Following a deep dive in water, humans can experience severe pains upon returning to the surface too quickly, and the resulting body injury may cause unconsciousness and death. Aches are so severe in some cases, commonly in the joints, that divers bend over in agony. Hence, the name, the bends. However, the more common name for this condition is decompression sickness, meaning that the sickness results from decreasing pressure. Divers experience decreasing pressure upon ascent …showed first 75 words of 546 total…

…showed last 75 words of 546 total…R. 1980. The life and death of whales. 2nd ed. New York: Universe Books. Coffey, D.J. 1977. Dolphins, whales and porpoises: an encyclopedia of sea mammals. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, Inc. Gaskin, D.E. 1972. Whales, dolphins and seals: with special reference to the New Zealand region. Auckland, New Zealand:Heinemann Educational Books. Martin, K. 1988. Giants of the sea. New York: Gallery Books. Martin, R.M. 1977. Mammals of the oceans. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.