The Bends, plus little known facts about Red Lobster!

Hello everyone!

The previous night's homework gave us a new perspective on the field of diving as we entered the classroom. For homework we had been assigned to read about decompression sickness and an article about the lucrative $25 million lobster business. The reading touched base on the fact that almost all the Miskito Indian divers of Nicaragua that supply lobster for big name companies, like Red Lobster, are seriously harming themselves in doing so (up to two thirds become paralyzed and many even die). Supplied with faulty equipment that lacks the proper gauges to measure depth and oxygen levels, these divers are subjecting themselves to decompression sickness, otherwise known as the “Bends.” 

A Miskito diver stricken with the Bends checks into a local clinic (Photo courtesy of DAN Magazine)

Decompression sickness occurs when a scuba diver resurfaces too quickly from a deep dive causing nitrogen bubbles to form in the bloodstream, which can paralyze victims and is often lethal. Other factors that lead to more unnecessary death include the lack of decompression chambers and the depth and frequency at which these poor men dive, going on 20 separate dives per day at over 130 feet. This is very problematic because it leaves young men paralyzed and burdensome to their families. We found that this was eye-opening because thousands of Americans will go to restaurants to eat lobster not knowing who died catching it for them. 

Red Lobster is where many of the Miskito-harvested lobsters end up.

After learning about the wrong way to dive, we spent time discussing how we would go about diving. We were handed out dive charts, and learned how to calculate pressure levels and figure out how much time we could spend underwater at certain depths and how long we would have to wait before diving again that day. Interestingly, it is actually unsafe to dive and then board a plane on the same day or the day after the dive because of the pressure differences. 

Aside from this, we started the morning off with a Bird/fish ID quiz where we had to recall 52 bird and fish names off the top of our heads. The winners were awarded scented pencils, which Mrs. Becker called 'smencils!' We also spent time learning about the Queen Conch of the Caribbean. Celebrated for their history of utility for humans, conchs are known for their beautiful shells, the sound they make when blown through like an instrument, and their great taste in dishes like conch chowder. The conch is so central to the culture of the region that residents of the Florida Keys refer to themselves as Conchs. Like other marine creatures we’ve learned about, conch populations have taken tolls from overfishing and overexploitation, but are under protection in many Caribbean countries. 

To end the day, we learned about the science of tides and how the Moon affects them. We watched a video about surfer dudes catching some sweet surf on rivers as the wave-like tidal bore came in. Finally, we used some software to learn about how tides affected different places on Earth. We tracked the high and low tides over the cycle of the Moon phases in certain locations including Eleuthera, where we will be flying to on Monday. 

Until next time, 

Michael and Matt