Diver Died in Panama City FL

[John A Lewis]

Anyone have any more info on this one yet?

It's likely that we won't hear anything new on this incident for quite some time.

Hazarding a guess, there's some serious investigation that has to be done by law enforcement and various and sundry other agencies, not the least of which will be an incident report filed with whatever agency the dive school is affiliated with and their insurance company. The instructions that all the professionals directly involved with the incident will then probably receive are pretty simple: clam up.

This is a tragedy for all concerned.

 

[eeel]

I believe this was a discover scuba experience not an OW class. As was brought up earlier the details of the tragety are very hard to nail down.

 

[KevinNM]

This still doesn't make any sense to me. How can an instructor lose a student under water? And then not notice they were missing until everyone else is on the surface? It's even more insane if they were not actually students but were part of a DSD program.

 

[Skeptic14]

With the bad visibility that can be had in the florida panhandle... losing someone underwater is very believable.

 

[KevinNM]

Then what the hell is the instructor doing taking students there?

 

[boulderjohn]

What is the source of the information that this was a Discover Scuba dive? The article says, "Family members stated that Kimbley was on his first dive with a diving school. When he did not surface with the rest of the class a search to locate him was initiated." That suggests more than a Discover Scuba Experience, where the class size is extremely limited--4 people maximum, but only in ideal conditions. (Assuming this is PADI--other agencies have different rules.) In a Dicover Scuba class, the instructor is supposed to position his or her body in such a way t be able to intervene in any moment in a problem, and in limited visibility, that means two students at the most.

I cannot believe open water conditions in the Florida Panhandle can possibly be so bad that an instructor would be so limited in the ability to see students. Where I teach students in Colorado lakes, I am limited to a few feet visibility at times; in contrast, I have never seen anything in any ocean anywhere that approaches that.

Regardless, an instructor working with students must never lose sight of any student, so there will be a serious investigation of this.

 

[Steve_C]

Yes, in reduced visibility the instructor should reduce class size. WIth out even trying I have seen this violated more than once. Heck I have seen an instructor loose half of a class. Was at Lajolla shores. DM I had hired said it was too rough and would not be fun. We were standing there with some other instructors who had thumbed the day when down comes this large class probably a dozen at least of students with 3 or 4 DM. A couple of the instructors say this looks bad and start putting their wetsuits back on. Students stand there and then do a lull charge into the ocean. In comes a large swell that breaks over everybody. When things calm down a bit half the class and the class instructors are all out a ways. Half the class is missing. Folks go down and fish out the floundering students. Some were pulled out 50 or more yards down the beach. Lucky there was not a drowning that day.

 

[meatsim]

What is the source of the information that this was a Discover Scuba dive?

I cant provide a name but i've seen other discussion from locals that have stated it was a discover scuba but wouldnt list the operator. That is the info i have seen other than this thread

 

[CuzzA]

I cannot believe open water conditions in the Florida Panhandle can possibly be so bad that an instructor would be so limited in the ability to see students.

I've never dove off Pensacola, but Gulf coast diving over here isn't the same as the South East coast. My first ocean dive here the viz was 1-2 ft. Sometimes it looks like you're going to have good viz from the top as the first 20+ ft. is crystal clear and you get to the bottom and it's terrible.

This is a screen shot of a dive last week 23 miles off of Port Richey, FL (South of Pensacola). We had 8-10ft. of viz. My buddy was out of sight a few times.

Near shore sometimes it's clear, sometimes it's diveable, sometimes it's not. You can only expect great viz when you get into blue water which requires a long distance run and depths that exceed basic open water. At least that's the case off Tampa Bay. Might be different off Pensacola, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

 

[Skeptic14]

I cannot believe open water conditions in the Florida Panhandle can possibly be so bad that an instructor would be so limited in the ability to see students. Where I teach students in Colorado lakes, I am limited to a few feet visibility at times; in contrast, I have never seen anything in any ocean anywhere that approaches that.

I wasn't trying to defend the instructor, I'm not aware of the full narrative of what happened in this scenario anyway. I live here and dive the panhandle regularly and I am not surprised that a student could get lost underwater. I don't know how many students the DM had with them, but if it were more than two that makes it even more believable.

I dove this site where the accident happened at the end of May this year, this was before the annual june grass started, which was very bad for PCB this year. The day I dove it was "decent" conditions and in a few kicks your buddy could disappear. I've found it curious how folks in this area measure visibility too. Someone will say, "oh yeah looks pretty good, 25 ft" and then I get in and almost have to stay arms length with my buddy or they disappear. My rule of thumb is divide by two what most in this area report as visibility.

BTW, this isn't the "ocean". It's a jetty dive, it's an inlet from a bay to the Gulf. The Gulf has a lot of chlorophyll in comparison to the Pacific, Caribbean or Atlantic. And if you dive on low tide... your diving a bay basically, not an ocean.

Just one other thing this is directly from a local dive operations website:

Please note that the Gulf of Mexico does not usually offer visibility necessary to be able to guide a large group of divers as in the Caribbean. If you have never dived in the Gulf of Mexico, to a depth of 90 feet, in somewhat limited visibility, or have not made a dive within the last year, we recommend hiring a Divemaster to ensure that you have a safe and enjoyable experience.

Again, not defending anyone here, just pointing out that it is believable to lose a student diving here, definitely have to be on your A game DM'ing here.