Who’d have guessed that diving into the deep, dark, monster-infested ocean with nothing but floppy shoes and a tank of air would be so terrifying?
Yes, according to a Reddit thread, the reality of scuba diving is far creepier than Disney has led you to believe. You’re more likely to be rammed by turtles or have a terrifying experience with a moray than to have interactions with singing Jamaican crabs who want you to find love.
They’re mostly stories about the types of critters you don’t want to meet down there. We’re going to blame nitrogen narcosis for some of the “weirder” stories. Nitrogen narcosis is a brief shift in awareness produced by breathing nitrogen at high pressure. “I was scuba diving with some friends off the coast of Florence, Oregon, when we came upon a body on the ocean floor in the most horrifying condition possible.” I was scuba diving with some buddies off the coast of Florence, Oregon, when we came upon a body on the ocean floor in the most horrifying condition possible. He wore a wet suit with his legs, arms, and head exposed because he was a surfer who had gone missing a few days before.
“Basically, he had a torso with a skull and skeletal limbs,” Reddit user team-pterodactyl commented, before noting that this was not his creepiest dive. When a body is lost at sea and sinks to the bottom of the water, scavengers come after it. Crustaceans, for example, are slow feeders that prefer to attack the softer regions of the body rather than the tough gristly bits. Our wrists, which are mostly soft tissue and ligaments, are examples of soft parts in humans. Chew on this long enough, and the hand will detach and float away on their own adventures.
I used to spend a lot of time underwater when I used to surf, whether on purpose or not. I went out one day in some incredibly enormous surf (for me). Throughout the day, it was a steady ten feet. Sets that is larger. This is serious business. It was also a really gloomy, overcast winter day. It’s also raining. Above the water, you couldn’t see s**t, let alone below. The bigger it becomes the further out on the rock shelf it breaks at this location. So I was at least 200 meters offshore when a monster set appeared out of the gloom Enormous. It was the biggest thing I’d ever seen. There were only a few other guys in the area. It was my turn to ride the wave. I wasn’t scared at all at this point.
I didn’t want to get the greatest wave of my life; instead, I wanted to receive the biggest wave of my life. So I gave it a shot. I made it onto there, however, I somewhat messed up the location of my feet. I didn’t have a choice except to go with it because there was no way out. That is when it occurred. I’ve never experienced a more terrifying water-based encounter in my life. This thing just took me to town after I fell off. I thought I was OK after it lifted me all the way up and over the falls, but no, it was only the beginning. It just continued squeezing me. It goes on and on. I stopped to rest on what appeared to be a very huge, smooth rock because my ears hurt (badly), it was absolutely dark, and it was freezing (even in a wetsuit) (I could feel it with my fingers whilst I was pinned firmly to it).
