Accidental saturation diver.

[Griffo]

And to throw another variable into the problem, CO2 is highly soluble in seawater, and gets more soluble the colder the water is - which is why the deep oceans are a massive CO2 sink. If part of his chamber was exposed to seawater, is it possible that the CO2 would have been absorbed by the seawater at a rate that was sufficient to increase his survivability time?

 

[knotical]

Another tidbit of info:
Table 2 in this:
http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/media...A/cfodocs/howell.Par.2800.File.dat/25apxC.pdf
gives some info about surviving (and dying from) higher concentrations of CO2.

[FONT=&amp]%CO2 [/FONT]and Symptoms
[FONT=&amp]2 to 3 - Shortness of breath, deep breathing [/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]5 - Breathing becomes heavy, sweating, pulse quickens [/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]7.5 - Headaches, dizziness, restlessness, breathlessness, increased heart rate and blood pressure, visual distortion [/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]10 - Impaired hearing, nausea, vomiting, loss of consciousness [/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]30 - Coma, convulsions, death[/FONT]


This is fun.

 

[DandyDon]

Surely he did not drown and stay dead for 2 days, saturating his tissues, then received resuscitation and decompression.

There has to be more to this story I am missing...

Was he living off of an air space?

That's why I always copy at least one story and paste it in post #1. Some folks just won't jump the links to read.

 

[fjpatrum]

Interesting thread. I'd say the more likely "killer" (presuming an obviously large enough air pocket to survive) than CO2 would be exposure. It isn't exactly warm at 30 m in most places though it may be in that particular region at this time of year. Having air to breath doesn't necessarily mean being dry and exposure kills more people in these situations than anything else does.

Pretty cool story he'll have to tell his grandchildren.

 

[Wookie]

Nerds.....

 

[billt4sf]

Even more amazing is that the "journalist" who wrote the story quoted someone as saying: "my sympathy is with the families who lost there love ones.”

 

[DCBC]

Perhaps he was fortunate enough to pass the time mellowed by narcosis. The water temperature there wouldn't be a problem, but without water it wouldn't be very enjoyable. Spending time in the dark, wondering about one's fate would be difficult. It was fortunate that the Sea Trucks Group had a DSV in the area (I think they only have 2 or 3 World-wide). He certainly has a story to tell his Grandchildren...

 

[00wabbit]

Kind of makes you wonder how many more people have survived a shipwreck only to sit on the bottom of the sea and die slowly.

 

[DandyDon]

He certainly has a story to tell his Grandchildren.

He'll be telling the story day & night to anyone for a long time

 

[DCBC]

He'll be telling the story day & night to anyone for a long time

I'm sure it's one that's worth quite a few drinks over his lifetime...