1. Scuba-dooba-doo!
The word SCUBa is an acronym: it stands for Self Contained Underwater Breathing apparatus.

2. Cousteau and cream
The SCUBa apparatus, also known as the aqualung, was invented in 1943 by top TV diver Jacques-Yves Cousteau (ask your mum and dad.)

3. Sexism all at sea
It might surprise you to learn that diving is fairly evenly divided between the sexes: 35% of the members of the British Sub-aqua Club are women.

4. Diving drives me round the bend!
The Bends, or Decompression Sickness, or Caisson Disease is caused by a toxic build up of nitrogen in the body. This occurs as a result of rapidly moving from a low-pressure environment (the Earth’s surface) into a high-pressure environment (the depths of the sea). Recovery from the bends takes place in a hyperbaric chamber, though tissue damage can be permanent. (See Links for details).

5. Those other diving hazards in full
Besides The Bends, divers can also be susceptible to the following ailments: ear squeeze, sinus squeeze, thoracic squeeze, intestinal squeeze, hyperventilation, nitrogen narcosis, mediastinal emphysema, and, most painful of all, chapped skin just at the tops of your legs where your thighs meet.

6. Holy scrap yard, Batman!
There are over a quarter of a million shipwrecks lying off Britain’s coastal waters!

7. International law and order
Under international maritime law, any historic wreck found within twelve miles of a nation state’s coast falls within that state’s jurisdiction. Here in the UK, the government controls and regulates who may visit certain wrecks, and whether or not they may remove or disturb any part of that wreck.

8. Do not disturb
As a result of the Protection of Wrecks act, there are currently 48 wrecks off the UK coast that are designated as protected sites by law. This means that they may not be visited, let alone touched, without the prospective diver receiving a licence from the government department responsible for that wreck. See Links for details on protected historical wrecks, and how to get a licence to visit them.

9. Number one attraction
According to the Diver magazine 100 best wreck dives, the No1 attraction to visit off the UK coast is that of the Salette, a 5842-ton P&O express mail liner which was sunk during World War One by a German U-boat in Lyme Bay on 20th July 1917. See Links for a comprehensive guided tour of the wreck.

10. Minding your ‘p’s and ‘q’s
As at land, so at sea – there are codes of conduct and etiquette which all divers are asked to respect. A guide to Diving With Charm and Discretion can be found at Links. It’s very informative, and very funny, especially the top 10 ‘Things Not To Say To The Skipper’.