Diver dies in San Diego

[Grey_Wulff]

@DebF: The salmon-colored buoy was mentioned only on the Divebums email. AFAIK, it was not referenced by the local news media. It is the one detail in the Divebums email that I'm a little confused about it. I am not aware of any buoy in the vicinity of the search area that matches that description. When this detail is clarified, I'll be sure to update this thread.

Assuming we're talking about the same buoy, I believe it is a training buoy. The buoy has been in place for some time. The first time I became aware of the buoy was in March '08 when a dive buddy of mine said she had dropped down the line with an instructor during a night dive. The buoy is in 120ft of water and quite a long way off shore. I've dropped down the line once on 3/31/08 with the same buddy. The mooring appeared to be in a flat area of sand with an upslope to one side. We did a quick investigation of the surrounding area and found little of interest and consequently headed for shallower water.

Grey_Wulff

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Assuming we're talking about the same buoy, I believe it is a training buoy. The buoy has been in place for some time. The first time I became aware of the buoy was in March '08 when a dive buddy of mine said she had dropped down the line with an instructor during a night dive. The buoy is in 120ft of water and quite a long way off shore. I've dropped down the line once on 3/31/08 with the same buddy. The mooring appeared to be in a flat area of sand with an upslope to one side. We did a quick investigation of the surrounding area and found little of interest and consequently headed for shallower water.

Thanks for the info, Grey_Wulff. I don't recall seeing a salmon-colored buoy in the area that was being searched. Is the buoy you describe located roughly west of the Secret Garden?

 

[Grey_Wulff]

Thanks for the info, Grey_Wulff. I don't recall seeing a salmon-colored buoy in the area that was being searched. Is the buoy you describe located roughly west of the Secret Garden?

Yes, you're correct. In an e-mail to another local diver I described it was being located north of the Main Wall peninsula and south of the North Wall and Secret Garden but you could certainly describe it as west of the Secret Garden.

I was diving very close to that area at the approximate time of incident. I'd left the Main Wall, dropped deeper and was heading north to find the Secret Garden and ascend via the gully that leads down to it. Past 100ft it was very dark. My canister light struggled to punch through the darkness. I never made it to the garden and came up over the sand upslope.

Grey_Wulff

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Yes, you're correct. In an e-mail to another local diver I described it was being located north of the Main Wall peninsula and south of the North Wall and Secret Garden but you could certainly describe it as west of the Secret Garden.

Yup. We're talking about the same location.

I was diving very close to that area at the approximate time of incident. I'd left the Main Wall, dropped deeper and was heading north to find the Secret Garden and ascend via the gully that leads down to it.

I favor the reverse of your dive (although I generally skirt the deeper canyon): check out the Secret Garden first and then follow the 80-70-60 fsw contour south until I reach the Main Point. Very pleasant dive on 32% nitrox, I might add. Ever since that seismic activity last year, there have been some very nice wall-like structures to explore in that area. Not a ton of life down deep, but cool to check out when the vis is good.

 

[divekim]

There is a buoy anchored in 120feet of water. You would have a very long surface swim to get to it, its probably close to 1/4 mile offshore if not a bit farther. I believe this is how far the news said the son was when the lifeguards spotted him.

 

[Noboundaries]

This is a death that appears tragic because it was so easily avoidable. Death is always hard on a family and friends no matter what the reason, whether an accident or bad judgment. If it is true though that they planned a typical California cold water dive to 130 feet in generally low viz as their first dive after certification a year and a half ago, the odds of having a successful, problem-free dive were probably similar to winning the lottery. As soon as they made that decision, they were an accident waiting to happen. It did.

If more facts come to light, it will be interesting to hear about weighting issues, descent rates, who made the decision to dive deep, available light, etc. It may sound cold-hearted, but I'll keep my sympathy in reserve until we hear more details. The second quote in my signature says it all.

 

[DebF]

The climbing community publishes an annual volume covering each incident in anonymous detail without judgment or advice. These incidents can be used for training and discussion among climbing buddies and clubs. Various practices, equipment set-ups and techniques can be modified, or at least checked thoroughly, because of the sharing of this information so capable of saving lives.[/FONT]

As an example of such reports, one that sticks in my mind was on the order of:

A 45 year-old male in good health, 12 years of climbing experience, fell 700’ to his death while rappelling from the top of (climbing route) on (peak). It was determined that the stop knot on the rope was loose and failed to arrest the descent.

Unfortunately, we really don’t have a similar mechanism in the diving community. What a pity.


Ian

We have two such mechanisms that I know of, (1) this informal posting board and (2) Divers Alert Network does publish an annual mortality and morbidity report. It's no extra charge to any one with a DAN membership. It's very informative reading.

Any one know of any other reports out there? The agencies have to be keeping track as well ... Isn't there some one else that does dive insurance?

 

[ScubaSteve]

This is more specific to Ontario, Canada but the Ontario Underwater Council provides these reports although from what I have seen they do not typically have a whole lot of very specific information.

We have two such mechanisms that I know of, (1) this informal posting board and (2) Divers Alert Network does publish an annual mortality and morbidity report. It's no extra charge to any one with a DAN membership. It's very informative reading.

Any one know of any other reports out there? The agencies have to be keeping track as well ... Isn't there some one else that does dive insurance?

 

[ianw2]

We have two such mechanisms that I know of, (1) this informal posting board and (2) Divers Alert Network does publish an annual mortality and morbidity report. It's no extra charge to any one with a DAN membership. It's very informative reading.

Deb:

I agree that threads such as this and the DAN reports are a start. However, we do not have much "official" data to work from in threads such as this. We rarely get anything results of any forensic testing. We rarely get copies of Coroner's reports. The "analysis" we do is speculation, at best.

As far as the DAN reports, they are rudimentary and lacking in any detail necessary for discussion about each accident. I'm not asking for every gory detail, just enough for us to understand the root cause of each incident and the lesson it offers.

While each accident is a tragedy in itself, the loss of the opportunity to learn and make diving safer by understanding these events is not available to us. In my opinion, the tragedy is compounded.

 

[mikerault]

Root causes of most scuba accidents/fatilities:

1. Stupidity
2. Poor/bad health for diving (see 1)
3. Poor equipment maintenance resulting in failue (see 1)
4. Lack of training for dive (see 1)
5. Lack of experience for dive (see 1)
6. Equipment failure without backup (see 1)
7. Diving in improper/dangerous conditions (see 1)
8. Unknown or undetected health problem
9. dangerous fish/animals (usually caused by 1 but not always)
10. Sudden change in conditions
11. Supidity on someone elses part

other than numbers 8 and 10 and sometimes 9 all are usually avoidable/mitigatable.

That about summarizes it I guess...