Sea cucumber divers in Banana Islands, Sierra Leone, like Emmanuel Pratt and Omolade Jones, struggle to find their catch as these creatures have become scarce. Previously abundant, sea cucumbers now require deeper dives and longer durations. Divers have shifted from freediving to hookah diving, which utilizes a diesel-powered generator to pump air through hoses. This technique is significantly riskier than traditional scuba or freediving. The industry faces challenges due to the aging equipment and potential hazards of diesel contamination in the air supply.
Sea cucumbers, resembling oversized sea slugs, used to be abundant in the waters surrounding Banana Islands, but now they are scarce, forcing divers to adapt their techniques.
Emmanuel Pratt and Omolade Jones rely on hookah diving, a risky method of air supply pumping from an engine, to reach deeper waters where sea cucumbers have become increasingly rare.
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