Spearfishing Spearfishing Safety and Dive Planning 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary cause of death among spearfishers during breath-hold diving?
- Shark attacks
- Shallow water blackout (Correct answer)
- Decompression sickness
- Equipment failure
Correct answer: Shallow water blackout
Shallow water blackout, caused by hypoxia during ascent after hyperventilation, is the leading cause of death among breath-hold spearfishers.
Question 2: Why should spearfishers never hyperventilate before a dive?
- It wastes energy
- It lowers CO2 without raising O2, masking the urge to breathe (Correct answer)
- It increases buoyancy
- It causes ear pain
Correct answer: It lowers CO2 without raising O2, masking the urge to breathe
Hyperventilation reduces CO2 (the trigger to breathe) without meaningfully increasing O2, so a diver may black out before feeling the need to surface.
Question 3: What is the recommended buddy system rule for spearfishing?
- One diver watches while the other dives, never both diving at once (Correct answer)
- Both divers descend together
- Buddy stays on the boat
- Buddies dive independently and meet at the surface
Correct answer: One diver watches while the other dives, never both diving at once
One-up, one-down means one diver is always at the surface watching the other, enabling immediate rescue if blackout occurs.
Question 4: What minimum surface interval is commonly recommended between consecutive breath-hold dives to reduce blackout risk?
- 10 seconds
- 30 seconds
- At least twice the dive time (Correct answer)
- 5 minutes
Correct answer: At least twice the dive time
Resting at the surface for at least twice the duration of the dive allows CO2 and O2 levels to normalize before the next descent.
Question 5: Which flag must US spearfishers display to warn boaters of a diver below?
- Alpha flag (blue and white)
- Diver Down flag (red with white diagonal stripe) (Correct answer)
- Orange distress flag
- Green dive flag
Correct answer: Diver Down flag (red with white diagonal stripe)
The red-and-white Diver Down flag is the US legal standard to alert boaters that a diver is in the water.
Question 6: What is a critical pre-dive safety check specifically related to a loaded speargun?
- Test the reel drag
- Ensure the safety is engaged and the gun is pointed in a safe direction (Correct answer)
- Check buoyancy compensator inflation
- Verify tank pressure
Correct answer: Ensure the safety is engaged and the gun is pointed in a safe direction
A loaded speargun should always have its safety engaged and be pointed away from people until the diver is ready to shoot.
Spearfishing Spearfishing Safety and Dive Planning 1
What is the primary cause of death among spearfishers during breath-hold diving?