monoceros blogsI have about half a dozen entires I should write and an editing job to finish but I couldn't resist putting up a rather interesting post to do with a movie and a sport - deep sea diving.
Open Water was shown at the Sundance Festival earlier this year and it's been getting rave reviews. Comments like "Jaws meets Blair Witch Project" and so on. Some folks didn't like Blair Witch Project, which didn't quite deliver, and Open Water is supposed to.
The movie is loosely based on a true story that involves a married couple on a dive trip. They get accidentally left behind (the bloody boat left without them!) and are literally surrounded by miles of ocean and sharks. The filming process is another story - the budget was so low that the director couldn't afford to have a CGI shark or build a mechanical one. So he packed the actors with anti-shark chain mail, dumped them in the Bahamas, dropped sharkbait in the waters and waited for the sharks to show up. Then he filmed the actors shaking with real fear in the water. The actors weren't insured. They just signed contracts stating that neither party would sue each other.
If you're interested in the true story, which happened in 1998, off the Great Barrier Reef, go here.
Reading this made me a little nervous, especially since my brother, Randy, just returned from a dive trip. He loves diving and my mom and I are always concerned when he goes. I think I'll make him read this article.
I'm not sure I can handle watching the movie. Watching the trailer was enough to make me quake. Go here for the trailer.
I do believe that's a real shark!
yikes!
Posted by: tiggie at April 28, 2004 11:49 AMoh goodness, that's scary!
Posted by: joan at April 28, 2004 8:27 PMYes, it's really scary if u get left behind. That thought DID pass through my mind. That's why it's important to use a good diver operator when going on dive trips. A good dive master, and the lead for the dive should always do a head count before leaving.
For the diver, there are 2 important things to carry: a dive sausage, and a simple whistle. The dive sausage is this long (about 3 ft or more) bright orange balloon. You inflate this when just below or on the surface of the water, so that the boatman can easily pick u out.
On my recent dive trip, I met someone who WAS left behind on one of his dive trips. Sometime ago he went for a night dive. The waves were a little choppy, and being a strong swimmer, he let the other people climb on board first. But before he could climb on board, the boat took off! His dive buddy was on the boat puking away and had assumed he was on the boat!
He did panick, but he decided to fin to the nearby island and sleep on the beach till someone finds him. Luckily, someone actually did a headcount and they went back for him.
I would have expected an incident like this would have put him off diving permanently. But, he's still diving today.
Posted by: Bummer at April 28, 2004 9:25 PMAnyhow, so far the dive trips I've been to in Malaysia don't pack 20+ ppl onto one boat. What's also getting more common these days, are dive masters and dive instructors leading dives. Normally leisure divers are given a briefing on the dive site, eg. where to dive, how deep to go, how long to dive, in which direction the current is flowing, where are the danger spots if any. Then the diver, with his buddy, would then just dive and explore on their own.
BUt these days, I guess Singaporeans/Malaysians are getting spoilt. And dive masters (who are only expected to stay on the boat) and dive instructors are expected to accompany the divers and lead the dive. They become the tour guides underwater. This would let the dive master watch over the divers during the dive and when surfacing.
It sounds like a much better thing when the dive master is involved with the divers. Headcounts are really important...we're talking life and death here! And lawsuits. Dive companies really need to be responsible.
Posted by: Van Heng at April 29, 2004 4:45 PM