thumb|Diver at the wreck of the [[Hilma Hooker, Netherlands Antilles.]]

Wreck diving is recreational diving where the wreckage of ships, aircraft and other artificial structures are explored. The term is used mainly by recreational and technical divers. Professional divers, when diving on a shipwreck, generally refer to the specific task, such as salvage work, accident investigation or archaeological survey. Although most wreck dive sites are at shipwrecks, there is an increasing trend to scuttle retired ships to create artificial reef sites. Diving to crashed aircraft can also be considered wreck diving.

Reasons for diving wrecks

A shipwreck may be attractive to divers for several reasons:

  • it serves as an artificial reef, which creates a habitat for many types of marine life This allows for 1/3 of the gas down and into the wreck, 1/3 for exit and ascent and 1/3 reserve. In dives where decompression stops are required, this may not be sufficient. In addition, because of the potential fragility of the wreck, the likelihood of disturbing sediments or disturbing the many marine animals that take advantage of the artificial habitat offered by the wreck, extra care is required when moving and finning. Many divers are taught to use alternative finning methods such as frog kick or modified flutter kick which direct the thrust of the fins away from the bottom where most of the silt is likely to deposit. Good buoyancy control is necessary for safe and non-destructive diving in the environment of a wreck. Other organizations, such as the Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia (ARSBC) deliberately create artificial reefs to provide features for divers to explore, as well as substrates for marine life to thrive upon.

Special equipment

As long as there is no penetration of the wreck, no special wreck diving equipment is required, and equipment is based on the situation outside the wreck. For example, if the wreck is at a depth that is classified as technical deep diving, then the basic equipment requirement will be based on that.

In the limited penetration diving zone, at least one diving reel and one primary light are recommended in addition to the basic equipment for the outside environment. Additional breathing gas for the rule of thirds in an overhead environment increases the required cylinder size. Sufficient emergency gas must be available to reach the surface for any reasonably foreseeable emergency. This may be in the form of buddy or team supplied reserve gas or as a bailout cylinder carried by the diver

For full penetration diving, additional safety equipment is necessary.

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</references>

  • WRECKSITE Worldwide free database of + 65.000 wrecks with history, maritime charts and GPS positions
  • NOAA Wrecks and Obstructions Database
  • Sea Research Society
  • Dangers of Wreck Diving
  • Wreck Diving in the Graveyard of the Atlantic

ja:洞窟潜水