Why are experienced divers getting killed and injured lately?

[pilot fish]

or die on the way to the dive

this "death" thing is a bit of a problem, isn't it?

Does a person that has died on a Tuesday feel death on a Wednesday? Nay, I'll have none of this death!

Apologies to Falstaff & William S.

 

[shark.byte.usa]

Thanks a lot. Just ordered it on Amazon. How does this book compare with Shadow Divers, which I liked?

I just finished deep descent and had previously read shadow divers. Deep Descent is more of a biography/timeline of the diving activity on the Andrea Doria rather than the Non Fiction "story like" telling of Shadow Divers; a good read I finished it in a couple days, but I like Shadow and Last Dive better.

Garrett

Edit: An don't get Neutral Buoyancy, I viraciously read anything diving related and I couldn't get into this book after a couple attempts, maybe it picks up after the first few chapters, but I never got that far.

 

[LiteHedded]

They probably didn't log their dives.

they're prolly all MOF types

 

[H2Andy]

An don't get Neutral Buoyancy, I viraciously read anything diving related and I couldn't get into this book after a couple attempts, maybe it picks up after the first few chapters, but I never got that far.

ok, it's not just me

 

[Lisa0825]

Diving is increasing in popularity, which means both more divers but also more media coverage of incidents. EVERYTHING bad seems to get reported ad nauseum these days, due to the huge number of media outlets - cable TV with 500 stations, internet sites, blogs, magazines, etc. News travels around the world faster than you can blink, especially if it's bad news. People always seem to think the world is going to hell in a handbasket, and they have thought so since the world handbasket came into existence.

 

[JeffG]

ok, it's not just me

Nope. I had the same view myself.

 

[Fastmarc]

Diving can be risky. So can mountain climbing, paragliding, skiing, snowboarding and driving a car.

I think it does have it's risks and I assume that those who participates do so knowing that it is very real.

I also race cars and as I type I have a car being prepared around the back of my shop that when complete, I plan on taking to the limit. It's the only way I know how to do it and the only way you can win. I have from the begining accepted that motorsports is dangerous and those around me accept it as well. In fact I sometimes have someone strapped in beside me (rallying) and he is very much pushing me, never satisfied until he sees me @ maximum attack. That being said, I am far from a reckless guy and so is he. We do take every precaution avaliable to be safe in regards to safety equipment and preparation. The danger is nothing that is in my mind while I am in competition, but it is in every detail before, just as much as I am trying to squeeze every once of speed from the car and myself. The last car I had, I rolled it on the last corner looking for 0.2 sec. The damage was light and easily repairable, but...
Like I said, it's how I know how to do it.

My approach to diving is pretty much the same. I am continually educating myself, getting more experience, being careful with my equipment and then some....

As they say, never exceed your limit.

 

[cudachaser]

It's summer...many more divers are in the water...Wait till Florida mini lobster season

 

[pterantula]

This could also be that age-old experiment in awareness and point of view, i.e., your brain doesn't automatically notice everything your eyes see. (Stare in front of yourself for a minute, concentrating everything that's blue. Close your eyes, and recreate the scene in your head. Now, recount how many things are... green? Or red?)

What I mean is, has there been a dramatic increase in diving accidents, or have you, since becoming a diver yourself and therefore much more sensitive to all things of a diving nature specifically, just noticed the accident rate?

(Back when everything was just a "motorcycle" to me, there was no big deal; when I became a cyclist, I was amazed how many people in town rode v-twins vs. straight-4s', how that riding demographic differed, and how the greater proportion of v-twins seemed to be specifically Ducatis - which I can now tell by sound alone from 400 yards....)

 

[Swan1172]

I also don't think 49 and 55 are old but the risk of a heart attack or other problems at 49 and 55 are MUCH higher than at 25 or even 35. Diving the Andrea Doria is dangerous even for the well trained 25 yr old. Heck, Micheal Jordan, perhaps one of the best athletes in the world ever, retired much earlier than 49 and 55 because he simply couldn't compete at the same level anymore and he wasn't even doing anything as dangerous as diving. Lets face it, age plays a factor and older people are more active these days than they were even just 50 yrs ago.

I don't think you can generalize dive accidents, but rather need to evaluate each one based on the circumstances under which it occured. Stereotyping accidents and blaming factors like age is a fallacy of logic. If age were a huge factor, you wouldn't see guys like Hal Watts, who is in his 70's and still dives past 200 feet regularly, still around.