Diver missing in the Bahamas

[danvolker]

I spoke to a crew member of Shearwater....and while I expect more Official News on this to be forthcoming, I think it is safe to relay that:
The Tank, BC, mask and camera were all found in a line away from the boat...and that the buckles on the BC were undone. To me this says that the diver was not dealing with a Shark....but with some other issue(s).
In any shark encounter I can think of, I don't see the diver dropping their camera--which is a phenomenal tool to keep inquisitive sharks away with.....and I don't see a shark unbuckling this guy's BC for him.
Also, I understand there were some medical issues that were directly on point with the incident, and this in combination with the diver's having been severely sea-sick for many hours preceding the dive, is enough for an authority to come in and make some pronouncements.....Hopefully a significant authority will do that soon.

 

[The Chairman]

One the gods of the forum stated that he had never had it happened. If it happened, it was a meant definitely that there were deficiencies in the quality of instruction. Right. Bad things happens.

A bit off topic, but the snarkiness of this post makes me point out something. Many of us have noticed fewer of our students bolt for the surface since we've stopped teaching them on their knees. I'm not sure if you were referring to me (I don't remember the thread in question), but since I stopped teaching students on their knees, I have never had a student bolt. Before that, I had a few. There are definitely things that can be done to mitigate risk, if not eliminate it. Getting students prone and neutral from the beginning increases their comfort and control and thereby decreases the possibility of them bolting.

I remember the death off of Abernathy's boat a few years ago, where the diver broke the protocol for the dive and opened himself up for a bite on his thigh. If he had stayed low, he would probably be alive today. There are protocols out there that will ameliorate risk effectively. If you break them, you are likely to suffer the consequences for doing so.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I too have lost a diver. It was in 2001, a terrible year for accidents in the Flower Gardens, and for my boat. The diver was last seen on the mooring coming up by his buddies. The current was strong, but not Jupiter strong. I knew he was missing long before his dive buddies came up, as he usually proceeded them up by 10 minutes. Not until they surfaced 10 min. later did I raise the alarm. He was in the water with 34 divers and a dedicated dive buddy team. He was a part of a team of 3. One of the 3 was his spouse, presumably with a vested interest in keeping him alive.

You may theorize all you want, but I've lived it. We never saw anything of him again. To this day, I have no idea what happened to him. I do not consider myself a poor, irresponsible or unsafe captain, although I can be irritating. It happens.

I never used those adjectives to describe the captain. My point was simply that the scenario you described would be inconsistent with him floating off, ON THE SURFACE, unobserved by the captain or crew. If they were so casual as to see a guy surface behind a float ball and see him re-descend and then leave the deck and go in for some coffee, I'm sure they would have had a string of accidents a mile long by now. I just don't believe that they would not be reasonably diligent to watch for his appearance on the tag line or see his bubbles coming in etc.. It is entirely reasonable to believe that that is the last time he was seen.

Since he apparently re-descended alone, anything could have happened underwater. The little clues only help me try to rule out certain theories that might be offered.

If your diver re-descended and had a problem in the water column in a strong current and was alone, it is very easy to imagine that he could be swept away. But, as I tried to emphasize, I doubt he floated of on the surface in good health without anyone seeing it, especially if they saw him on the surface on the mooring ball.

 

[brnt999]

I spoke to a crew member of Shearwater....and while I expect more Official News on this to be forthcoming, I think it is safe to relay that:
The Tank, BC, mask and camera were all found in a line away from the boat...and that the buckles on the BC were undone. To me this says that the diver was not dealing with a Shark....but with some other issue(s).
In any shark encounter I can think of, I don't see the diver dropping their camera--which is a phenomenal tool to keep inquisitive sharks away with.....and I don't see a shark unbuckling this guy's BC for him.
Also, I understand there were some medical issues that were directly on point with the incident, and this in combination with the diver's having been severely sea-sick for many hours preceding the dive, is enough for an authority to come in and make some pronouncements.....Hopefully a significant authority will do that soon.

I have read that sharks are attracted to cameras and have been known to bite them. Is it possible--if a camera was attached to a bcd, and a shark grabbed the camera and started pulling the diver, the diver might unbuckle his bcd in an attempt to get away?

 

[danvolker]

I have read that sharks are attracted to cameras and have been known to bite them. Is it possible--if a camera was attached to a bcd, and a shark grabbed the camera and started pulling the diver, the diver might unbuckle his bcd in an attempt to get away?

Douglas has done many more photo/shark dives than I have--so you might ask him this......but I have to say that photographers with cameras, with sharks in the water, tend to have the cameras in their hands....not clipped off and impossible to shoot with.
Not to mention that if there was any curious behavior going on, the photographer places the camera between himself and the shark like a wall....it is very effective.

If you came home and found a hole in your car window, you could begin looking for solar flare activity, and meteorite activity, and try to work up a connection...but the likelihood would have been that some person did it. Sometimes you need to go with what is most likely.

 

[Doug Kahle]

I wouldn't say sharks are attracted to cameras. The only shark I'm aware of that takes cameras is the tiger shark. On the Shear Water alone, they have taken over 50 cameras. They almost always drop them within 10 to 20 feet.

The tiger can be a curious shark. I tell all new shark feeding divers that if they tether their camera to themselves, make sure they untether it if a tiger shows up.

I've never heard of a tiger taking a camera while the diver was up in the water column, only while kneeling in the sand; but, it may have happened and certainly could happen.

Not sure the tiger would drag around a diver for long; they don't even like dragging the camera around for long. Also, not sure why the diver wouldn't untether the camera instead of trying to undo the BCD.

I wonder what kind of tether he had, if any. My tether is expandable; if a tiger grabbed my camera and I was tethered, the tether could stretch to 6 to 8 feet; and easy to untether at that distance.

but, who knows?

also, I know the shear water always warns divers to not tether the camera during the dives.

 

[boulderjohn]

I wouldn't say sharks are attracted to cameras. The only shark I'm aware of that takes cameras is the tiger shark. On the Shear Water alone, they have taken over 50 cameras. They almost always drop them within 10 to 20 feet.

There have been several threads on this topic in the past. I am not a photographer. I am just someone who reads these posts, and from what I read, I believe there is a connection. The usual feeling is that the electronics attracts them through their unique sensors.

 

[wspalding]

There have been several threads on this topic in the past. I am not a photographer. I am just someone who reads these posts, and from what I read, I believe there is a connection. The usual feeling is that the electronics attracts them through their unique sensors.

I've heard they are attracted to the sound of the strobe regenerating.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[danvolker]

They can also become curious when we are using a scooter....From the electromagnetics I believe......I have been paced a few times while scootering, but it has never been an attack scenario, just and interest generator...so to speak.

 

[Doug Kahle]

I think we are playing some word games. I don't think sharks are "attracted" to the camera and strobes, primarily the strobes; but, they are clearly "aware" of the electro-magnetic field emanating from the strobes, just like they are of every other electro-magnetic field in the area, such as the one coming from the diver's beating heart. But, let's use the world "attract" to illustrate the point.

The sharks are clearly not "attracted" to the camera/strobes enough such that the attraction allows the shark to overcome the shark's fear, lack of interest, or boredom in the diver.

When diving with Reef sharks and Lemon sharks, we've noticed that when we set our cameras down on the sand and move 5 to 10 feet away from them, some of the sharks will investigate the cameras and strobes. They have never bitten or tried to carry them away, but they "sniff" them. Again, only some of the sharks will do this, not all of them or even close to all of them -- only a handful.

Also, they won't do this when we are holding the cameras. So, the attraction is clearly not strong enough such that the shark overcomes its fear of the divers. Keep in mind, we have bait around us. Prior to feeding sharks in Florida, I could never get a shark to come close enough to me for a great pic even though I've been diving with a large camera system and multiple strobes for 12 years, every weekend. And, since we've started feeding sharks in Florida 18 months ago, we've realized that there are a lot of sharks in the waters of Palm Beach County. Thus, again, the camera and strobes are not enough to attract a shark -- only dead fish will bring in a shark for a close pic.

Accordingly, I tried an experiment a few months ago. I took my extra strobe, attached a weight to it so the shark would not carry it away, I turned it on, and placed it in various locations on the reef while we were feeding the sharks to see if the sharks would come to my strobe.

The first two weekends, I did it with Lemon Sharks and Great Hammers. Unfortunately, it had no impact whatsoever on the Great Hammers; I was really hoping it would bring the Hammers closer to us. Maybe it had an impact on one or two Lemons, but nothing too noticeable and it was debatable whether it had any impact at all. The Lemons clearly never tried to carry it away, they never bumped it, maybe one or two sniffed it, but not an obvious sniff.

The third weekend, I tried the same experiment with Caribbean Reef Sharks. I was certain I would have Reefies all over the strobe. The Reefies in Palm Beach County are wild and crazy; but, fun to dive with. In fact, if one of us gets bit, it will probably be by a Reef Shark. To my shock, it had no impact whatsoever on the Reefies; nothing; not one of them came close to it. No one was more surprised than me.

So, with the Tiger Sharks, I don't think the Tiger is taking the camera because of the electro-magnetic field -- a lot of things are giving off an electro-magnetic field. Let's assume the Tigers have taken 100 cameras from Shear Water divers -- I'm sure it's not that many; and, let's assume that such has happened over the course of 10 years -- it's been more years than that, however. That means a Tiger does not even take a camera once per month. Considering all the divers with cameras and all the minutes/hours per diver spent with the Tigers, this is not a common occurrence. I've witnessed it only once and the Tiger dropped the camera in 2 or 3 seconds.

I believe every camera but one taken by a Tiger has been returned. They just don't carry them for long, a few seconds.

I think the Tiger is taking the camera because it is bumping it, the diver is bumping the Tiger back; stick something in the face of the shark and it may just investigate it with its mouth. I think Tigers are one of the most curious sharks; so, they investigate and taste things more than other sharks.

I think there is also something to it happening only or primarily when the diver is kneeling in the sand. In this scenario, the diver is not moving and is holding ground when the Tiger moves in to bump, and the diver bumps back. That scenario motivates the Tiger, for whatever reason, to "taste" the camera. In contrast, when the diver is up in the water column, the diver is moving with the current, the diver is not holding ground, and I think the Tiger feels more in control or more comfortable when it bumps; the Tiger is not really being bumped back from a creature that is holding its ground. Who knows????

The more shark feeding dives you do, the more you realize that the shark only wants the dead fish. When the dead fish is gone, the sharks leave us. Also, sometimes the sharks will not eat the dead fish we give them; for whatever reason, they spit it out. Sometimes we chum for an hour and not a single shark comes in. Also, many sharks, especially the Tigers, Great Hammers, Bulls, and Sandbars are very difficult to get close even with a crate of dead fish. Sharks are much more of discriminating eaters than most people realize; and, most sharks fear the unknown -- just like humans. Divers in the water with bait crates are an unknown; clearly, the sharks did not evolve for this type of a dinner.

So, can the electro-magnetic field from the camera/strobes by itself bring in a shark? I've never seen it happen and I don't think so; the "attraction" is simply not strong enough to allow the shark to overcome its fear, lack of interest, or boredom in the diver. Only dead fish or struggling fish bring in the sharks.

The shark is highly evolved; it has been around for hundreds of millions of year. It knows its food source and it does not waste time with the unknown. Humans have never been on the shark's menu and they know it. The shark gains nothing from biting a human and potentially risks injury. We are not good for their diets and, again, they know it.

NOTE: Diving just about every weekend with a camera and strobes for the past 12 years, I had never even seen a Tiger in Palm Beach County until we started feeding the sharks and I have only seen them on the shark feeding dives. Moreover, prior to our shark feeding dives in Florida, I had never seen a Tiger Shark anywhere other than shark feeding dives at Tiger Beach.

---------- Post added July 22nd, 2014 at 09:56 AM ----------

New issue:

They found the tank. Was there any air in the tank?

If yes, I think he clearly ditched his gear on the surface, and most likely for the purpose of swimming back to the boat.

If no, I think he ran out of air in the water column; he tried to shoot to the surface; he could not get to the surface due to too much weight and/or not enough air in the BCD; obviously, he could not inflate his BCD since he had no air in the tank; panic now sets in; he ditches his BCD to shoot to the surface; and, may or may not have made it.

Who knows???

---------- Post added July 22nd, 2014 at 12:56 PM ----------

The most recent article that I have read on this incident:

The Nassau Guardian

Notice, the article states that only the mask showed signs of a shark bite; what about the BCD? Was it shredded or was it not shredded? Now, no mention of the BCD; wtf?

Without a doubt, numerous shark species will "taste" a mask floating on the surface or bouncing around in the current on the bottom. That is not surprising at all.

Not surprisingly, Neal Watson is no longer claiming this was a night dive as he did in his ridiculous prior letter -- again, wtf??? Has Neal Watson issued an apology or attempted to retract his prior letter that contained blatantly false information and accusations?