Deep diving

rdf:langString Deep diving

rdf:langString Deep diving is underwater diving to a depth beyond the norm accepted by the associated community. In some cases this is a prescribed limit established by an authority, while in others it is associated with a level of certification or training, and it may vary depending on whether the diving is recreational, technical or commercial. Nitrogen narcosis becomes a hazard below 30 metres (98 ft) and hypoxic breathing gas is required below 60 metres (200 ft) to lessen the risk of oxygen toxicity. For some recreational diving agencies, "Deep diving", or "Deep diver" may be a certification awarded to divers that have been trained to dive to a specified depth range, generally deeper than 30 metres (98 ft). However, the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) defines anything from 18 to 30 metres (60 to 100 ft) as a "deep dive" in the context of recreational diving (other diving organisations vary), and considers deep diving a form of technical diving. In technical diving, a depth below about 60 metres (200 ft) where hypoxic breathing gas becomes necessary to avoid oxygen toxicity may be considered a deep dive. In professional diving, a depth that requires special equipment, procedures, or advanced training may be considered a deep dive. Deep diving can mean something else in the commercial diving field. For instance early experiments carried out by Comex S.A. (Compagnie maritime d'expertises) using hydrox and trimix attained far greater depths than any recreational technical diving. One example being the Comex Janus IV open-sea dive to 501 metres (1,644 ft) in 1977. The open-sea diving depth record was achieved in 1988 by a team of Comex divers who performed pipeline connection exercises at a depth of 534 metres (1,752 ft) in the Mediterranean Sea as part of the Hydra 8 programme. These divers needed to breathe special gas mixtures because they were exposed to very high ambient pressure (more than 50 times atmospheric pressure). An atmospheric diving suit allows very deep dives of up to 610 metres (2,000 ft). These suits are capable of withstanding the pressure at great depth permitting the diver to remain at normal atmospheric pressure. This eliminates the problems associated with breathing high-pressure gases.