NZ is an island country. We love swimming, fishing, sailing and some people enjoy scuba diving. However, nine scuba divers have died in NZ, in the past four months. This is a very sad situation which shows that diving can be dangerous if divers don’t follow safety rules.
Scuba diving has become more popular these days. The weather this summer has been fine and warm so maybe more people have been diving. Scuba divers need to take a dive course before they try diving but even experienced divers can make mistakes. In February 2006, Robert Hewitt, an experienced Navy diver, went missing while diving alone near Wellington but he was found in the water 3 days later. He was in bad shape with the skin peeling off him from the hot sun. He was taken to hospital but recovered later. He now teaches other people about water safety.
The most important rule for divers is to stay with your partner. Divers also need to be fit. Diving is a sport which requires good fitness. It can be very tiring swimming with diving equipment.
Before they get in the water, divers need to check their equipment. While diving, they have to keep an eye on the tank to make sure they have enough air and also check they do not go too deep. They learn that they should carry the catch bag in their hand and not tie it onto the body. It’s easy to drop the bag if they get into trouble. If the diver has trouble getting to the surface of the water, he or she also needs to drop the weight belt.
Vocabulary
• Navy – army on ships
• bad shape (idiom) – a bad condition
• peeling – coming off him
• tiring (adj) – an activity which makes someone tired
• keep an eye on (idiom) – watch carefully
• catch bag – to hold the fish they catch
• surface (n) – the top of the water