First-hand account of down current, with video footage

[DandyDon]

That is good advice. You know, I've never had to drop weight, have never even considered doing so. Would it have helped this boy to drop some weight, or would that be too difficult? I mean, he didn't try to inflate for quite some time, right? Sorry, count me as one who has difficulty seeing beyond the wall of bubbles and the panicked cries for help.

Dropping weights is easier said than done if you don't practice it. My bud & I do first dive of every trip as we don't want to fumble if the need arises. When to drop weights is a case by case question. The lady lost in the original accident couldn't, so she drowned and the body lost. Her chances of being revived would have been much greater on the surface.

For the camera diver in the vid, only if other measures failed. Better injured on the surface than never surfacing - but there were better solutions and they got one to work.

I can't really comment on the wisdom or necessity for a re-do of the safety stop, except to say I totally get the fear of DCS. I'll keep reading the comments from those more experienced than I--can't say that I am enjoying the thread, but it has been very instructive.

Re-descending for the SS in a stressed situation like that might be akin to getting back on the horse but there is a lot more to that analogy. I had a horse fall on me once, but neither of us were hurt so I got back on; another time I was when my cinch slipped, so I waited until I healed enough - not that day. I've really never been bucked off of one, but we never rodeoed - not intentionally anyway. I remember a one-eyed rental mare on Nevis Is that almost made me look like a fool; felt foolish anyway to have one buck.

Purely for dive safety...
1: Re-descending under stress can lead to new problems!
2: Re-descending can cause bubble pumping, so there is another risk.
3: Skipping the SS after dropping down to 165 even briefly can indeed lead to a hit. and counting on an Oxygen kit to work is iffy - seen two fail, plus there were two of them to share one bottle.
Still, I'd go for the re-descend for a 5 minute stop.

 

[Mike]

it looks to me like your son got pulled into the wall currents of a whirlpool right before you got to him. Then when you were trying to go up it looks like there was a wall of bubbles which is exactly what it is like inside of one.

I think that 'wall of bubbles' you're referring to is the camera divers exhales, he's panicked and breathing extremely heavy, he has a head mounted video camera. Further evidence is the 'wall of bubbles' he is in follows him all the way to the surface to 7:30 in the video. Watch the video right around the 4:20-4:30 mark and you see the start of his panic breathing and the big exhales in front of the camera.

 

[koozemani]

At 5:03-04 if you look at the divers in the background, it appears that there bubbles stop rising and start descending until they engulf the divers. At 4:42ish, it looks like the camera divers is looking up and his bubbles are coming back at him. I also see where some bubbles are moving laterally.

 

[WSOPFAN]

I think that 'wall of bubbles' you're referring to is the camera divers exhales, he's panicked and breathing extremely heavy, he has a head mounted video camera. Further evidence is the 'wall of bubbles' he is in follows him all the way to the surface to 7:30 in the video. Watch the video right around the 4:20-4:30 mark and you see the start of his panic breathing and the big exhales in front of the camera.

If you had ever had experience with one, which it is totally obvious you have not, you would know that is what it looks like and it is described as. As soon as you get a chance feel free to recreate this video and show us how 2 divers can create that many bubbles, cause they can't. I don't need to watch the video anymore, I know what happened. Been there, done that, and seen it before, and that is what it looks like. When you are done reading this feel free to step outside and notice many more pigs flying through the air than you have ever seen.

 

[Sorrows]

150ft for me and my son and 165ft for the other two.

Holy crap! That IS scary! On another Cozumel thread, we were discussing nitrox--I was notiicing that few divers were using it while I was there and wishing I'd just gone ahead and got nitrox for the week. But imagine being pushed down that far on nitrox--so glad you guys got out of there.

DandyDon, I figured if he couldn't get his BC inflated, removing some weight wasn't going to happen, either. It is a good thing to practice, but I wonder if people are just too reluctant to let the weight go--you know, it's inconvenient/expensive to replace the weight pockets (or belt) and it's the kind of thing you do as a last resort and you don't realize you are there at the last resort until it's too late? I remember reading a case of a diver in the Keys during lobster season--they found his body at the bottom with his (very heavy) lobster bag still attached; he just couldn't let it go, I guess. Or maybe he couldn't find the release. Anyway, I am resolved to practice the removing of the weights more--just in case.

Btw, I was once thrown from a horse. Was smart enough to keep my head up, so no big deal. What helped was the fact that we were with a group of German expert equestrians who showed me no sympathy and instead informed me it was all my fault. Humiliating yes, but danged if I didn't get back on that horse immediately--I felt like the reputation of the entire USA was at stake!

 

[Splitlip]

If you had ever had experience with one, which it is totally obvious you have not, you would know that is what it looks like and it is described as. As soon as you get a chance feel free to recreate this video and show us how 2 divers can create that many bubbles, cause they can't. I don't need to watch the video anymore, I know what happened. Been there, done that, and seen it before, and that is what it looks like. When you are done reading this feel free to step outside and notice many more pigs flying through the air than you have ever seen.

Thankyou Fan. I started replying to Mike's post but I could not do it with the decorum you used. I dive (600+) regularly in up to 5kt currents. The bubbles in the face does not happen because in a horizontal current the diver is being moved along as fast as the bubbles. I've done descents, ascents and stops. All the same as if I am in a pool. Cause when drifting, all is relative.
Something extreme was happening in that vid IMO regardless of what you attempt to show us with your arrows Mike. There are also the reports and warnings previously mentioned.

 

[Greenjuice]

Something extreme was happening in that vid IMO regardless of what you attempt to show us with your arrows Mike.

Something like a rapid ascent with and into camera diver's own bubbles?

 

[Splitlip]

Something like a rapid ascent with and into camera diver's own bubbles?

Sure. Possible. But I have still never seen anything like it. I've also never seen any diver, noob or not, get into a situation where his descent has caused this kind of crisis. IMO, looking at the vid from the beginning, the 3 divers were under weighted.

 

[caseybird]

Perhaps divers should plan their descents so they are over hard sandy bottoms, preferably less then 60 feet deep. This might be a valuable thing for low time, low experience divers to discuss with their divemaster before entering the water. Usually, you can just glance down at the start of the descent while finning to avoid the edge of the drop off where currents are strongest.
Or you can go straight for the wall. But I suspect this is something a judicious diver would avoid.

 

[Splitlip]

Further, based on the fact that the divers all took so long to descend as a group, I see nothing to indicate a " bubble blowing" north south current. All the divers ended up within visual contact of each other. There is more here.