48 Hours a Day

Chapter 906: The Red Tide?

There are different odds of encountering Shanghai currents when diving depending on the location of the dive.

The downstream, as its name suggests, is the downward currents, as can be seen from the bubbles exhaled from the mouths of the three of them. The bubbles that were rising suddenly scattered around them in rings, and then began to drift downwards, while the two turtles in the distance accidentally shrunk back into the rock seams, at the same time the vision of the three began to become cloudy.

Fortunately, except for Zhang Heng, neither of the other two were new. None of them, including Han Lu, met the current for the first time, so he did not panic like a beginner. Han Lu was right next to the stone wall. He immediately affixed his body to the stone wall and grabbed the stone wall like a gecko.

Nellie turned on her flashlight and photographed the nearest piece of rock to Zhang Heng, indicating that Zhang Heng had passed, and she herself swam there. The speed of descent of the two people was not fast, indicating that the current they encountered was not very strong, which relieved Nellie, and Han Lu and Zhang Heng also performed calmly.

The most dangerous thing underwater is panic, not only can't solve any problems, the indiscriminate struggle will speed up oxygen consumption, but the wrong operation is likely to cause more trouble. Han Lu is not too worried because she has enough diving experience. What she is really worried about is Zhang Heng on the other side, especially since the latter just asked to go up, and she encountered the current.

But the good news is that Zhang Heng hasn't shown much panic so far, swimming with Nellie to the rock.

About a minute and a half later, Nellie felt that the current was getting smaller, so she gestured and asked Zhang Heng how much air she still had.

Zhang Heng looked at the eye pressure gauge, and it showed that he also had about 120bar of gas. The three people stayed under water for a short period of time, and basically moved at a depth of about 25 meters, and did not dive too deep. Therefore, the gas in the cylinder was not consumed much, and it was still a long way from the alarm line.

But now that Zhang Heng has decided to go up, Nellie, as a diving guide, certainly has no reason to continue to insist on diving, but before going up, the two need to rendezvous with Han Lu at the stone wall.

Unlike the previously relatively clear sea water, the impact of currents has led to a lot of mud and impurities and low visibility in the water. Nellie turned on her flashlight again, but didn't know if it was due to lack of power, so the flashlight in her hand gradually stabilized after a few flashes this time.

Yet when Nellie moved the flashlight to the rock wall where Hanlu was, she realized there was no longer a shadow of the latter.

Nellie blinked her eyes and seemed a little unable to believe what she saw in front of her, because Hanlu was the first person to find a place where she could fix her body when the descent flowed, and seeing that her condition was clearly out of danger, the three of them separated for less than two minutes, and Hanlu did not reason to leave the position in such a short time.

Nellie then turned the flashlight in the other direction nearby, searching for Han Lu's figure, but nothing was received, and at this point, Nellie saw Zhang Heng gesturing at her, pointing to the top of her finger.

Nellie thought it was Zhang Heng who discovered Hanlu's whereabouts, but when she looked up and saw strange sights she had never seen in her years of diving, she saw that the sea water above their heads was turning red at a rate that was visible to the naked eye.

Is this a red tide?

Nellie lives by the sea, although she has not seen the red tide herself, but she is not unfamiliar with this natural phenomenon. Red tides are usually caused by some phytoplankton, bacteria or protozoa in the sea water that erupt in a short period of time or are highly concentrated, which can discolor the sea water and cause great harm to the environment.

However, this area is a famous dive site with the island, the inhabitants of the island have always attached great importance to the ecological environment. Over the years, there has never been a red tide in the surrounding area, and the red tide generally affects the upper sea water, but Nellie finds that the red one above her head is approaching them quickly.

Soon they will be surrounded by red sea water, the color of which is very close to human blood, very infiltrating, and most importantly, they will further reduce their visibility. Now Nellie can only see less than two meters away, and even Zhang Heng's figure becomes hidden.

Even with Nellie's extensive diving experience, I can't help but feel a little anxious now, mainly because this weird “red tide” appeared sooner or later, just as they were searching for Han Lu, making the next search difficult.

Nellie wanted to bring Zhang Heng up before coming back to find Han Lu herself, because Zhang Heng had already asked her to go up before the downstream appeared, but it took time for the diver to go up, because different depths of pressure were different, and when the diver was at a deeper depth, nitrogen dissolved into the blood.

This is mainly the risk of nitrogen intoxication mentioned earlier, when nitrogen is dissolved in the blood, and if the pressure then rapidly decreases, these nitrogen dissolved in the blood will exude thrombosis, lightly causing the diver to suffer from diving disease and directly exploding lungs.

So when it goes up from the water, it takes a safe time to stay. After Nelly returns Zhang Heng to the boat, it will take as soon as seven minutes, not to mention whether she can feel her current position in this bloody red water as she wishes. At that time, it is not easy to say that Han Lu was still not nearby. Besides, the gas remaining in her cylinder may not be enough to support her for too long.

If in normal times, Nellie can of course choose to take Zhang Heng to find Han Lu together, but because of the effects of this strange red tide, they may not see each other at a slight distance. In this harsh environment, Nellie is also not confident that she can take care of Zhang Heng while looking for Han Lu.

Han Lu has disappeared, don't lose Zhang Heng too.

After a brief thought, Nellie decided to take Zhang Hengsheng first, because she also had the good fortune in her heart. Maybe Hanlu had stepped back to the boat before them. When they surfaced, they could see each other, and honestly, even if she took Zhang Hengsheng's adventure to find Hanlu now, it was just luck.

But just as Nellie was about to go up with Zhang Heng, she seemed to see some shadow glimpsing through her left eye.

Is that Han Lu? There was hope in Nellie's heart that, although the shadow had passed quickly, she still saw the general outline, much like a man in a wetsuit.