When we dive into the water, we enter a different world with no air to breathe and crushing pressures. But our bodies are built to adapt to this environment.

On entering water, our bodies automatically react by slowing our heart-rate and reducing the amount of oxygen required by the body. This occurs in all diving mammals, including whales, dolphins and seals.

As a freediver descends and the pressure increases, the air in the lungs is greatly compressed. Beyond 80 meters the body responds by shifting blood plasma to the lungs to prevent them from collapsing.
 

© Frederic Buyle