Diver dies in San Diego

[Grey_Wulff]

Not wishing to speculate but there are a number of reasons they could have got to 150ft at the Shores. A few that come to mind include. Firstly, they planned to dive that deep. If this was the case they made a very poor decision. Secondly, they might have swam out to far on the surface and dropped directly into deep water. For inexperience divers can be very disconcerting and often leads to them dropping to the bottom. Thirdly, they got disorientated during there descent of the wall and dropped much deeper than planned.

I can tell you I was diving in the area were this occurred reaching a max depth of 135ft. From 100ft down it was as black as night, and my canister light was having problems punching through the water.

The local news last night ran a feature on this story. In addition to the information below the interviewed lifeguard added that the pair were certified several years ago but this was there first open water dive since certification.

Grey_Wullf

 

[ianw2]

As others have said, this is a real tragedy and my heart goes out to the son and the diver’s family.

Just as a matter of clarification for those who haven’t dived at La Jolla Shores, this is a great training area for new divers. During the summer months, literally hundreds of student divers make their first OW dives here every weekend.

The La Jolla Marine Canyon system lies off the shore, here and reaches depths of 300FSW just half a mile off shore. However there is a large, flat sand bottom area less than 40FSW out to about 500 feet from the surf break off Vallecitos, the street immediately to the south of Kellogg Park, where dive classes congregate and gear up. This huge, flat, sandy bottom is why this spot is a very popular location for so many first OW class dives outside a pool.

Starting at about 40FSW/500 foot surface swim out, the terrain drops away in a series of terraces anywhere from 5 to 20 feet vertically and even more spacing horizontally. There really aren’t any large “walls” in this part of the canyon system.

From my Divemaster mapping project as well as a superb “La Jolla Canyon Divers Map” prepared by Ross Overstreet, the 130FSW line lies at about a 750 foot surface swim out from the end of Vallecitos. The 130FSW mark lies at about a 1000 foot surface swim out from the same point. The average slope through this area is about 3:1, meaning a 3 foot horizontal run for every 1 foot of vertical drop (for comparison, most cut/fill banks along road ways are about 2:1).

I’ve been to 144FSW in the plain just south of Vallecitos Point (planned dive). It was a long swim underwater to get that deep and it would have been a long swim to get any deeper.

Perhaps, if Ross reads this, he can provide a link to his fine map or upload it to the album area so his site doesn’t take an excessive traffic hit. Then, others can get a better idea of what this area is all about. Kellogg Park is the large grass area next to the sand just northerly of all the red tile roofs. Incidentally, for a scale reference, from the center of Vallectios, abutting the park on the south side, to the center of southerly driveway of the parking lot abutting the northerly side of the park is 558’, according to the Map of La Jolla Shores Unit No. 4 (Tract Map No. 2107).

My heart goes out to this young man and his family.

I wish there was a mechanism in the dive community similar to the one in the climbing community to share the anonymous details of this tragedy so that we could learn something from this.

 

[jjhill]

My thought after reading the first post is how the father and son got separated after they started sharing air? Once at that stage they should have been holding on to each other while ascending.

Very tragic indeed, running out of air always seems so preventable for me, except in the very rare circumstances of gear failure. Especially running out of air so deep. I would not be surprised if it turns out the depth of 150 FSW is part of the accident in itself as if the divers were not watching their depth or started sinking uncontrollably. I find it hard to believe that any dive team would plan a dive to that depth as a first dive after an OW or even AOW to that depth.

 

[D_B]

La Jolla Canyon Map ...

 

[tep]

My son got a phone call about 15 minutes ago; this is one of his high school friends and his father. The son is back at home, after a chamber ride for the rapid ascent.

No details, but yes they had both been certified for at least 2 years, but not AOW, and not at all clear how active they had been since then.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Perhaps, if Ross reads this, he can provide a link to his fine map or upload it to the album area so his site doesn’t take an excessive traffic hit.

Well, there goes that idea...see Post #14.
Hopefully, Ross's site doesn't get slammed. I agree that it's a very cool map.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

I obtained permission to post the following information from the administrator of an email list-serv serving the San Diego diving community. The administrator (John Moore) has used his contacts within the Lifeguard and SD Fire Rescue ranks to compile preliminary official details surrounding the dive accident. I'll try to update with any changes or additional info as he makes them available. Here's an excerpt from his email to the Divebums list-serv:
===========================================================
Subject: [Divebums] Yesterday's dive fatality at the Shores
Date: October 5, 2008 10:26:19 AM PDT
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It is believed that the father and son were certified in August 2007 and that this was their first dive since certification. The dive plan was to go to 130 feet. Both were diving single AL80s. The actual max depth was 161 feet. The pair descended down a "small salmon egg shaped buoy" which is anchored in 120 feet and proceeded to navigate deeper from that anchor point.

The father ran out of air on ascent at 60 feet (it sounds like it was a free ascent out over deep water, not a gradual ascent upslope, but I'm not sure). The father and son shared air in some manner (manner unknown by me at present) briefly but became separated. The son ran out of air at 40 feet and surfaced.
===========================================================

 

[Bubbletrubble]

The most interesting info in my mind is the ambitious dive plan, utter lack of experience, and actual max depth. If there's one thing that can be learned from this tragedy, it's that we should all dive within our experience and training. Unfortunately, in our sport, poor judgment can be fatal.

As has been mentioned by others familiar with La Jolla Shores, I still think that the area is a very safe place to go scuba diving. There's a sandy bottom with no dramatic drop-offs. It's a great place for divers to improve their skills and see interesting aquatic life up-close. During the day, the prominent lifeguard tower is staffed. There's a huge difference between La Jolla Shores and the more advanced dive site just to the north, Scripps Canyon. At Scripps Canyon, there's a wall starting at about 60 fsw and dropping off quite steeply to a depth of 200+ fsw. Surf can be big at Scripps, and there are no lifeguards stationed at the dive site.

Again, my condolences go out to the family of the divers involved. Be safe out there, everyone.

 

[DebF]

I also happened to be at LJ Shores at the time of the incident. The Lifeguards ran an immediate and professional rescue effort....

How exactly did the LifeGuards find the son? Did you see them spot and bring him in?

 

[DebF]

The reason I ask, is the post from the Unions news/web site.



(post is from below the updated article)

By kavagirl on 10/05/2008 at 4:41 p.m.

My husband was surfing when this happened, when he got home he told me about this. The first person who saw the son waving was a paddle boarder, who started waving their paddle, still no help. Second person there was my husband and eventually about 20 surfers were waving and finally got the attention of lifeguards. The son had been waving for help before the paddle boarder got there he said was 40 minutes. We were angry about the situation, why did it take a paddle boarder and 20 surfers to finally get the attention of the lifeguards????? They may have made a mistake but maybe the father would have had a glimmer of a chance if lifeguards had seen help was needed!!! We have seen someone in a rip current and the life guard is standing on the shore yelling to swim parallel to the beach, What's wrong with this picture???? We are very sad and am praying for the son and family. There are two sides to the storu....