The accident accured about 10:30. The diver was diving off Casino point at the drop off at about 120 ft. He got tangled up in the kelp. I was there for 4 days and the weather was great. Sunday night the clouds came in and we had a little rain most of the night on and off.
The diver was found floating on the surface as I understand and after about 20 minutes of CPR he was pronounced dead. He was diving with a couple friends.
The kelp was laying low as I was told in the days preceding this day but on the 5th it came to the surface and caused a mess. The point was closed after the accident.
Other than the time it occurred (which is close), the above is not true although it does reflect speculation that was offered early in the incident by others.
The divers were pretty well out of the giant kelp line so even if the current were pulling the kelp horizontal it should not have been an issue where they were. the only kelp out that deep are the elk kelp,
Agarum,
Laminaria and other bottom hugging (vs canopy forming) kelps.
The weather was generally good although there was some very light rain in the early and mid morning. The swell that has been plaguing us the last 5-6 days was diminishing. Tidal currents were fairly strong although I'm not sure what they were like at the time of this incident as I did not suit up or enter the water until hours after the incident.
I was talking to Tom Wetzel, Kevin Liu and their dive class when a friend came over to say there was a problem. I went over to the stairs and looked out to see a diver in the water at the surface, well outside the park boundary. She was screaming although it was hard to understand what she was saying. Soon the people on the boat started yelling and waving floatation devices, etc., to get the attention of those on shore, most of which were already cognizant of the situation.
Although I didn't hear what the distressed diver said, others indicated she was not the one in trouble but her buddy was below her. I ran and yelled to the fill station attendant to call 911 and he indicated he had already done so. Harbor Dept patrol boats were on the scene quickly and a Baywatch boat followed soon after.
Tom and one of our local instructors (Frank from Dive Catalina) headed out to where the incident occurred to assist. I never saw the 15-year old who actually retrieved the body enter the water, but apparently he acted very quickly and passed the other divers heading out there. Kudos to this young diver who acted quickly.
I thought it was about 15 minutes before the body was brought to the surface. Apparently the paramedics said it was 17 minutes between the time the call was received and the body brought up. Add to that the time the diver was below before the call was placed (a few minutes perhaps). It was pretty certain the diver could not survive unless she had air still in her tank. I have not heard official confirmation, but was told that she had run out of air. CPR was performed on the victim by Kevin Liu and the paramedics.
I can not state much more with any certainty. I was told the divers were in their 40s, that the deceased diver ran out of air, that her buddy tried to remove the weight belt but was not successful, and that the deceased was wearing 32 lbs of weight. If anyone can verify or negate this, please post. Ken, I just saw you posted here while I was writing. Please correct anything I've said that was in error. I've left a lot I heard out because it was not confirmed and thus was mere speculation until we hear the official report.
This was an incredibly sad day at the park. There were not many divers here this weekend (as would be expected on a family holiday weekend). There were a number of Discover Scuba participants waiting to go in when the incident occurred. I'm sure several of them were quite shaken by this, as well as some of the certified divers or those in classes that were at the park yesterday.
The one bright spot in the sad story was the quick action of the 15 year old rescue diver. I can't imagine I would have had the presence of mind to react as quickly and decisively as he did when I was his age.
The rest of what we heard is speculation. We were told that it was an out of air situation at 90 to 100 feet and she had only 6 dives. The young rescue (15-17) diver pulled her up after 17 minute under. Im waiting for Ken to give us the facts....
