-Diver's Ear-
Here is everything I know and think about divers ear. Have you ever had a slight loss of hearing in one ear caused by a wax buildup? Well the wax is dampening the movement of the ear drum like a rock and roll band's drummer placing a wadded up towel in their base drum to give it more 'thump' and less bang. That's what Divers Ear feels like.
Diving is a little like riding in an airplane in that there are changes in pressure on the out side of the ear drum relative to the other side, inside your skull. This pressure is equalized through small tubes that link the middle ear to the lower throat called Eustachian tubes.
When going aloft in a plane the pressure in the ear is greater then the surroundings and the Eustachian tube vents off the surplus air in the inner ear. This is an oft times pleasant sensation with a slight popping sound. When landing the opposite situation exists where the tube must vent air into the middle ear and may require holding the nose and and blowing gently to inflate the tube slightly resulting in a somewhat less pleasant 'popping' sensation. As the pressure on your body increases the tube tends to flatten and be more restrictive. When diving the same process is employed to compensate for the increased pressure from the weight of the water. (about 1 PSI per 2 feet of sea water or one additional atmosphere [~15 PSI] at 30 feet.)
I'm pretty lucky in that I've not had problems 'equalizing' the pressures in my ears diving and was surprised when I got an ear ache on the left side and a slight hearing loss. Local legend has it that there is a cure to be had by filling the offending ear with Peroxide and listen to it fizz as it goes after the wax. The degree of success is dependent on the amount wax built up in the ear, plus it's fun to listen to.
(My neighbor Cherris' ear last year)
I tried the peroxide treatment twice, over a few days, without any success and then after a week the ear problem sort of went away and I dived again. After a few dives the ache was back so I want to see the Physician who treated me for a viral head cold (with fever) a couple years ago. He looked in my ear and said it was inflamed and swollen from explosive equalization either going up or down. As he mentioned that, I recalled having had to pinch my nose and blow pretty hard to get that ear to equalize once and then it did with a hell of a hiss and a pop. He prescribed Ibuprofen (400mg) and Celestamine NS three times a day for three days then taper off over three days. He said to equalize every ten feet from now on. Stupid me, when he said that I thought he meant starting right now. . . . Wrong!
I think the ear drum itself was swollen so it was thicker and the medication didn't help the healing so much as the hearing, by reducing the swelling. The Stupid part was that as my hearing improved I went on a night dive on the Porpoise pen's rubble reef again last night. . . and now the 'Diver's Ear' is back. . . . with ringing. With a week left before I take off for home I'm bummed.
Last night's dive wasn't a complete waste. I got to watch a Drum pacing back and fourth. I'm sure the bright light was anxious making. Check out the length of that dorsal fin.
I went in the water at sunset with just enough light to help me find my way to the site and get oriented.
I swam the entire reef in diminishing light and found that there was a terrific North to
South current flowing, in the opposite direction from what I was accustomed to. When I spotted that Drum I couldn't stay up stream long enough to film it so I had to position myself behind a concrete block and ended up being flushed back under some fencing. It was something of a struggle getting out but I ended up in a pretty stable position to shoot from. Also the new current direction was blowing a lot of trash and sediment back into the reef so visibility was doubly poor with the low light, and to see anything I had to get in pretty close. After getting untangled from the Drum shot I found this little lobster out and about.
At night the larger, more solitary fish snuggle in next to a rock to doze. I think most of their predators are visually stimulated so the night is pretty safe. Here is a Stoplight Parrot fish.
I didn't find anything at night that wasn't around during the day to film but with the camera light they were sufficiently stunned for me to get a little better look. After two laps around the Atlantida rubble reef, fighting that current, I was pretty tired and headed for the barn. That current was still blowing something fierce. I'd grab a piece of rebar to steady myself and flap like a flag in a breeze. This Banded Butterfly fish was my parting shot. Notice the black band through the eye.
I pedaled by the air plant to drop off my tank on the way home last night. My plan was to attend an Evangelical service in English Sunday morning and then join the minister, who I'd met earlier this week, and go on a dive outing to Duzl-Ha. When my ear flared up again this morning, we decided to just ride out there after the service to check out dive entrances and look over the bare rock beach. Even on a Sunday (family day in all Mexico) there were a number of snorkel and dive boats working the area. I think the diving scene, close in, will be great next year and a good plan for me would be to get a motor scooter and use the basket of my triciclo as a trailer to get my dive gear to some of these more remote spots.
I dive Atlantida's rubble reef from a beach club right across the street from the old electric companies property. There is a 5 meter wide strip of land next door that runs from the sea to the street and used to carry the submerged electric cables from Playa Del Carmen. There was a new set cables installed several years ago that come ashore at a new location. Here are the stubs of the old ones exiting the sea from that 5 meter wide strip. That copper core is a little over an inch in diameter.
On my way to Sundays church service I rode along the ocean front downtown and spotted these guys taking pictures of each other on the breakwater as the surf broke. I took the picture through a cyclone fence and wasn't perfectly centered. Sorry.
There is a strain of Hibiscus here on Cozumel that grows quite well. The blossoms hang down and so does the pistol. Here is a variation on that, that has fringe like pedals and the hanging pistol curves up.
I commented on a friends shoes and he said he had 3 pair in different colors. He said he was going to pitch the oldest ones and I was welcome to them if I'd like to try them. They are named 'CROCS'. They are very light and durable. Like Bartola's dreams only more durable. Watching that cat's feet as it dreams is fascinating.
This is a bedraggled Frigate bird on a fine mist rainy day. Taking his ease between flights.
The beach operation behind Jeanie's Waffles where I've been diving, does have a name and they finally got it put up on the wall:
Here is a look at their helmet diving set-up.
During my first visit on Cozumel, in '03, I met a Canadian bush pilot who had just walked away from a catastrophic crash in the North woods from an engine failure. 35 years in commercial aviation without an engine incident, then four in two years. His visit and mine last year didn't overlap but last night he walks in and says Hi. He's bringing his Honey down next weekend after she completes her preliminary dive instruction and wanted to find a nice place to put up in. On line he found an local architect who designed and manages a group of cabanas and luxury rooms around this tower he designed.
Behind the lattice work on the ground floor is a 'common area' with a kitchen and internet nook. It rained today off and on, so I killed some time during a visit.
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