DAN Europe staged a major event in Brussels on the 7th April as they held their "DAN Divers Day on Advances in International Diving Research" at NEMO 33 . The morning was packed with speakers from all parts of Europe, the USA and South Africa all of whom were leading diving research. The new information was overwhelming and you gained a sense of getting this straight from the horses mouth. The seminar showed the latest research using ultrasonics and doppler effect monitoring of bubble formation. Watching bubbles passing through a heart then watching the effect of the smallest amount of exertion by a diver had on those bubbles was quite shocking! In the afternoon Matt & I had the opportunity to do a 37 minute dive in the 34.4 metre pool whilst wearing DAN computers and then had our hearts monitored for bubbles before & after exercise. The pool was awesome, even in clean pool water it is difficult to see nearly 35m to the bottom, but NEMO 33 is more than a single deep dive , they have linked pools of 3m,5m and 10m in addition to the BIG one! You can swim through a tunnel from the 10m to the big one and there are air pockets to ascend into and have a chat if you want!
I have to say a fantastic day (and an excellent two day break) ! Matt & I picked-up our DAN Research Diver certification cards , a little nicety provided by DAN which I am sure we will pull out when we are playing the usual certification card poker!
The city of Brussels made an effort tp welcome DAN and in honour of the day dressed the famous Mannekinpis statue in SCUBA gear! Marvellous gesture! Those who fancy doing a short European break will find Brussels very accessible, picturesque and home to a very novel diving experience!
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