How to Adapt to the Underwater World

On the surface, you do your activity (move, see, hear) like normal as you used to do it everyday since you were born in this world. But underwater, you are in a whole different world where seeing, hearing, and staying warm underwater are much different. Water is about 800 times denser than air, which is why light, sound and heat act differently in water. This article will let you know more about the differences so you are able to adapt yourself during your dives.

Seeing and hearing underwater

Human eyes need air to focus so that we have to use a mask. Even though eyes can focus by using a mask, you still have some optical effects as light travels at different speeds in water which magnifies everything 25 percent. This affects things looking larger and closer. Water affects lights in different ways. As you go deeper, you’ve probably noticed that you’ll see less lights. You may want to take an underwater light, which provides unfiltered light and reveals colour. Water also affects sound. Sound travels farther in water than in air, that makes you able to hear things at distances than on the surface. Also sound travels 4x faster in water than in air, this makes it difficult to tell where the sounds come from. Heat Loss underwater

Being cold takes the fun out of diving and makes it less enjoyable. Being too cold can trigger health issues for example asthma, hypothermia. Water cools you much faster than air, that’s why in air 28-30 degree celcius is warm, but in water it becomes chilly. To avoid the potential for health issues if you get too cold, you need to use exposure suits that keep you stay comfortable underwater. The exposure suit has an important role to keep you comfortable to stay underwater as it can slow down the loss of heat. Keep in mind that when you begin to shiver continously, get out of the water, dry off and seek warmth.