1997 Deep Dive/Shark Attack.

[ReelHard]

Thanks for finding that. So more than likely shark attack was after death.

 

[yle]

Yeah, that was my point... two people try to dive to 500 ft on air and the implication is "it would have worked if only the sharks hadn't been there!"

 

[wgw04024]

"So two guys try to reach 500 ft depth on air, end up dead... and sharks get blamed for it?"

My thoughts exactly....

 

[Tiffiney]

Mac was still alive when attacked by the shark. He was my sister's fiancée and my father spoke to the medical examiner after the autopsy. He was dying of narcosis when he was attacked.

 

[northernone]

Mac was still alive when attacked by the shark. He was my sister's fiancée and my father spoke to the medical examiner after the autopsy. He was dying of narcosis when he was attacked.

Sorry for your family's loss. It's a sobering reminder how human these incidents can be.

Respectively,
Cameron

 

[Bob DBF]

Dying of narcosis?


Bob

 

[dmaziuk]

Of oxtox maybe?

 

[yle]

Of oxtox maybe?

No, I like "dying of narcosis" better. It fits better with the rest of the story. Guy supposedly runs a dive shop, brings a group of novice divers to Cozumel, and while he's there he figures he'll just try to break some record by diving to 500 ft on a single tank.

He certainly was exhibiting classic symptoms (e.g. impaired judgment, etc) of narcosis... even before he was in the water. And it was bound to catch up with him at some point. Perhaps that's what the ME, philosophically, meant by "dying of narcosis."

 

[Bob DBF]

Perhaps that's what the ME, philosophically, meant by "dying of narcosis."

Usually an ME doesn't have a sense of humor when it comes to the cause of death. I would expect drowning, unless there is a test for oxtox, or other cause, after the fact.


Bob

 

[misty3366]

I know this is an older post; however, my family knew Mac, not his friend though. His body washed up and they thought the tiger shark was about 24+ft long by the bite and size of the teeth but that was back in the 90's all the reports read smaller to cover up the Cozumel's image. They were beyond prepared and did not go down with just one tank they had back up tanks and were the most prepared divers we knew. If anyone could do the dive Mac could. There are a couple of articles but they tried to cover it up since Cozumel was an up and coming tourist destination. The 500ft record was a personal record he wanted to achieve for himself. There are a lot of unanswered questions but the flag mac was going to send up never surfaced and his weight belt was knocked off they think when the shark first tried to attack. They know he was conscious when he was attacked and think his weight belt being knocked off or the flag he was going to send up may have attracted the shark even more. His friend was never found that I know of but if it was 20+ ft long then he was most likely eaten completely. They think maybe his friend was first. They both had a camera and the last depth photo was about 296ft. I will link the articles below though both say matt instead of mac. He was a great guy from what everyone has told me. I do not think their plans were ill-planned or pointless I just think there are predators in the ocean that are larger than man and unfortunately, they were in sharks' territory.

Dive claims Highland native
Vacation in paradise turns into a living hell
http://sharkattackfile.net/spreadsheets/pdf_directory/1997.08.14.a-Lupold.pdf