Saturation divers are the people who do construction and demolition work at depths up to 1,000 feet or more beneath the surface of the ocean. They are needed all around the world to fix or deconstruct offshore wells, rigs and pipelines deep within the ocean because remotely operated vehicles still cannot perform their key functions. But working at such an extreme depths requires significant sacrifices—and risks.
Diving beyond 200 feet requires highly specialized equipment and breathing pressurized air. The inert gases in the mix dissolve benignly into your blood and tissue, and the weight of all the water on top of you keeps those gases compressed. But to get returned to the surface, you need to ascend slowly so that the gas can diffuse out on its own. If you shoot straight up, the gas forms bubbles, similar to shaking a can of soda. The effect of that is like millions of tiny explosives detonating in your body. Decompression sickness, or as it is also known, the bends, can be fatal.
So saturation divers stay in pressurized living quarters on ships (sometimes rigs or barges) and commute to and from their job sites in pressurized diving bells. Under these conditions, a diver can put in about six hours of work per day on the bottom of the ocean. According to Atlas Obscura, the divers spend their waking hours not underwater in an area the size of a booth at Applebees. They also write that it is probably the only job in the world where you are expected to pee your pants (well, wetsuit). The job requires great physical strength to move around large pieces of equipment in near-zero or zero visibility. You also need incredible focus and must be in constant communication with the topside dive supervisor, who guides the work. Divers often report joint pain, headaches, and shortness of breath.
The adjustment back into the outside world, outside of the pressurized chamber, is both emotional and physical. “They emerge pale and disoriented, like prisoners released from solitary, drained and irritable, body clocks out of whack,” Atlas Obscura writes.
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