News is reporting "Diver missing off Blake Island" - Puget Sound, WA

[ElliottM]

I hope there is a happy ending to this story, but it sounds bleak.

Link

 

[fisheater]

Sounds so damned (and regrettably) typical. Diver in trouble makes it to the surface and then forgets to ditch weights and/or to orally inflate their BC.

 

[Tfast78]

I have to agree that it doesn't sound good. LIKE FISHEATER SAID, DITCH THE WEIGHTS AND EXHALE INTO YOUR BC PEOPLE!!!!!!

 

[boulderjohn]

Let's not jump to conclusions. It could have been something incapacitating, like a heart attack. Cardiac events are among the most common causes of scuba fatalities.

 

[Tfast78]

Let's not jump to conclusions. It could have been something incapacitating, like a heart attack. Cardiac events are among the most common causes of scuba fatalities.

Could have been...

 

[DandyDon]

It may be otherwise, but the report says "He reportedly surfaced out of air, then slipped back under the water." From that, it sounds like diver error and panic. How often do most drill on ditching weights? We do the first dive of every trip as screw ups happen.

 

[Ayisha]

The text from the first link in case it disappears:

Diver Missing Off Blake Isand

By KING 5 News
2012-05-21T00:45:21

• The Coast Guard and two fire departments were searching Sunday for a diver who failed to surface near Blake Island.

Three boats and one helicopter were looking for the diver, who was reported missing just before noon. The 59-year old man had been with a group of recreational divers just south of the island. He reportedly surfaced out of air, then slipped back under the water.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Reports I've read indicate that these divers were using surface-supplied air ... which makes the OOA theory unlikely.

Not much info to go on at this point. But it's ling season, which brings out divers who only dive infrequently ... and often in wonky setups. We lost one at the same spot last year.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[AfterDark]

Reports I've read indicate that these divers were using surface-supplied air ... which makes the OOA theory unlikely.

Not much info to go on at this point. But it's ling season, which brings out divers who only dive infrequently ... and often in wonky setups. We lost one at the same spot last year.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Maybe the Hookah ran outa gas?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Who knows ... here's the report I read ... Search halted for the night for spearfisherman missing near Blake Island | Seattle Times Newspaper

A poster on another board who knows the deceased says it's unlikely he was diving anything other than conventional equipment.

Know that tidal exchanges were rather large this week-end ... on the order of 12 feet ... making this area pretty current intensive.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)