Diving and lightning

[Walter]

.......you are much safer underwater IF you are not towing a dive flag at the time.

Other than that I agree with most folks, get out of the water if you can do it safely, if not, stay away from the surface.

WWW™

 

[wcoyote]

A few years ago a good friend ans I were diving in Gennie Springs and a storm started up. We were in the large OW bowl in the main spring. My buddy was lookin' for fossils in the rock and I was doing much of the same. He was very near the bottom of the spring and I was centered half way to the top. I saw the first flash of light and that prompted me to look for my buddy. He was slowly swimming toward the surface. I followed him. After we got out he was very groggy and not very cohearent.
I asked him what the problem was and he could not say. After a few minits he said he saw a flash of light and then felt as if someone hit him very hard right in the chest.

It took about 2 days for him to stop feeling achy and sore.

I for one get out of the H2O if I am in a shallow spring.

Just my $0.02

 

[Greg G.]

Here's a link to a technical explanation. From what I understand, Jon and Walter came the closest. Lightning is looking for the shortest distance between the cloud and ground, the highest point gets it. On a flat surface such as a body of water, a boat, diver's torso bobbing around on the surface, or a dive flag would be it.

http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/weather/weather.html

 

[scuba_guy]

think about it mike.. diving with a big round lightning rod on your back.

 

[g2]

About this time last year I was doing a night dive in Roatan. The dive boat drove right into the teeth of a severe thunderstorm, but the guides seemed unconcerned. Since we were the tallest (and only!) thing out in the ocean at the time, I was over the side and under the water faster than ever.

I turned out my light and settled to the sandy bottom, and watched the most incredible show I've ever seen. Lightning lit up the reef for almost an hour, and with every stroke there was an answer from thousands of bioluminescent plankton. FLASH! Twinkle. FLASH! Twinkle.

Has anybody else seen this? I don't recommend diving in lightning like that, but having done so the experience was unforgetable!

g2

 

[The Chairman]

Hey all...

Get this... Water (H2O) does NOT conduct electricity. Nope, it can't do it! In fact, when I worked in a cryogenic lab at the U of Florida (GO Gators!), we used PURE water as an insulator. However, the ions dissolved IN the water can and will conduct electricity. Lots of it, too! Almost all water has ions too, cause it ain’t pure… It's not that lightening is looking for the "shortest" path, as much as it is looking for the path of least resistance.

That resistance is GREATLY reduced when the “ground” side develops a bigger charge i.e. static electricity. Consequently the potential increases as the ground (or lightening target) develops a more negative charge, while the clouds develop a more positive one. While this can happen while you are insulated by air (especially dry air) it is quite hard for you to accumulate LOTS of static electricity while surrounded by ion laden water! Spring water (soft), is least conductive, and is followed by lake water, with salt water (HARD!) being the MOST conductive.

Make no mistake; lightening can be measured in giga watts, not to mention giga volts! I have no idea whether the huge electrical sink of a body of water would keep you safe. I would expect that to be true though. However, great theories can be destroyed by only one fact! As the Norse put it… when I see lightening… Armageddon out of here!

 

[TexasMike]

That would be one of those definite times to bring along the u/w video cam.

Thanks for sharing that with us!

 

[Kane(adian)]

Awhile back, I posted my lightning experience here, but that thread dies a quiet, lonely death, so here it goes again...

We were doing our OW checkout dives. It was our second dive, and we were just about done. We were doing our CESAs. I had just come up, and my buddy was the last one still on the bottom, other than the DM. While we were down, it had started raining, which is irritating, despite the fact that you are bobbing around in a lake, and have just spent the last half hour or so on the bottom. I turned to talk to someone else in the group, when the lake got hit. My back was to the flash, but the 2 estimates that I heard were 50 feet away (from someone in the water) and what I estimated as 2-300yards away, from a person on the shore that gave me an idea where it had struck. I tend to lean towards the person on the shore, seeing as they would not have had the fear factor, etc., but back to the point... The instructor, DM and my buddy came up and we all swam as fast as we could for the shore. I think that they would probably have experienced it worse, as their heads were in the water and ours were not. For those country boys and girls out there, it was like touching the electric fence, only instead of the arm tingling, it was like a little full body jolt. It was definitely not something that I would want to experience again, but nevertheless it makes for good stories.

A couple of notes: instructor said that my buddy had a real blank stare when he tried to signal 'okay?'.

Not only is NetDoc funny, but he is also factual. Water does not conduct electricity, but the ions sure do, salts and stuff, electricity loves them.

Electricity is indeed lazy. Just think of it as sitting on the couch, trying to think of the easiest way to get to the fridge, get the refreshment, and the chips, and make it back before commercials are over, without much effort.

Air is not a conductor either, but with enough juice, everything becomes a conductor.

Lighting is a whole lot bigger process than just one zap from cloud to sky.

 

[Rick L]

Hi
I went diving sunday in cape ann mass.
Me and 2 buddies got geared up and entered the water under blue skys. About 15 minutes into the dive I here a weird noise then a flash goes off.
I first thought my camera had gone off. then i realized it was lightning a storm blew over while we where under.
How much danger do yous think we where in being in the water
in a lightning storm with steel tanks on??
Well the 11 lobsters i got tasted fine
Rick L

 

[dkerr]

I was in Lowell when it passed over. But onto the question...
Obvioously you do not want to go diving when you know there is a thunderstorm coming down on you. But in the case of Sunday where it came and went in about 20min and was unpredictable there are a few options.
If you have enough air, wait it out down below. The worst place to be when lightning strikes os on the surface.
If you are low on air, I guess the best would be to make the quickest possible exit out of the water, and then lose the rig. I think there was a string on this a while back which would have more info on what to do.
If it strikes you upon exit, at least you wont have to wait to cook the lobsters!