Female diver found dead in the water at Blue Heron Bridge

[mscott556]

Female diver pronounced dead after crews discover her unconscious at Phil Foster Memorial Park

RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. - Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Investigators are attempting to locate any witnesses who may have seen what happened, after a woman was discovered unconscious in the water at Phil Foster Memorial Park in Riviera Beach.
PBSO Marine Unit Deputies were patrolling the south side of the Phil Foster Bridge roughly between 11 and 11:30 a.m. Sunday near the life guarded swimming zone, when they found a female diver not responding.
Deputies call emergency responders who transported the woman to St. Mary's Medical center where she was pronounced dead.

Read more: Female diver pronounced dead after crews discover her unconscious at Phil Foster Memorial Park​

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[ScubaPink]

Oh! That's terrible. I was in Riviera Beach today but at the marina. I've dived here before. Strong current and a medical condition plus a solo diver? Speculation but this is awful.

 

[DMDavid]

I hope we can find out the cause in order to avoid such a trajedy if possible.

 

[DandyDon]

She wasn't alone on the dive, but the buddy protocol seems to have failed...

Female diver dies near Phil Foster Park - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

A woman from Clearwater died while diving with a buddy Sunday morning around 11 a.m. near Phil Foster Park, said the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
A PBSO Marine unit pulled the 57-year-old out of the water on the South side of the Phil Foster Bridge. She was unconscious and taken to St. Mary's Medical Center but couldn't be revived.


The woman was diving with a buddy who had told her to surface. The victim continued to dive below the water for starfish. They separated and the dive buddy thought she was swimming back to the beach when he saw the victim pulled aboard the marine boat.
PBSO is unsure if the death was an accident or the result of a medical problem. The investigation is ongoing.

Another version...

Clearwater woman dies while diving in Riviera Beach | www.palmbeachpost.com

RIVIERA BEACH —
A female diver died Sunday near Phil Foster Park, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said.
A sheriff’s marine unit found the woman around 11:30 a.m. floating in the Intracoastal Waterway near the Jerry Thomas Memorial Bridge, which links Riviera Beach and Singer Island along Blue Heron Boulevard. The sheriff’s office did not release the woman’s identity but described her as a 57-year-old woman from Clearwater.
According to the report, the woman was diving with a buddy who told her to surface but the woman kept going down after a starfish. The other diver and the woman became separated. When he surfaced, he saw the sheriff’s boat pulling the woman out of the water.
The woman was taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, where she was pronounced dead, said Teri Barbera, sheriff’s spokeswoman.
Whether the death was caused by some sort of underwater accident or a medical problem is still under investigation.

 

[ScubaPink]

She wasn't alone on the dive, but the buddy protocol seems to have failed...

Female diver dies near Phil Foster Park - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com


Another version...

Clearwater woman dies while diving in Riviera Beach | www.palmbeachpost.com

I don't understand this. If this is the Blue Heron Bridge where I've been, you are hard-pressed to get to 15ft. (Maybe 20 at the deepest but then you are in danger of being in the path of boats) So, how long does it take to surface at 15ft? I no longer have the article open to read it but I think it said something to the tune of the buddy told her to surface but she kept diving for starfish and by the time buddy surfaced they were pulling her out of the water. Presumably, buddy told her to surface because buddy was going to surface. How long could that take? If buddy surfaced and she kept diving for starfish, why did buddy surface and see her being pulled from the water? It seems like buddy would have seen her surface and floating long before the boat did.....this is a strange scenario and it will be interesting to see if we get any more facts. Am I analyzing this incorrectly?
Also, and this is IF this is the same place that I was, it would not take very long to swim back to the beach. The current can be tough on the surface so it is only for that reason because the actual dive area to the beach isn't very long. Of course, as I type this more thoughts come- maybe buddy thought she was swimming for the shore under the water and buddy stayed topside and headed to shore? But again- it said buddy surfaced and saw her being pulled onto the boat.

---------- Post Merged at 07:16 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 07:05 PM ----------

Another thing- SORRY- according to this website- high tide would have been at 9:00a.m. You are supposed to dive there at high tide- 1hr before or 1hr after. One article said they went diving at 11:00 a.m. which would have meant SERIOUSLY STRONG currents 2 hrs after high tide. The other article said they found her floating at 11:30. Sounds like, from what we know just here, they made some errors in buddy and dive planning. That water gets brutal with the current.

 

[pafindr]

When the news report says "surface" it may not mean to directly surface.
It could be that instead of heading directly to the surface they were to swim to the beach and surface as it gets shallow. This would somewhat explain the time it took for an issue to occur and for the Sheriff to find her.

 

[mscott556]

high tide would have been at 9:00a.m.

That's the part that gets me...I was there and out at 9:37.

When the news report says "surface" it may not mean to directly surface.
It could be that instead of heading directly to the surface they were to swim to the beach and surface as it gets shallow. This would somewhat explain the time it took for an issue to occur and for the Sheriff to find her.

That's the way I read it.

 

[DMDavid]

From my years of experience in dealing with the media I have learned not to expect the actual facts but rather to expect whatever they feel will fill the lines of the newspaper.

In other words, don't start looking for the facts to come from the speculation of the media.
Wait till there is an official announcement from local law enforcement as to the facts and direction of the investigation.

 

[jet126]

Yes, lots of gaps in the facts surrounding this. The current can be horrendous too early before or too late after high tide. Vis can also turn to crap in an instant. Shallow as it is, it would be very easy for a diver unfamiliar w/ BHB to get disoriented.

 

[DandyDon]

If we were to take this quote at face value...

The woman was diving with a buddy who had told her to surface. The victim continued to dive below the water for starfish. They separated and the dive buddy thought she was swimming back to the beach when he saw the victim pulled aboard the marine boat.

My thought that the surviving diver told the other one to surface for whatever reason, an important part left out here, then the surviving diver continued the dive alone - but so did the victim, leading to two solo divers when in action when the victim ran into problems. He later surfaced to see the victim being pulled out. This guess may not be the case, but - I have seen it done, had it done to me because I use air faster, and it's a buddy protocol failure to avoid.

My suggestion is that real buddies do not separate intentionally. Either one can call a dive for the pair, but not send the other one to the surface alone. They enter together, exit together, and everything between together.

From my years of experience in dealing with the media I have learned not to expect the actual facts but rather to expect whatever they feel will fill the lines of the newspaper.

In other words, don't start looking for the facts to come from the speculation of the media.
Wait till there is an official announcement from local law enforcement as to the facts and direction of the investigation.

Yeah, we could close this A&I discussion forum down waiting on those as we very seldom get them, just wait for the DAN annual study two years later.

Instead, we discuss the what-ifs & speculations in hopes of avoiding those.