Diver Dies off Sambro in Halifax, N.S.

[Hawkwood]

This accident happened on Saturday Saturday morning during a dive off of Sambro Island.

From the Halifax Chronicle Herald:

Woman dies in diving accident - Nova Scotia News - TheChronicleHerald.ca

Woman dies in diving accident

By KELLY SHIERS and STEVE BRUCE Staff Reporters
Sun. Nov 2 - 5:14 AM

A scuba diver died Saturday after something went wrong during a morning dive off Sambro Island.

The 28-year-old woman was brought ashore by a coast guard rescue boat at about 11:30 a.m. and rushed to the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax in critical condition.

She was pronounced dead at hospital. Her name wasn't released.

The woman was picked up by crew from the coast guard cutter Sambro about 1.6 kilometres southwest of Sambro Island, said navy Capt. Edward Stewart, spokesman for the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre.

She had been diving from the boat Ryan & Erin, Capt. Stewart said.

He said coast guard employees in a rigid-hulled inflatable boat were working on a buoy in the area, overheard the distress call and were able to get to the dive site in about six minutes.

The unconscious woman was taken to the Sambro wharf to waiting paramedics.

"Shortly after 11:30, a rescue boat arrived at the wharf with a 28-year-old female," said Emergency Health Services spokesman Paul Maynard. "She was unresponsive and unconscious.

"We transported her to the QEII Code 1, which is lights and sirens it's an urgent transfer."

The Ryan & Erin is a 10.5-metre Cape Island-style fishing boat operated by Skipper Dave's Charters of Sambro Head.

Dave Gray, the boat's skipper, said Saturday night he didn't want to comment on the tragedy out of respect for the victim's family. Asked if he'd had a rough day, Mr. Gray said, "Put yourself in my shoes."

The website describes Skipper Dave's as the "top dive charter operation in the Halifax, Sambro and St. Margarets Bay areas."

"Skipper Dave Gray is a semi-retired commercial fisherman who knows the water and ocean bottom around the Halifax and Sambro area as well as any man alive," the website says. "For divers, this means Dave knows where the choice shipwrecks are."

The website says the Ryan & Erin can accommodate up to 12 divers.
( kshiers@herald.ca)

 

[DandyDon]

Sad loss announcement. No details?

 

[ScubaSteve]

This is sad however there is so much information missing in the article that it is impossible to understand what might have happened. No matter what, 28 years old is way too young. Life was just beginning.

 

[Kennedydive]

Normally I would have been on this dive but I had taken the weekend to go hunting instead. I have been given some the details of what happened but it still hard to understand. The name has still not been released so as soon as it has and some more details of the accident becomes clearer than I'll post back.
Jason

 

[george1098]

Really really awful. I was diving about 20 km west of the location where the accident happened at the exact same time on Saturday morning. It's so weird to think of how while I was enjoying myself in the water, something awful was happening not far away. I don't know any more details about the accident than have been reported in the article, but I do know that that dive site is traditionally a tech-diver spot with a wreck in about 170' of water. I have no idea if this was a tech dive charter, but I would suspect so. I hope that some more details are released about the circumstances of the accident so we can learn what went wrong and how to prevent such accidents in the future.

 

[Hawkwood]

From Monday's edition of the Halifax Chronicle Herald:

Questions remain in 28-year-old diver’s death - Nova Scotia News - TheChronicleHerald.ca

Questions remain in 28-year-old diver's death

By KELLY SHIERS Staff Reporter
Mon. Nov 3 - 5:30 AM

It's too early to say what led to the death of a scuba diver who was picked up Saturday by a coast guard rescue crew off Sambro Island.

"We've just in the preliminary stages of the investigation," RCMP spokesman Cpl. Joe Taplin said in an interview Sunday.

"We've waiting for the medical examiner to conduct an autopsy sometime (Sunday) afternoon and . . . we should have some more information by" today.

The woman, 28, whose name has not been released, was taken to hospital shortly after 11:30 a.m. She was later pronounced dead.

According to a Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre spokesman, coast guard workers were working on a buoy in the area when they overheard a distress call.

The woman, who had been diving from the boat Ryan & Erin, was picked up by the crew of the coast guard cutter Sambro about 1.6 kilometres southwest of the island. She was taken to the Sambro wharf, where paramedics took the unconscious diver to the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre.

A Halifax diving instructor said Sunday he hoped the autopsy would answer questions surrounding the tragedy that has been on the minds of many in the local diving community.

He said diving-related deaths are uncommon in this area. He said he believes none has occurred in the last couple of years. The Ryan & Erin's captain, Dave Gray, said earlier that he didn't want to comment on the tragedy out of respect for the woman's family.

The website for Skipper Dave's Charters of Sambro Island describes the Ryan & Erin as a Cape Island-style fishing boat and Skipper Dave's as the "top dive charter operation in the Halifax, Sambro and St. Margarets Bay areas."

( kshiers@herald.ca)

I'll keep looking for any other followups.

 

[nadwidny]

I don't know any more details about the accident than have been reported in the article, but I do know that that dive site is traditionally a tech-diver spot with a wreck in about 170' of water.... I have no idea if this was a tech dive charter, but I would suspect so. I hope that some more details are released about the circumstances of the accident so we can learn what went wrong and how to prevent such accidents in the future.

There are more dives off of Sambro than just the British Freedom and all are in recreational depths. Given that the victim was picked up just 1 mile off Sambro I would guess they were on the Daniel Steinman, which maxes out at ~80' with most of it in the 60-70' range.

 

[Kennedydive]

The wreck maxes out at 150. Most of the flattened bow sits in 120-125 feet as the stern gets deeper. It is still a very advanced dive and only experienced divers capable of diving it are allowed on the charter.
JK

 

[Kennedydive]

There are more dives off of Sambro than just the British Freedom and all are in recreational depths. Given that the victim was picked up just 1 mile off Sambro I would guess they were on the Daniel Steinman, which maxes out at ~80' with most of it in the 60-70' range.

Hi Brian.
I will state that the wreck was the Kolkhosnik. (aka Russian)
JK

 

[Steve SDI/TDI HQ]

Hi Brian.
I will state that the wreck was the Kolkhosnik. (aka Russian)
JK

Thanks Jason... awful news. Thoughts are with family and friends