Spearfishing Spearfishing Safety and Dive Planning

Question 1

What is the primary cause of death among spearfishers during breath-hold diving?

Accepted Answer

Shallow water blackout

Answer

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?

Accepted Answer

It lowers CO2 without raising O2, masking the urge to breathe

Answer

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?

Accepted Answer

One diver watches while the other dives, never both diving at once

Answer

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?

Accepted Answer

At least twice the dive time

Answer

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?

Accepted Answer

Diver Down flag (red with white diagonal stripe)

Answer

The red-and-white Diver Down flag is the US legal standard to alert boaters that a diver is in the water.

Spearfishing Practice Test

Spearfishing Practice Test

Spearfishing Spearfishing Safety and Dive Planning