Location: Isle Fouche
This morning, we woke up ready to take on another day of rescue diving. After breakfast, we had a quick oceanography class, during which Heather gave us an overview of marine adaptations, estuaries and lagoons, and the laws of the sea, among other things. After oceanography, we were told we had leadership. As we sat in the saloon eagerly awaiting another fantastic class by drew, we were instead greeted by screams. We rushed on deck to Heather unconscious and potentially electrocuted, and a very upset Drew. Don’t worry. It was all an EFR scenario, and we proved to be well-equipped to handle it. After two of these high-stress, intense scenarios, thanks to the phenomenal acting skills of Drew and Heather (but really Drew), we successfully reacted to an emergency situation. After today, all ten of us are officially emergency first responders. We had a small break after the scenarios before lunch and got to rest a bit before another busy afternoon. Post lunch, there was a potential shark spotting! Many of us leaped from the boat with our masks in hand, ready to see a shark up close and personal. As it turns out, some people may easily confuse a shark with a barracuda. Once it had been confirmed there was no shark in the water, we were ready to begin our dive briefing. Heather and Meg walked us through the patterns we may use to search underwater, from the U to the square and even a circle. We practiced with our compasses on deck before grabbing our kits and heading under. While under, we practiced using the patterns to find weights that had been placed along the seafloor. After we all felt comfortable with this skill, we moved on to ascending with an unconscious diver. With each passing day, we become more competent in the water, and it is so cool to see all of the rescue skills we have been learning come together. Once we wrapped up with today’s rescue training, we had time to boat shower and rest before dinner.
We are looking forward to another day of rescue and a potential boom swing tomorrow!