"Sharks saved my life"

[Yellowmask]

This article was in yesterday's Guardian (UK paper):

"Sharks saved my life"

This is an interesting (and frightening) article to read. Analysing it, what can we identify - apart from the dive leader making the fairly major error of saying that the dive would be to 30m, not 40m - that went wrong?

[Cave Diver]

This article was in yesterday's Guardian (UK paper):

"Sharks saved my life"

This is an interesting (and frightening) article to read. Analysing it, what can we identify - apart from the dive leader making the fairly major error of saying that the dive would be to 30m, not 40m - that went wrong?

That article seems to be tweaked for dramatic effect. At 40 meters, she would have to spend about 40 minutes to rack up a 40 minute deco obligation. The article starts with her having a hard time breathing, I don't see anyone staying down that long when they can't breathe.

As far as what went wrong. someone dove beyond their training and comfort level, then embellished it to make a good story.

[sea2summit]

This was a new diver that had no business going there and obviously was under prepared for the dive. A lot doesn't add up though, why did they go into a deco situation? Why did she allow herself to go so low on air she had to buddy breath? The shortness of breath and panic was due to narcosis but it is clear from the article she did not truly understand how that issue was affecting her nor how her gear functions (the reg does not fail to provide you air at depth it compensates, it may breath harder but will give the air). She failed to dive within her limits and turn when she should have after monitoring her air.

I could go on and on but I'm going to stop.

[AndrewA]

Having read the article I agree that there has probably been both over simplification and some dramatisation of the event. I think that this was probably a case of a diver trained in cold lower visibility waters lulled into a false sense of security by warm "gin clear waters" who put too much faith in the guide leading the dive. (I don't think we can call a diver who was trained and dived for 4 years in the English Channel and was on her second (or subsequent) Red Sea trip inexperienced.
She was by her own admission suffering from narcosis and possibly also from over exertion so it is little surprise that she rapidly drained a single tank. As to why she went into deco I ran the dive on a Suunto computer and was up to 40 mins of deco with a 27 min dive time (I got very similar results from both V planner and US navy tables) and that assumed no dives for at least 24hrs (she probably was doing 3+ dives per day on holiday).
As has been said many times on this and other fora as divers we have a responsibility to dive within our limits and comfort zone. This diver failed to do so and nearly paid the ultimate penalty.

[stefo2]

I find it interesting that even with the benefit of hindsight, she sees it as the sharks having saved her life - true, seeing them may have calmed her down and obviously helped her breathing, but the sight also made her completely forget about depth, current and air, which, looking back (not at that moment), would probably scare me more than a narcosis-induced near panic situation. After all, had she "decided" to ascend, after only a few metres she may have been able to breathe AND think properly again, rather than serenely hanging at 40m, breathing down her tank and acquiring a massive deco obligation.

I also wonder when this event is supposed to have taken place, because if it was within the past 6 or 7 years or so, the statement that the "closest chamber was hundreds of miles away" was clearly added for the dramatic effect - there is a chamber in Marsa Shagra (and has been at least since 2003 when I visited it - only out of curiosity, fortunately - , which is a 20 minute boat ride from Elphinstone.

[Cave Diver]

At least she quit diving after that experience. Seems like that may have been the right thing for her to do.

[leapfrog]

1. At 30 meters she should have stopped. If that's the max depth she was happy with, to go beyond was a mistake.
2. They shouldn't have been "finning against the current" in the first place. That's PADI 101. The Red Sea is notorious for its strong currents and the procedure is to GO WITH THE CURRENTS on a drift dive.
3. She was overexherted. That can happen to anybody, especially in those conditions.
4. Her buddy is both an idiot and Superman! He or she was oblivious to Caroline's plight and didn't have any issues with being at 40 meters in a current that was "whipping Caroline away"!
5. What level of training did Caroline have? What was she doing on a decompression dive? If the DM took an "emergency cylinder" with him to 40 meters, then he certainly knew that the other divers were going to breathe down their tanks and have to do a lengthy decompression stop.

My instinct tells me that this article is fabrication.

[Cave Diver]

My instinct tells me that this article is fabrication.

At the very least, highly embellished for dramatic effect.

[sea2summit]

(I don't think we can call a diver who was trained and dived for 4 years in the English Channel and was on her second (or subsequent) Red Sea trip inexperienced.

I've been certified 6 years. Only did 7 dives my first 2 years, my dad's been certified for more than 30 but hasn't been in the water in the last 25. Time does not = experiance, dives do.

Agree with everyone else on the fabrication parts. Ohh well.

[stefo2]

If the DM took an "emergency cylinder" with him to 40 meters, then he certainly knew that the other divers were going to breathe down their tanks and have to do a lengthy decompression stop.

My instinct tells me that this article is fabrication.

Yup. And if they really stayed down at 40 metres long enough to acquire a 40 minute deco obligation, chances are that she was not the only one to breathe down her tank.