#diving

#diving

Naval Divers Take Underwater Graduation PhotoThese men of the Royal Canadian Navy are very committed to their profession. They have just passed the course for Clearance Diver Officer, which is among the most mentally and physically demanding courses that Canada’s armed forces offers to its fighting men. Clearance divers are experts at using explosives to clear waterways of obstacles that obstruct traffic.To celebrate their graduation from this arduous program, the officers sat at the bottom of a pool and posed for their group graduation photo. Hopefully the photographer did not make them sit for too long to get this perfect shot.-via My Modern Met#diving #graduationphotos

Diver Finds 900-Year-Old Crusader SwordCongratulations on finding such a rare item!Shlomi Katzin rocks different poses as he shows off an old Crusader sword that he found during a dive at a beach in Carmel, Israel. Honestly, him discovering the relic during a swim feels like he unlocked a secret side quest or he accidentally opened a rare chest on the sea bed off the Carmel coast.  The sword has a one-meter-long blade and a 30-centimeter hilt. According to Nir Distelfeld, Inspector for the Israel Antiquities Authority’s Robbery Prevention Unit, “it was found encrusted with marine organisms but is apparently made of iron. It is exciting to encounter such a personal object, taking you 900 years back in time to a different era, with knights, armor, and swords.”Image credit: Anastasia Shapiro, Israel Antiquities Authority; Shlomi Katzin#Crusader #Artifact #Sword #Diving #ShlomiKatzin 

Sea Snake "Attacks" are Actually just Amorous Sea Snake Mistaking Scuba Divers for Potential MatesDivers are often approached by olive sea snakes (Aipysurus laevis), which can be a nerve-wracking experience as the snake is highly venomous. The animal is known to swim right up to an unsuspecting diver and even lick them before swimming away.But what could account for such weird animal behavior? Marine biologist Tim Lynch looked at his own diving experience and realized that the key to solving the question of why olive sea snakes are so attracted to divers lie in their sex and eyesight. First, almost all sea snake "attacks" involve male snakes, and second, these snakes don't have the best eyesight.Lynch explained in an interview with TheScientist:If you look at the orientation of divers and their length, and where they are on the reef, they kind of look like super females. . . . We’re a lot bigger than three kilograms, but for a male sea snake, you’d look like the fifty-foot woman. ‘Wow, look at her! She’s fantastic! I’m going to be able to make so many babies with this enormous sea snake!’ And then . . . because you’re kind of the same length and depth ratio as sea snake, it comes over to you. And then it licks you. . . then the male snake will get slightly disappointed and disappear. And then five minutes later, it’ll forget and see you again, and come racing over again, and lick you again, and get disappointed and disappear.Image: Jack Breedon#AnimalMatingRitual #seasnake #oliveseasnake #diving