A word about dive safety and pearl farming

The most hazardous part of pearl farming is the frequent need to make multiple deep dives. Most of the diving done on a pearl farm, especially when setting up the farm, are bounce dives. Bounce dives are those dives where a diver descends and then immediately ascends, for example, when tying an anchor line to the bottom of the lagoon. Bounce dives can easily lead to decompression syndrome (DCS, also known as “the bends”) because the diver has a tendency to ascend rapidly and to make several of these types of dives in rapid succession without taking sufficient time at the surface (surface interval) to release nitrogen from his or her body.
Article source: The Basic Methods of Pearl Farming, Author: A Layman’s ManualMaria Haws, Ph.D. (Director, Pearl Research and Training Program, Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resources Center, University of Hawaii at Hilo, Hilo, HI 96720 USA, Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture, Publication No. 127, March 2002)