Sea Life Center Scientific Diver dies in training

[notadiver]

I had a long response typed out and then backspaced it away. I really don't want to pass half truths or information I don't know for a fact. I just wanted to address what I do know. But I will say one last thing, the Centers response has took a lot of heat here and even thought the Coasties knew first, and the FD soon after. It was Alaska SeaLife Center divers who got there first, found and recovered him and started life saving measures. The tried their damndest to save him. He was their friend. Very sad incident all around and my heart continues to go out to his family.

[Thalassamania]

I have yet to obtain any real insight into what occurred. Can you help?

[Gnashrak]

I have yet to obtain any real insight into what occurred. Can you help?

Read the last issue of Tech Diving Mag (Issue #5), the first article presents a big picture of the accident with visual support... It must be incomplete as I can't believe it happened this way...

[Thalassamania]

There were a lot of rumors that flew about when it happened ... The suit that was filed and settled alleged that Matthew Myers, a student training in Hicks’ self-created Scientific Diving Course@ at the SeaLife Center died when he ran out of air during a deep dive, and was later abandoned by Hicks in nine feet of water approximately 30 feet from shore.

As far as I know, Hicks had not worked with any other DSO, was a PADI Instructor and an experienced cave diver. He was neither a professional scientist or diver, he was employed as the Corporate Affairs Director (I think he was a lawyer) for the institution. Basically he was, from what I can determine, an amateur with the DSO title but not the DSO background and skills. If I had to place blame for this accident it would fall not just on Hicks, but heavily on the members of the DSB and the Director of the institution who should have known better than to place Hicks in that position that required a skill set that he clearly did not posses.

I have long been concerned with the aquarium segment of AAUS, few of whom had significant contact with and knowledge of the academic diving community.

[covediver]

Sorry I was not able to get back to you on this. I wait for the same info.

Yes, that Hicks thing sure is a clust, no sure we will ever know the full extent of it. One hears rumors up here, half-truths, thoeries, and so on. Coming as close as it did to the Healy incident, well it makes us think a little harder about these things up here. I am not longer an active scientific diver. It just got to be a bit too much and they disbanded the team where I worked due to inactivity.

I'm not sure I understand some of the points that you try to make. Not sure that beig a professional scientist is a prerequisite to be a DSO. I know lots of professional scientists who have come back to the boat with no air in their tanks, believe that rules are something to be circumvented, and are only diving because it was a department expectation that they do so. I am a trained social scientist, but did most of my scientific diving before before having the degree conferred. Besides, some of the best pre-aquarium and pre-NGO DSOs were not scientists, some had less than a couple of years of college. Most were extremenly good watermen and had a knack for herding cats.

That said, I could never figure why being a recreational dive instructor qualified anyone for a diving officer position.

The Hicks incident may never be completely understood. The nature of diving in Alaska requires that we add additional consideration to our dive planning (i.e., carry enough oxygen on some shore dives because nearest EMS with additional oxygen may be two to three hours away. Rescue techniques learned in warmer water may be more complicated up here, and so on. Every area has its considerations and complications. This location specific character was driven home as I was reading James Wooford's recent book, The Great Barrier Reef: In Search of the Real Reef. The author untertakes a two year stint as a scientific diver (though not a scientist) on the GBR. Makes for very interesting reading.