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Every day in the sea around Phu Quoc Island, divers search for snails, pearl-oysters, sea cucumbers, ornamental fish and even bombs and mines from the wartime.
The men work underwater for seven to eight hours at a time. "Sometimes I don't know whether I live under the sea or on land," diver Nguyen Trung Hoa says.
Dang Van Mong, who has been diving for 20 years, says he's worked for so long under the sea that he's forgotten the overland way to get from the north to the south of Phu Quoc.
Phu Quoc sea divers often sacrifice their hearing to earning their living. Dang Van Tri, Mong's younger brother, says his ears hurt when he dives to the depth of 10 meters. When he first began diving, Tri swallowed plenty of sea water.
"Here, only deep diving earns enough money to live on, shallow diving doesn't," Mong says, laughing. "And if one decides to go deep diving, he must accept damaged eardrums." Neither Tri nor Mong hear well anymore. But sea divers' two biggest fears are losing their air supply or swimming into poisonous water.According to diver Thai Van Dung, divers 50 to 60 meters down know they will take in a lot of water if their breathing pipe breaks. The consequences can be even more dire if they encounter poisonous water, he says.
Bai Thom diver Phuong was disabled after encountering poisonous water while hunting for sea cucumbers, Mong says. To find the most valuable treasures of the sea, such as pearl-oysters, people have to go farther and dive deeper. This increases the risks. Tri says he has lost some close friends, including Loi Anh, who died four months ago. Loi Anh looked OK after diving near coral reefs at An Thoi. But he said he felt tired and then he suddenly collapsed, dead.
Another friend, Hung, also fell down dead, even though he'd been talking normally on the boat after finishing a dive. Two other men also died after diving too deep, Tri says. Life is not easy. In his youth, Dung liked deep diving to earn money and prove himself. But after he had a daughter, he chose to work in shallower safer waters. This means he hardly earns enough to get by.
Mong says sea diving helps people earn money quickly but also increases the risk they will die young. He says he must pursue the occupation because he has no other choice. Every year, rough seas force him stay home for a few months. "If the sea is calm, my wife and I have enough to eat," he says. "When the sea is rough, we give our food to the children." Tri has bought some gold and hopes that it can support his family during the diving off-season. Diver Tran Quoc Trung has bought some plots of land on the island. He hopes his son will get a good education so he will be able to work for one of the island's tourist resorts rather than follow his father's occupation.
This article first appeared on www.vietnamnews.vnanet.vn
June 11, 2008
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