How long can you hold your breath under water?  Humans can go without breathing for about 2-4 minutes.  Seals can hold their breath for about 90 minutes, and some turtles can stay underwater for about 10 hours.

Why can the seals hold their breath for 90 minutes and still stay alert and hunt?  Scientist have found that certain animals–including dolphins, whales and sea otters–appear to be protected …

I was recently reading this month’s edition of Scuba Diving Magazine.  As I turned to the Lessons for Life article, I was surprised to read it was about driving safety instead of scuba safety. 

As a safety consultant and trainer, I am always talking about safety both at and away from work.  The BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) states today most employees …

Scuba divers, snorkelers and swimmers should be aware that one of the major causes of death on, under or about the water is a heart attack.  Many people are afraid to perform CPR for a few reasons.  One of the most common reasons given is having to do mouth-to-mouth  breathing.  New research suggest this may not be necessary. 

Chest Compressions, Not Mouth-to Mouth, Best For Heart …

Like this picture?  It might not be here for long.

How many of you have heard of the “Red List?”  I recently became aware of The World Conservation Union’s Red List of Threatened Species.  Why should we as divers, snorkelers, swimmers or water enthusiast be aware?  Here is the reason:

First appearance of corals on the IUCN Red List

Corals have been assessed and added to the IUCN Red List for the very first time. …

Three(3) new baby Gentoo Penquins have been born at Shedd Aquirium.  The penquins are doing well as reported in the Chicago Tribune.  Shedd Aquarium has been successful in breeding a variety of different marine animals including Bella the baby Belgua whale.

Snuba is a cross between snorkeling and scuba diving and gaining popularity in Hawaii.  Snuba allows you to be and breath underwater without having to be certified for scuba diving.  With snuba you breathe through mouthpiece that is connected to a hose that is attached to a scuba air tank.  The air tank sits on a raft that floats on the water above you.  The airline is 20 feet long, so you …

Coral disease outbreaks have struck the healthiest sections of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, where for the first time researchers have conclusively linked disease severity and ocean temperature. Close living quarters among coral may make it easy for infection to spread, researchers have found.

“With this study, speculation about the impacts of global warming on the spread of infectious diseases among susceptible marine species has been …

A lethal fish virus in the Great Lakes and neighboring waterways is approaching epidemic proportions, according to Paul Bowser, Cornell University professor of aquatic animal medicine in the College of Veterinary Medicine. The viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus (VHSV), which causes anemia and hemorrhaging in fish, has now been identified in 19 species, according to a May 18 announcement by the university.

Millions of dead freshwater drum formed windrows of carcasses along the beaches of Lake Erie in 2006, all victims of VHSV. Three new fish kills have occurred in 2007 in New York waters since the virus was identified in the Great Lakes Basin in 2005. This month the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources made a presumptive identification of the virus for the first time in the Lake Winnebago chain of inland lakes about 25 miles south of Green Bay on Lake Michigan; confirmation is pending.

Researchers Call for Worldwide Public Warning of Mercury Contamination in Fish

The health risks posed by mercury contaminated fish is sufficient to warrant issuing a worldwide general warning to the public — especially children and women of childbearing age — to be careful about how much and which fish they eat. That is one of the key findings comprising “The Madison Declaration on Mercury Pollution” published on March 8 in a special issue of the international science journal Ambio.

Developed at the Eighth International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant last August in Madison, Wis., the declaration is a synopsis of the latest scientific knowledge about the danger posed by mercury pollution. It presents 33 principal findings from five synthesis papers prepared by the world’s leading mercury scientists and published in the same issue of Ambio. The declaration and supporting papers summarize what is currently known about the sources and movement of mercury in the atmosphere, the socioeconomic and health effects of mercury pollution on human populations, and its effects on the world’s fisheries and wildlife.

Five other major findings in the declaration were:

On average, three times more mercury is falling from the sky today than before the Industrial Revolution 200 years ago as a result of the increasing use of mercury and industrial emissions.
The uncontrolled use of mercury in small-scale gold mining is contaminating thousands of sites around the world, posing long-term health risks to an estimated 50 million inhabitants of mining regions. These activities alone contribute more than 10 percent of the mercury in Earth’s atmosphere attributable to human activities today.
Little is known about the behavior of mercury in marine ecosystems and methylmercury in marine fish, the ingestion of which is the primary way most people at all levels of society worldwide are exposed to this highly toxic form of mercury.
Methylmercury exposure now constitutes a public health problem in most regions of the world.
Methylmercury levels in fish-eating birds and mammals in some parts of the world are reaching toxic levels, which may lead to population declines in these species and possibly in fish populations as well.

“The policy implications of these findings are clear,” said James Wiener, a Wisconsin Distinguished Professor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse who served as technical chair for last summer’s conference. “The declaration and detailed analyses presented in the five supporting papers clearly show that effective national and international policies are needed to combat this global problem.”

I recently came across a new gadget that would be of benefit to ALL travelers.  Hydro-Photon has created the Steripen which purifies water using ultraviolet light.  Divers often travel to areas where bottled water is required.  The Steripen will kill almost all bacteria and viruses and many waterborne microbes.  If you do a lot of traveling, this might be something you want to …