Cow and Peacock

Dove Cow last Friday night with TB and KH. Fabulous dive to about 1700' with excellent vis all the way. There did seem to be quite a few small dead fish in the basin though, don't know what that is all about.

Saturday we started in P1 heading up the Peanut Line to Challenge Sink and then OG where we exited. Conditions are excellent right now and will hopefully stay that way. In the afternoon we ran P1 up the mainline through Olsen and around to the Peanut Restriction and out via Peanut.

In all we only passed one other dive team on any of the dives. So the crowds are small, the weather is not too hot, and the visibility is excellent. TB and KH are still diving today :) but I am back at work :(

Yeah, but I didn't get to do any dives this weekend and I *still* have to be back at work today.

BTW, how do TB and KH do on their H drills?

They are both H card ready. Admittedly though, they could use a couple more dives with their Instructor just to be absolutely sure that they are comfortable. Maybe I need to go back!

Guessing the T-drills were OK too.

Sounds like some good dives - glad you had a good time.

Well Sandy, the T drills looked OK to me but I am not a certified Instructor for that specialty as you are. I think they're ready for your scrutiny so next time I'll send them your way for the final checkout :)

Great seeing you guys on Saturday! And the hair was looking mah-va-lous!

I lost my T-card and H-card. I think i have an YXZ card though.
Was great seeing you again Mike. Ended up with major ear infection.
Was to fly back to Switzerland on Sat the 23rd, but due to infection and that reverse block, Dr, said no flying for 5 days. So heading back home on Thursday now.
Kevin ended up with ear infection also, guess was the dead fish thing in Cow that did our ear in :)

ear infections are not caused by external bacteria. they are caused by your normal bodily bacteria getting out of control due to a weakend immune system, trauma (even slight), with inflammation and congestion providing a nice growing environment. Ear Beer? kills the bacteria already in there, dries it out and alters pH thus creating an environment counter to growth. Anyway, it's not dead fish, their decaying bodies or whatever killed them.

However a fish kill-off may indicate a water-quality problem, most likely lack of dissolved oxygen. What uses up oxygen? algae. Notice an increase in algae? I suppose it could be poison from an upstream dump of toxic chemicals, but lack of oxygen in the water is the usual culprit. look at the minnows, are they hovering around the surface, gulping air? That's a sure sign of lack of oxygen in the water. I can also speculate that coming from upstream they may have lingered too long in the cave (where oxygen gets used up pretty quickly and not replaced), and died in there, then were flushed out to the basin. Perhaps higher than normal river water feeding upstream cow swept more than usual number of fish into the cave where they died before making it to the basin.

still, ear infection and dead fish are totally independent events.


skip

Sure, but painful none the less. When TB and I passed through Olsen on the last dive we both had trouble clearing, TB much more so than me. I had quite a headache later that night and was still not feeling 100% Sunday morning so I decided not to dive. I think it was the right decision. Thankfully, no ear infection here.

I'm sorry though TB. H and T cards are not lifetime certs. They must be earned on a regular basis. Because age (and heredity, ask HeloDriver) can have such an adverse affect on one's ability to perform the drills we have to mandate recertification. Next dive we'll try to get you through it again....jeesh! :)

Travel safe my friend!

Thank you Skip, that was informative and clears up some of my own preconceptions of what caused my ear issue after my last dive at Cow.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by skip

ear infections are not caused by external bacteria. they are caused by your normal bodily bacteria getting out of control due to a weakend immune system, trauma (even slight), with inflammation and congestion providing a nice growing environment. Ear Beer? kills the bacteria already in there, dries it out and alters pH thus creating an environment counter to growth. Anyway, it's not dead fish, their decaying bodies or whatever killed them.

However a fish kill-off may indicate a water-quality problem, most likely lack of dissolved oxygen. What uses up oxygen? algae. Notice an increase in algae? I suppose it could be poison from an upstream dump of toxic chemicals, but lack of oxygen in the water is the usual culprit. look at the minnows, are they hovering around the surface, gulping air? That's a sure sign of lack of oxygen in the water. I can also speculate that coming from upstream they may have lingered too long in the cave (where oxygen gets used up pretty quickly and not replaced), and died in there, then were flushed out to the basin. Perhaps higher than normal river water feeding upstream cow swept more than usual number of fish into the cave where they died before making it to the basin.

still, ear infection and dead fish are totally independent events.


skip

---

I dove Cow and Peacock the same weekend as you guys, but in reverse order. No ear infections here, but then, with all the voices in my head, I imagine any other creepy crawlies just git skeered and flee screaming like 8 year old girls ;)

Just the dry gas in tanks, the driving (or flying), the hectic schedule of cave divers on vacation trying to cram in as many dives as possible, the poor eating habits of people on a trip, and more all contribute to reduced immunity and/or creating good environments for bacteria. equalizing ears can drive mucus up the eustachian tube and now with moisture and more than normal amount of bacteria, you can get a middle-ear infection. the outer ear infection (auditory canal) is primarily due to either the ear drum being stretched too much (compared to normal life) too many times and getting inflamed, and the water drying out the auditory canal, causing small cracks that allow great little ecosystems for bacterial growth. Use Ear Beer.

I'm not a doctor, but played one in a grade school play once.

And I've had a lifetime of ear infections, ENT visits, MRI's of ears, and over the years have learned a few things about my own ears. And since I started paying attention to ENT have not had an infection in almost a decade. I have blown the ear drum a few times, but that's a different thing! BTW, some people add a bit of glycerin or baby oil, especially if your ENT has suggested you less than normal ear wax production. 50% rubbing alcohol and 50% of white distilled vinegar, with a touch of oil if you wish..Ear Beer. Also some people add a bit of hydrogen peroxide, but that seems counterproductive to me. that stuff is ok for cleaning waxy build-up out of the canal, but in diving the most likely issue is not enough wax due to water flushing it out and drying the canal. New divers on the other hand, most likely have too much wax and that absorbs water like a sponge. In that case I use pure hydrogen peroxide and a hypodermic to irrigate the canal until the wax comes out, then use Ear Beer.

sorry, didn't mean to go on like that. but i may come down to dive Cow in a couple of weeks and your report got me going! I'll bring a water quality analysis kit and see just what the level of oxygen is and measure a few other things. phosphates, nitrates, and such.

skip

What are H and T drills?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by domidiver

What are H and T drills?

---

Clearly instruction has gone down the tubes if they aren't teaching anything but S drills these days.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Squirrel Girl

Clearly instruction has gone down the tubes if they aren't teaching anything but S drills these days.

---

not all agencies use the same jargon, abbreviations, etc. then again, you didn't actually answer the question - what are H and T drills anyway...and that XYZ thing....?? sometimes i think cave divers speak a foreign language.

skip

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by skip

not all agencies use the same jargon, abbreviations, etc. then again, you didn't actually answer the question - what are H and T drills anyway...and that XYZ thing....?? sometimes i think cave divers speak a foreign language.

skip

---

Of course I didn't answer! That's for Sandy or Mike to answer!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Squirrel Girl

Of course I didn't answer! That's for Sandy or Mike to answer!

---

Well, if you have to ask.............................................:s mt102

H drill details can be found here.

http://www.cavediver.net/forum/showt...cocodrilo+push

T drill details can be found in the latest NACD Journal. Sandy would have to approve further disclosure however.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Arctic Mike

H drill details can be found here.

http://www.cavediver.net/forum/showt...cocodrilo+push

T drill details can be found in the latest NACD Journal. Sandy would have to approve further disclosure however.

---

A post number would be nice :rollguy

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Arctic Mike

H drill details can be found here.

http://www.cavediver.net/forum/showt...cocodrilo+push

T drill details can be found in the latest NACD Journal. Sandy would have to approve further disclosure however.

---

I missed my plane 2nite, but going to see if u can at least keep my man card :) I already lost the T-Card, H-card, and I'm sure she'll be yanking the XYZ-card/
but man-card is safe.

Ouch! That card is not only going to get yanked.....it'll be prominemtly displayed on the living room mantle for some time. :)