Sea scooters are a good way to use, but are they dangerous?
Accessories for your car abound, but what about your boat? On the water, many people dive to enjoy the underwater world. And some divers use underwater sea scooters to move faster in the sea.
Sea scooters are far less bulky than personal watercraft. You don’t sit on a sea scooter, but hold it between your hands while it pulls you through the water. What are the other advantages of sea scooters, are they safe and what models are available?
Why would you need a underwater sea scooter?
Sea scooters, also known as electric kickboard, are useful for new divers who do not yet have enough stamina for constant pedaling underwater. Sea scooters are also helpful vehicles for technical divers who need to carry extra equipment. Although using a sea scooter is faster than swimming the old-fashioned way, even the most powerful sea scooters can only go about 5 mph.
This is because they use the battery and propeller system instead of a motor. Depending on the size of the scooter, the battery can last 60 to 150 hours.
Is underwater sea scooter dangerous?
According to Deeper Blue, underwater sea scooter has some safety risks. These include the negative effects of ascending too quickly from a deep dive or being too far from the dive site or shore.
Getting ‘the bends’ or an arterial gas embolism
One of the biggest risks is moving toward the water’s surface too quickly from a deep dive.
“A rapid rise could cause the onset of decompression sickness (DCS) or an arterial gas embolism (AGE),” the site warns. “The rapid change in pressure could lead to equalization problems, even a broken eardrum. Just pointing the DPV straight up or down could create the same impact.”
DCS is commonly known as “the bends.” The condition causes nitrogen bubbles to form in the blood and body tissue, Merck Manual reports. Mild symptoms include joint and muscle pain.
But in severe cases, “symptoms may be similar to those of stroke or can include numbness, tingling, arm or leg weakness, unsteadiness, vertigo (spinning), difficulty breathing, and chest pain,” Merck explains. This type of DCS can be deadly.
Another danger is getting too far away from the dive site. If a diver is traveling fast on a Sea-Scooter, they can get far away without realizing it, especially underwater. This poses a twofold risk: first, they could get lost. Second, they could be stranded if the scooter runs out of power.
“If you go underwater for half an hour straight from shore on a shore dive, you could be two miles or more from shore,” explains Deeper Blue. “A commonly used rule of thumb is the rule of thirds. Use 1/3 of your DPV power when moving away from the starting point and 1/3 for the way back. The rest is a safety level.”
So while sea scooters can be a handy diving accessory, users should use them responsibly so as not to ascend too quickly or stray too far from the shore or dive site.
What types of sea scooters are there?
Mankeel W7 adopts a new integrated design, light and small appearance, smooth surface, which is in line with the surface of the water, make it move smoothly in the water, also convenient to carry, the diving depth is up to 50m, so you can fully enjoy the diverse underwater scenery. You can move freely in the water world even if you are not a good swimmer.
The long battery life after each full charge is up to 60 minutes, and the fully waterproof IP68 removable battery design is also convenient for replacing the battery or recharging it.
