Galapagos Scuba Diving Fatality - February 12, 2010 - Eloise Gale

[DandyDon]

They do discover scuba dives in heavy current on the Galapagos? That just sounds insane. I thought those required much closer supervision than he described. I got the impression it was a first dive after certification - but you may be right.

By the way, welcome to ScubaBoard Pablo!

I think so. Ecuador is different. Like the Caribbean etc, rules are only suggestions; just don't kill so many tourists that it's bad for business. Anyway that's what I read from "my introductory course was the night before, wtching a promotional video of the Open Water, i tried on the equipment and went to rest."

 

[warriorpilot]

Thanks for the advise, i´ll take completely in the right way, reading back, i didnt manage the risk, and i feel lucky now, some fatality could have happend there. >Opposite then flying i have gattered 2000 hrs in multicrew, what i learned and applyied in that dovong day was "don´t panic". Thanks for teh advise and the warm wellcome!

Pablo, that dive had nothing to do with "managing risk", and if that's the way you do it in the air, I hope to never fly with you. This may seem harsh, but I hope it will get through. What you did was to ignore risk, or to be oblivious of risk, not manage it. No matter how much reading you've done or how many videos you've watched, you can't possibly have had the skills to manage risk in that environment. "Managing risk" means that you understand the environment and have a mastery of your gear and skills that will allow you to adapt to the issues that arise. To give you a pilot analogy, what you did was similar to learning how to fly a Cessna and then hopping into a jet to fly through the eye of a hurricane. Please go somewhere that will let you practice skills and become intimate with your gear before you take on any more advanced dives.

 

[Misa]

My name is Pablo im 32 years old and begun diving 2 months ago, my first dive was in Gordon´s rock (Santa cruz, Galapagos), that was a great and lucky experience considering that my introductory course was the night before, wtching a promotional video of the Open Water, i tried on the equipment and went to rest. The next day we left the port at 07:00 went to the spot and got ther in 30 minutes, rough and huge waves around the rocks, it is normal said the dive instructor, there were 7 experienced divers, and the instructor told me, dont tell them you are on course, i was a littlet afraid but as i am, did´nt bother to concern about it, there were a short briefing, on 5 minutes about the place, signals, fish recognition, boat exit and boat boarding. ....mask on, regulator on, on my count 1..2...3 go!!, on top there was the signal go down, the only thing i saw is the group going deeper and deeper, i felt a terrible pain on my ears but i controlled it inmediately, and tryed to reach the group, i was there, i couldnt believe, 30 mts deep, we went by this huge wall searching for hummerheads, after 10 minutes, i got 2000 psi, suddenly, a strong current forced us to hold the rocks, it was so strong that it took of the regulator from my mouth, and then it was coming backwards, like a flag in a storm from one side to another, i can tell for sure, that if i wont hold that rock so hard may be i would have not make it, i could have it the wall, either way we went back on the other way like if nothing had happend, some divers wanted to abort because of the air limit and their concern of the currents, it was scared but i thought that it was normal, so i expected the unexpected. I am also a pilot and i manage the risk everytime, i guess that Galapagos and some spots of the islands is not for begginers as i am, even though i love it, i keep diving every week but now i choose to go with the most experienced diving academy.

I had a dream 1y ago....and i`ve did it. I went to Galapagos and..came back...safe. Most of the dives in Galapagos are decent as currents, you can manage it...but Darwin`s arch is like nothing else in the world. I have only 100 dives , (certified may 2009) some advance certifications and decent fitness level. Darwin`s Arch mostly is about hanging on the rocks. Imagine 3 major currents in the same time, trying to move you in diff directions. Every now and then i had to catch diff rocks with 1 hand in order not to be taken away from the spot. Rules were simple. You jump, you get down asap. If the currents will take you away from the wall you swim back...or you inflate your wing, go up and jump on dingie and cancel the dive.

We had in groups, 4 good divers, 4 medium and 4 beginners. 2 beginners were assigned to the 2 DMs and the other 2 begginners to 2 of those experience divers. I had a camera with me and i felt i couldnt handle a beginner here so i team up with another diver that had a camera.

The key to this dive site is to be a little overweighted and the main thing is not to jump in one certain spot. If you jump at the corner of the arch you jump in the washing machine, a real washing machine. We did one jump here and i lost my buddy after 10 seconds, half group had a chance to descend, half dont...immediatly we had to take the corner else we were screwed also...we took the corner, left corner and moved forward. I was like WTF where is my buddy, wtf i do with the camera here. I had no air on my wing and i was against the current. I move back to check my buddy, no sign of him, i see 2 more coming, all the teams were split, and suddenly i lose the rock and i start to fly in the water along the rocks. I finally catch another rock and move back to the spot. The spot was the place where we had to wait for sharks and whales. The idea of the dives here is to stay between rocks, wait for whales to come, u swim into the blue, stay there and enjoy the view and come back. I`ve consumed 50 bars in 7 minutes at 15m just trying to recover my heart rate. I finally see my buddy, who was hidden after a rock and i make the sign: r u ok? and he answers: so, so. He had the same problem...2 much action, high heart rate...air consumption.

The rest of the dives there were done differently. We jumped way more back so we had to face that corner at the end of the dive and mostly we could avoid that by going into the blue a bit more. Was a bad idea to jump there 1st, dont ask me why we jumped once, but 1st group jumped at different location.

If done correctly Galapagos dives are more mental preparation then physical. Indeed you need to kick a lot sometimes but that is doable.

We only had problems there with Quasar, the company that sold us the trip but that i`ll explain in another thread what to do in order not to get screwed up by a diving company there.

There is a chance you wont like washing machine currents but 3 whale sharks, 100+ hammer heads, 30 dolphins, 5 galapagos sharks, 3 eagle rays, 1 marble ray, 2 turtles, and lots of fish @ Darwin`s Arch / 1 dive worth all the trouble.

Depths at Darwin`s arch was max 20m.

 

[sansky]

I am just now reading this and a few months have passed. I have been to Galapagos twice on the Aggressor. Before my first trip, I read about the "extreme" diving and currents and was nervous and apprehensive about handling the conditions. This was a tragic thing and I also believe it was a panic situation.

One thing all divers need to know - ALWAYS LISTEN to the dive briefing in its entirety.

Even though there are extreme currents in Galapagos, you go with the current and stay as a group with the divemaster. On both of my trips we had personal eperbs, safety sausages, and signaling devices.

I had two great trips there and dove Wolf and Darwin - currents, yes, but you did not fight them.

On one of the trips I dove with Patricio and could not have been more impressed with his professionalism and skills as a divemaster. I truly believe it WAS NOT his fault.

Another lesson to dive by (I learned this when I first got certified) - if the dive does not feel right, don't make the dive!

My sympathy goes out to all involved in this tragic accident.

 

[dzonokwa]

Sansky!
So true. ALWAYS LISTEN to the dive briefing.
And if your guts say "don't dive" then don't dive.
Another lesson to reinforce what we know we should know but don't always do.

Wishing strength to all those impacted by this accident.

 

[luv2dive2]

At this point I don't know that there was anything more that could have been done to save Eloise after the 6-9 minute mark of the dive. It is my belief that she died in that time frame. My belief is based upon the time Kimberly last saw her and the amount of unused air in her tank. Everything after that time was in vain. I am so thankful that Denise found Eloise's body. Otherwise we would still be haunted by the thought of Eloise waiting to be rescued and us not finding her. I am sure the family is better off having Eloise's body recovered, so there are no doubts.

Jamie informed us that the owner of the Galapagos Aggressor I and II, Peter Orschel, would make accommodations for anyone who did not want to continue on the trip, including giving a credit to return at another time. Seven of us were interested, and I talked to Peter via the ship's cell phone. For various reasons, only three of us, Denise Friou, Kimberly, and I actually left the ship and headed home. Peter was very accommodating and seemed prepared to do anything he could for us. He appeared shaken and seemed to have been crying.

It didn't feel right to continue. We didn't feel like partying and having a good time vacationing. We didn't feel safe with the dive masters. We didn't feel that they prepared us for what were going to do and what we would encounter. This just may be our own inexperience, however.

Peter met us at the airport on Baltra Island. It seemed to us that he did everything he could for Eloise's family and for the divers. Although we were bearing all the extra expenses to get back home, Peter's staff was a great help in making arrangements to get us back to Guayaquil.

At this point we have spent considerable time with Denise Friou. She is devastated and questioning herself for not doing more, and she is questioning her decision to follow Patricio's instruction to stay with the group while he searched for Eloise. She has shared with us every detail of the fateful dive, the rescue dive and all its details, many times.

As I write this on February 14th, we have made it back to Guayaquil, Ecuador. We are standing by for a flight home. It happens to be high season for travel from Ecuador to the US, and it is difficult getting a seat and they are very expensive at the last minute, which is what deterred others from terminating their trip. I had been planning this trip for 30 years, and it was over in about 24 hours after arriving in Galapagos. We just could not continue on our vacation and enjoy ourselves after what had happened, knowing how Eloise family and friends must feel and thinking about a young girl, the age of our children, who had tragically lost her life.

We are experiencing nightly nightmares. That is one of the reasons I wanted to put this account in writing so that the bad dreams do not distort my recollection of what happened.

So what could have prevented this tragedy? The following are my suggestions. Keep in mind I am not a very experienced diver (150 dives over 10 years; 100 of them in the last six years). Please add whatever tips or observations you may have … it may save one of us.

1. The dive briefing could have been much more detailed as to what we would encounter and what the dive plan was.
2. Patricio could have descended slower to keep the group from getting as spread out as we did.
3. We could have not gone as deep and possibly avoided the heavy current as the first group of divers apparently did.
4. The Aggressor fleet should make it abundantly clear that the Galapagos dives are for advanced divers only.
5. Be physically fit and free from any medication influence that may affect diving in such challenging waters.
6. Stay with your buddy.
7. Find a considerably easier spot to do the first full dive allowing the divers to get more comfortable with the environment and their diving buddy.
8. Use satellite locating devices on all dives.
9. Carry an easily activated noise maker easily heard under water.

The following was emailed to me by a diver who had been on the Galapagos Aggressor II the week before our trip:

John,
Thank you very much for the details. I'd like to share my thoughts based on my week on the Aggressor, and I do not intend to judge anyone. There are always several reasons which lead to a disaster. I am a PADI Rescue diver and had 170 dives before entering the boat. My wife is PADI OWSI and has 200+ dives.
When we planned the vacation, we both of us were unsure if we had sufficient experience for the dive spots in Galapagos. However, we have been to many different places before in all kinds of equipment up to dry-suit diving in very cold water and with zero visibility.

The next step to mitigate risks was to stay in Puerto Baquerizo three days before embarking. So we already did a day of diving with Wreck Bay Divers to warm up after 6 months of inactivity and checked thoroughly how we got along with the new equipment pieces we bought for the trip.

Of course we were challenged by the strong current, too. Even my wife as an instructor aborted one dive because it was too much for her. But I had not expected from the guides to prepare us for that. The big fishes are where the currents are strong. So we expected really tough dives from the very beginning. And Patricio did a very good job to find the best ways to get through; Jaime's group often had more problems with the current than his.

What I want to say is: I would not recommend the trip to anyone with significantly less than 200 dives and some of it in stronger currents. The problem is: No one tells this to the people for business reasons. We had professionals among the guests with 4000+ dives, and they confirmed that the usual maximum requirement in ads is "50+" for difficult dives anywhere. This is definitely not sufficient.
And PADI & Co make it even worse when they certify people as dive masters or even instructors with 60 or 120 dives, as you said, most of them in lakes or swimming pools. My wife's instructor certification was worth nothing in the current at Darwin's Arch, where the current was so strong that it twisted our reef hooks. The only thing that counts is experience. And this cannot be provided by the dive guides. However, only few instructors I have seen so far tell their students bluntly about their current stage of capabilities and prevent them from overestimation. For the same reason -- the truth is bad for business.

It is a very sad story, and I understand your reaction to quit, as all vacation feeling was gone. But my feelings are not only with the girl and her buddy, but also with Patricio, who has now the hardest time ever. And I do not believe he is to blame.
Regards,

(Name withheld)

This is a report I received from my brother. Neither one of us were there on the boat. My brother was in the Galapagos on another boat when this occurred. He sent the article. There is a Byline after the title.

I've dove in Galapagos several times. I totally agree that only VERY EXPERIENCED divers make this trip. My first time there was with a group that I will not name. More than one of the divers were inexperienced. One diver had only just received her certification only days prior to leaving on the trip. For many reasons, I travel with a small tank (larger than spare air) which is used (or not) for emergency situations. In addition I keep sound devices in my BC pockets, a whistle, an alarm hooked up to my BC inflater hose, AND a long leash. Thank God I had these things with me in Galapagos. On the very first dive, the new diver started to drift away at the end of the dive AND someone had run low on air! The very first dive!!! It aggravated me to no end!! Only the most reputable of dive operations should REFUSE to take INEXPERIENCED divers! This is for their protection, my protection and to protect those not ready to dive in Galapagos. Your situation is certainly a sad one and one that could/should have been avoided. I've dove with the Aggressor operation previously and did not experience anything like what happened in February, Thank God!
We as divers must also hold ourselves accountable in when and who we dive with. This in no way releases the divemasters of any responsibility for a death on their boat. Our lives are much more valuable than any form of monetary exchange, in any country! I absolutely love to dive, but I won't do so if I have any reservations with what's being said or more importantly, what's not being said. May you and your family find inner-peace with something so senseless.

 

[AggieDiver]

On one of the trips I dove with Patricio and could not have been more impressed with his professionalism and skills as a divemaster. I truly believe it WAS NOT his fault.

I am not trying to bag on Patricio, don't know him, wasn't there, and don't know if it was his fault or not (probably mostly not), but as your post said, listen to the dive briefing. If the briefing said stay above 90 feet to avoid the currents, and Patricio dropped in and immediately took them below 90 feet, I have to question his judgement. It is one thing for a group member to ignore the pre-dive briefing (that is stupid, but it happens), it is another for the "guide" to ignore the briefing and try to lead a group of divers into doing something they were just told minutes ago not to do.