Diver drowned in Mission Bay, San Diego

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Gilmai

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CBS is reporting that the body of a diver has been recovered early this morning near the Mission Bay bridge in San Diego. There don't seem to be details yet but thought I'd post here so others can update us as they are forthcoming. Early reports make no mention of a second diver.

http://www.cbs8.com/story/23389617/body-of-diver-found-in-mission-bay
 
What's visibility like in the bay? I'm born/raised in SD but have never dove there. I couldn't imagine diving the bay...
 
Which mission bay bridge, I wonder? The one connecting Ingraham St. to Belmont park would make some sense - one of the major training outlets in the area trains there at Bonita cove regularly. If the Ingraham St. bridge, I'd be very curious who would dive there. In either case there are pretty major risks from overhead boat traffic and poor visibility.
 
Yes, it was West Mission Bay Bridge, but directly under the piling, not Bonita cove.
 
Spear fisherman's body pulled from bay | UTSanDiego.com
SAN DIEGO — A diver’s body was found tangled in his spearfishing line in Mission Bay early Tuesday, authorities said.
Someone on a boat beneath the West Mission Bay Drive bridge near Mission Beach noticed a light underwater and called authorities about 5:15 a.m., San Diego police said.
Lifeguards and a police dive team responded and found the light attached to a diver, who had died. The 26-year-old man had been spearfishing near the bridge pilings and got tangled in his line, San Diego Fire-Rescue Department spokesman Maurice Luque said.
The man’s body was recovered and brought to shore. His name was not released.
 
The location was West Mission Bay Bridge. He was a beginner-intermediate free diver/spear fisherman. He is in the Navy. Can anyone help me understand what may have happen to him. I am an Open Water PADI diver and trying to understand the conditions (current, visibility, underwater structure, depth, danger and experience level required,...) under that bridge. Anything that will help us understand what happened. Possible Scenarios? All I know, at this point, is what the news reports, that he was tangled in his shooting line. - Thanks!
 
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Should not have been any current (its a bay, basically a big pond with an outlet to the ocean on one side), visibility was likely in the 0-10 foot range, it's a mud bottom (no structure other than the supports for the bridge, which I know have scallops - perhaps that's what he was harvesting?).

If he was new, it's possible he made a mistake with his gun and got tangled in it somehow (there's a long line that connects the shaft of the spear to the gun itself). The bay is reasonably shallow and aside from overhead boat traffic and low visibility, should be a reasonably easy place to dive - as I mentioned, brand new divers are trained a stone's throw away in Bonita cove.
 
There can be a lot of current in that area when the tide changes. It is narrow at that point and a lot of water has to flow in/out of the bay. The report says spear line but my guess would be fishing line entanglement first then maybe his spear line wrapped on him afterward, a lot of fishing is done from that bridge.
 
I am the mother of the free diver found in Mission Bay on September 10, 2013. I am posting here hoping that someone might be able to help me understand how this type of accident can happen. My son was an experienced diver. He went through Naval boot camp to be trained as a repair diver. He had been spear fishing several times a week (first in Pensacola, then in San Diego) for a year and a half, so he was not a beginner. He was an athlete all his life, was incredibly fit, athletic and very strong. The autopsy report states that he was wearing his knife strapped to his lower left leg. The report I requested from the dive team that recovered my son states that he was found upright, in 8 feet of water, with the float line from his spear gun tangled around his waist and leg, then snagged on multiple bridge pilings. (They took photos of him at the scene, but I have not yet had the courage to view them.) The autopsy found no external injuries (seemingly ruling out being hit by a boat) and no medical conditions that could have contributed to his drowning (i.e., heart attack, aneurysm). No drugs or alcohol were found in his system. I do know that he had been fighting a cold-like virus in the week prior to his accident. The conditions listed on the lifeguard report are: 1-2 feet surf height, wind speed of 1mph, visibility 10 ft. His spear gun was not found, but there was a fish on his spear, and 3 more on his stringer. My grief is beyond description and my heart aches with an unbearable pain that will be with me all my life. Can anyone describe to me what type of problem he might have encountered that would render someone experienced and strong to die such a horrible death? I appreciate any insight that anyone can offer.
 
I'm not a mod, but may I suggest that responders review the special rules of this forum before writing? http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52701

Diver's Mom, all I can add is that because of reading this forum I appreciate that one should always carry at least two cutting tools mounted at different places. The idea being that the redundancy offers some protection in case you drop the tool you're using or you can't reach one of the tools when you need it. In this case It is very posssible to not be able to reach a leg-mounted tool after becoming entangled.

I hope this and other comments help.


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