DEATHS IN FLORIDA

[Madder_Than_Hell]

The caves here in the pristine fresh water of Florida have claimed two more lives. 20 FEB 2001, two open water divers went beyond their training and died in Royal spring. The youngest of the 2 divers 19, had just recieved his open water cert. that morining. The 2 divers entered the silty cave system of Royal Spring, no lines, one light, low on air. They kicked up a lot of silt, got disoriented in the cave (500 feet in) and drowned. It's a shame, but too many divers try to push the limits and go beyond their capabilities. Cave divers from Ginnie springs tried to located them Sunday night, but called off the search, because of poor visibility. The two men were found on Monday morning.
It's terrible it happened. I was just diving Royal Springs on Saturday too.

 

[Iguana Don]

Madder_Than_Hell,

I have to disagree with you on this, it is not the cave's fault these two died, stupidity is the one who is at fault.
Why do people do these stupid things that get them killed.

If people would just remember what they were taught in O/W, lots of lives would not have been wasted. Or if people paid attention to the deaths and what caused them, lots of lives could be saved.

It's not the cave's fault.

ID

 

[Mario S Caner]

Did I miss something?

The divers in question were obviously not mature enough to get certified in the first place. It's no secret that cave diving requires additional training and gear. Do I feel sorry for them? Well to tell you the truth, it's unfortunate, but NO I don't feel sorry. There is a risk involved, that we willingly assume every time we slip beneath the waves. To take a chance like they did, for no apparent reason other than being able to say 'been there-done that' was shear stupidity.

Cave diving is arguably the most advanced form of scuba, and should never be taken lightly. Sorry to lose my cool here peeps, but it really chaps my hide when the industry or sport get's a black eye because of the irresponsibility of a few bad apples.

 

[turnerjd]

I'm right there with mario on this one.

They did something exceptionally dumb and payed the price for it. I have a saying for this

'Evolution in action'

I know it sounds harsh, but they proved that they were unable to follow their basic training, did something stupid, and now nature has prevented their genes from continuing in the gene pool.

Life can be harsh, but science (in this case evolutionary biology) always wins.

Jon T

 

[ericfine50]

Guys.


From accounts I read about, the instructor gave one of the divers a light so he could go to the deep side. What was he thinking????? These guys were BRAND NEW DIVERS!! He should of made it very clear not to go to the cave opening and if he knew the site, he would of know it was a silty area with no flow.

The instructor has to take some responsibilty for these deaths. The NSS and NACD has a video tape that shows what happens when OW divers go into caves. It costs $15.00 to $20.00. I think this should be shown to divers during their course.

Ideas??

Eric

 

[turnerjd]

It would seem that darwinism needs to pay a visit to the instructor too.

Jon T

 

[Bob]

I have to agree with Mario and Iguana Don on this one. Open Water means Open Water. What were they thinking to go into a overhead environment like that? Stunts like this one give the rest of the diving community negative publicity, which we don't need or deserve! Read in the Tampa Tribune this morning that another diver drowned six miles out from John's Pass. He surfaced,was in distress, and accoring to his buddies went back under and they weren't able to save him. Scuba Bob

 

[Mario S Caner]

Might as well stick a fork in the instructor, cause he's done. Does anyone have any info they can post on this incident?

 

[gozumutti]

Apparently we have consensus here. I am no longer surprised at the stupid things people do. I am very sorry for the loss of two young lives and for the families, but I must still ask:

How can people overestimate themselves in such essential matters?

It does NOT take advanced training to know that you oughta stay out of a cave without proper training; it just takes common sense, but "common sense" seems more and more oxymoronic...

...to continue the darwinism thought, sounds like these two crawled out of the shallow end of the gene pool

*gozu is amazed*

 

[Warhammer]

Personally, I think that in this case the instructor should shoulder a good bit of the responsibility. I mean they were his students and he "guided" them into the cave. Would they have gone with or without him? Perhaps, but that's beside the point.