University of Alaska Fairbanks SCHOOL OF FISHERIES AND OCEAN SCIENCES  
School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences About us Contact staff

This page takes advantage of features used by more recent, standards-compliant browsers. If you are seeing this message, your web browser does not support web standards. While the information on this page is accessible to any browser, there are many reasons for upgrading to a compliant browser. You can find links to the most recent versions of popular browsers here. SFOS staff and faculty should contact SFOS Tech Support for upgrading. Questions? E-mail us.

SECTION 7

OTHER DIVING TECHNOLOGY

Certain types of diving, some of which are listed below, require equipment or procedures that require training. Supplementary guidelines for these technologies are in development by the AAUS UA divers using them, must have guidelines established by the UA Diving Control Board. Divers shall comply with all scuba diving procedures in this manual unless specified.

7.10 BLUE WATER DIVING

Blue water diving is defined as diving in open water where the bottom is generally greater than

200 feet deep. It requires special training and the use of multiple-tethered diving techniques.

Specific guidelines that should be followed are outlined in “Blue Water Diving Guidelines”

( California Sea Grant Publ. No. T-CSGCP-014).

7.20 ICE AND POLAR DIVING

Divers planning to dive under ice or in polar conditions should use the following: “Guidelines

for Conduct of Research Diving”, National Science Foundation, Division of Polar Programs,

1990.

7.30 OVERHEAD ENVIRONMENTS

Where an enclosed or confined space is not large enough for two divers, a diver shall be

stationed at the underwater point of entry and an orientation line shall be used.

7.40 HOOKAH

7.41 Divers using the hookah mode shall be equipped with a diver-carried independent reserve breathing gas supply.

7.42 Each hookah diver shall be hose-tended by a separate dive team member while in the water.

7.43 The hookah breathing gas supply shall be sufficient to support all hookah divers in the water for the duration of the planned dive, including decompression.

7.50 SURFACE SUPPLIED DIVING

7.51 Surface supplied divers shall comply with all scuba diving procedures in this manual (except Sec. 2.31). Surface supplied diving shall not be conducted at depths greater than 190 fsw (58 msw).

7.52 Divers using the surface supplied mode shall be equipped with a diver-carried independent reserve breathing gas supply.

7.53 Each surface supplied diver shall be hose tended by a separate dive team member while in the water.

7.54 Divers using the surface supplied mode shall maintain voice communication with the surface tender.

7.55 The surface supplied breathing gas supply shall be sufficient to support all surface supplied divers in the water for the duration of the planned dive, including decompression.

7.56 During surface supplied diving operations when only one diver is in the water, there must be a standby diver in attendance at the dive location.

7.60 CLOSED AND SEMI-CLOSED CIRCUIT SCUBA (REBREATHERS)

Closed and semi-closed circuit scuba (rebreathers) shall meet the following requirements:

7.61 Oxygen partial pressure in the breathing gas shall not exceed values approved by the organizational member's DCB. The generally accepted maximum value is 1.5 atmospheres pO 2 at depths greater than 25 fsw (7.6 msw).

7.62 Chemicals used for the absorption of carbon dioxide shall be kept in a cool, dry location in a sealed container until required for use.

7.63 The designated person-in-charge shall determine that the carbon dioxide absorption canister is used in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.

7.64 Closed and semi-closed diving equipment will not be used at a depth greater than that recommended by the manufacturer of the equipment.