Diver dead at Tobermory, Lake Huron

[DandyDon]

From GuelphMercury - Body of diver pulled from Lake Huron near Tobermory

TOBERMORY, Ont. - Provincial police pulled the body of a diver out of Lake Huron on Sunday.

Police say the 49-year-old man from Huron County was out on a commercial diving boat near Tobermory in the afternoon.

He was diving at the wreck of "The King" in Fathom Five National Marine Park when the incident occurred.

Officers brought the man's body to shore around 3 p.m.

An autopsy will be done Tuesday to determine the exact cause of death.

The victim's name has not been released.

[Hashime]

I dove the king on Saturday, and was there in Sunday morning (Forest City / Niagara 2). Damn I left at noon.

[Warren_L]

There was an ambulance there launching a zodiac around 2pm when I was there on Sunday. Didn't hear any details though.

[ScubaSteve]

Just to clarify, "Commercial diving boat" simply means a charter in this case correct? Or was this diver actually a commercial diver working?

Sad news for sure.

[dandyfb]

I was on the same commercial charter boat as the victim, diving The King Sunday afternoon.

The King was the first stop of a two-dive trip. There was nothing out of the ordinary until the caption gave "all clear" to start the dive. I was one of the first to jump in. I and my buddy did not see what happened at the bottom and we were not aware that something wrong had happened. By the time we completed our dive and came up, we saw the captain and a crew member applying CPR to an unconscious diver. My buddy and I were told to remain in water and we did as we were told.

Shortly after, the Coast Guard arrived on an ambulance Zodiak and tried to revive the diver. When their attempts failed, they rushed him away.

I heard the rest of the story from the victim's buddy. The buddy saw him suddenly convulse and sink to the bottom. The buddy went after him to find the victim at the bottom, regulator and mask off and one fin missing. He pulled him up to the surface. Two other divers who saw him went to help. The captain and the helping divers pulled him to the boat. The captain took over, requested help and applied CPR until the Coast Guard arrived. I witnessed the captain and a crew member applying CPR, Coast Guard's arrival, their attempts to revive and his removal from the boat.

For those who are not familiar with The King, the deepest point (the bow) of the wreck is at around 25m (84 ft). The stern is at around 3m (10 ft) of water. While I do not know where the victim sank to the bottom, from what I gather he may have hit the bottom at around 15-20m of water.

Needless to say, the whole incident shook all remaining divers. We ended the trip and returned to the shore. I later learned from the police that the diver did not survive.

My heartfelt sympathies go to the family of the deceased diver.

[snhrph]

Very sad news... I wonder if the true reason will be determined.

[Ayisha]

I was in Tobermory this weekend with the same charter company, but on a different boat most of the weekend. I was told a slightly different version of events than what was posted above. I was told by people close to the situation as well as by a family friend, and all of their versions were consistent, but some were more detailed than others.

We dove the Forest City and Niagara II on an adjacent boat in the morning. We left the docks and the accident happened shortly after at the beginning of the afternoon dive on Sunday. Most people around the Tobermory business district heard the sirens. We got a call in the mid-afternoon with some details and talks about a heart attack and the rest came later.

The 49 year old doctor was about to dive with his wife. He mentioned that he was not used to cold water and was uncertain about doing The King. He began the dive and about 5 minutes into the dive, he went flat on the bottom. His wife went to the surface, waved her arms and yelled for help. Two divers retrieved the unconscious victim, released his weight belt, inflated his BC and brought him up to the surface. There was a question of whether there was O2 on board. The victim was not able to be revived and witnesses said he appeared to have already passed when he was brought up.

This morning, we were switched to the boat that the victim was on yesterday and we did the Arabia and King. There was definitely O2 on board today. When we got to the King, we were asked to look for a weight belt. None of our group found it. By the time we surfaced, we could see the police boats attached to the boat in front of us with the police divers gearing up. The police divers asked to speak to one of our divers at length. At about 4:30 or so today, the Underwater Search and Recovery Unit van passed us on the highway as we were heading home, presumably after at least half a day of investigation in the area.

[DandyDon]

I dove the king on Saturday, and was there in Sunday morning (Forest City / Niagara 2). Damn I left at noon.

I'd call that lucky. I'd hate to be there for such a tragedy.

Dandyfb, welcome to SB and thanks for your report. I'm sure that was a stressful trip for all concerned.

Ayisha, thanks for yours too. I'm asking for a speculation but does it seem odd for the police to investigate to that extent? I'm not faulting the wife but I have to wonder why she didn't release his weights and inflate his BC, but then there could have been some factors in play that just made it seem like the fastest rescue - and it had to be very stressful for her.

[Ayisha]

Hi Don, I'm not sure how long the investigations normally take. I'm not sure when the police boats arrived. Before we entered the water, we were asked by the captain to look for a weight belt. I was at the back of the boat and did not see if the police boats were there yet in front of the bow. When we surfaced at about 12:15, the police boats were there and they were preparing to dive. I was told that they were investigating and looking for the weight belt. They were speeding off from the surrounding area around 4:30.

I asked if there were other divers around on the wreck that could have helped his wife and I was told yes, but she went to the surface for help. I am speculating that she panicked, but I don't know what her reasons were or what her training or experience is.

I also asked if anyone suggested to the victim that he didn't need to do the dive if he didn't feel up to if for any reason, but they didn't know.

[cruiser]

Don--It seems like a lot a police involvement just to search for a weight belt. Maybe there's more to it? And if the wife didn't have rescue training, I could see why she didn't bring him to the surface herself (sometimes you can do more harm than good if you don't know the procedure for bringing up someone from the bottom).