The Rise of the Descent: Descending to the Risk of Death in Deep Sea Diving

The Rise of the Descent: Descending to the Risk of Death in Deep sea Diving

The government has taken it upon itself to protect its citizens, even if it means from them selves. For instance, the government has come up with protection plans to help those who contemplate suicide, but it is ultimately the persons decision to endanger themselves. Why has the government not decided to intervene in extreme sports such as deep-sea wreck diving as well? This paper explains the history and development of amateur deep-sea wreck diving and why divers were initially drawn to the sport. Divers should be allowed to continue such hazardous activities. It is their own choice to put themselves in harms way. Every diver knows the risks of diving wreck sites in such deep waters. The obsession with prize became an extensive part of the divers nonchalant attitude towards possible death. In the novel Fatal Depth, Joe Haberstroh writes about the lives taken due to accidents in diving the wreck site of the Andria Doria. This paper will argue that divers should be allowed to continue hazardous activities, such as deep-sea wreck diving.

Every diver has been informed of the risks and hazards they are putting themselves in. Some of their most common opponents are "nature, biology, and equipment." ( Kurson 23). The game of deep-sea wreck diving changes when divers get passed 66 feet deep. Their judgment as well as their motor skills can be severely compromised. A condition known as nitrogen narcosis becomes more susceptible to divers the farther they descend into the water. The pressure on land is different than the pressure underwater. Another risk that divers have to face is adjusting to pressure change as the go up and down in the water. The majority of the time the divers spend wreck diving is spent ascending to the boat. Their bodies must adjust to the pressure differences or it could cause a series of different life threatening problems. No matter how experienced the diver all of these things could affect them. Author Robert Kurson explains that "Without an anchor line to clutch, he will also be blown about by currents...a free-floating diver who decompresses for an hour in a current of just two knots will surface more than two miles from the boat. At that distance, he will likely never see the boat, and the boat will likely never see him" (Kurson 28). The dangers that the divers encounter can be affected and altered by the slightest mistake or lack of focus. As a consequence to getting lost in the ocean another factor lies within the ocean itself. Even at the deepest depths divers have to fear sharks. There have been several cases of shark attacks to divers that have drifted away or even while they were in midst of the dive. However, despite these risks many find deep-sea wreck diving worth jeopardizing their lives.

Extreme sports have rapidly become more popular and widely recognized. Adrenaline rush is not the only thing that makes people attracted to deep-sea wreck diving. Deep-sea wreck diving is an extreme sport due to all the dangers divers experience along their journey. Exploring the unknown has always and will forever be something that makes people curious. There are many wrecks that still have not yet been discovered or explored. Famous wreck site like the Titanic, Lusitania, and the Andria Doria have been explored in the most recent years. The government saying that they could not be explored has protected other famous wrecks. Many of the current divers in today's society wreck dive to find out more about the history and of the