Scuba diving refers to the use of a self-contained breathing set to be able to breathe underwater for long periods of time and has popularly become a recreational activity. All diving equipments are carried by the diver, independent of any support or supply of oxygen from elsewhere. The diver propels underwater with the use of fins or flippers attached to the feet. The word “SCUBA” is actually an acronym for “Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus”. In modern convention, it refers to the use of open-circuit equipment where air is breathed from a compressed gas tank and then exhaled into the water. The first open-circuit scuba diving equipment was nicknamed “Aqua-lung”, developed by French naval officer and marine conservationist Jacques Cousteau and Emile Gagnan in 1943.
Scuba diving started during World War II and the term originally referred to American combat frogmen”s oxygen rebreathers used for underwater combat. Modern scuba diving has evolved and technically classified into recreational diving (which requires professional training and skills), public safety diving, technical diving (cave diving, deep diving, ice diving and wreck diving), military diving, commercial diving, and scientific diving.