne Zetterström – Diver involved in experimental work with Hydrox breathing gas

Underwater art and artists

Christ of the Abyss at San Fruttuoso, Liguria
  • Jason deCaires Taylor – British sculptor and creator of the world's first underwater sculpture park
  • Christ of the Abyss – Submerged statue of Jesus Christ

Miscellaneous

Awards and events

See also

References

External links