Accident on Southern Cal Oil Rigs Dive

[dytis-sm]

I have to say that this does not sound like my idea of a fun dive.

How far off shore are the rigs?

There are three oil rigs that you can dive: Elly, Ellen, and Eureka. The first two are nine miles offshore sitting at 230ft and Eureka a little further sitting on 800ft. The rigs are a lot of fun because they are in open water and you see a lot of life that you will normally do not see elsewhere in socal. You also sometimes see big fish including dolphins, molas, sharks, and there have been mantas and great whites seen on rare occassions. It is a paradise for photographers, and no different than a wall dive since you are diving in and along a structure. The risks are the same as other wall dives and require a level of experience. Accidents are rare.

 

[dytis-sm]

The info at this point is sketchy but one theory is the diver had a seizure and was at a depth of some 130-140ft. He may have had a O2 toxicity seizure if he used Nitrox. Just speculation at this point.

There is a picture on the Sheriffs twitter account showing the discovery but blurred. The diver was carrying a tank with a Nitrox sticker so it is likely that O2 toxicity may have played a role

SEB on Twitter

 

[dytis-sm]

The name of the diver was also released on the facebook power scuba page. Apparently the incident took place during a Power Scuba charter on the Pacific Star. Both are known to operate under the highest safety standards. Actually the first time I dove the rigs, it was on that same boat and with that same club and was surprised with the thorough briefing and safety procedures.

The victim was an experienced diver and well known in the diving community. May he rest in peace.

 

[Kevrumbo]

There is a picture on the Sheriffs twitter account showing the discovery but blurred. The diver was carrying a tank with a Nitrox sticker so very likely that O2 toxicity may have played a role

SEB on Twitter

If the victim was exercising hard into exhaustion & CO2 retention, fighting the current and surge at depth for whatever reason, then yes O2 toxicity could have played a secondary role.

Precipitating cause is again usually Exertion Hypercapnia and metabolic Carbon Dioxide poisoning together with extreme inert gas narcosis along with exacerbating any other underlying potential cardiorespiratory disorder/disease in the victim's medical history.

. . .As long as the maximum inspired PO2 is ideally not more than 1.3–1.45 bar and the diver is effectively resting, then the risk of a seizure would be small.

Again, high levels of CO2 are known to increase the likelihood of cerebral oxygen toxicity syndrome, which can manifest as a seizure with little or no warning. The mechanism for this is probably that high CO2 levels cause a substantial increase in blood flow to the brain, thus increasing the brain’s exposure to oxygen. . .

 

[Kevrumbo]

The name of the diver was also released on the facebook power scuba page. Apparently the incident took place during a Power Scuba charter on the Pacific Star. Both are known to operate under the highest safety standards. Actually the first time I dove the rigs, it was on that same boat and with that same club and was surprised with the thorough briefing and safety procedures.

The victim was an experienced diver and well known in the diving community. May he rest in peace.

Just this past July:
Safety Stand Down - Power SCUBA - San Diego CA

 

[dytis-sm]

Just this past July:
Safety Stand Down - Power SCUBA - San Diego CA

This "Safety Stand Down" was in response to two sequential DCS cases on club trips. This is a club that runs a lot of trips in socal and abroad concurrently. So for the number of divers and dives that are done with them, the club's record is impeccable.

 

[Ken Kurtis]

The diver was carrying a tank with a Nitrox sticker so very likely that O2 toxicity may have played a role

George, you are SPECULATING WILDY and taking one fact and then drawing a conclusion for no logical reason. The sun also rose on that day so it's like saying because the sun came up, it's very likely that sunspots may have played a role. A diver can lose consciousness for lots of reasons.

 

[Freewillow]

WAs the deceased diving with a dry suit? What did is dive buddy do or tried?

 

[bud bond]

I did the oil rigs dives 2 weeks ago. I am nowhere near calling myself an experienced diver but I do have a fair bit of experience diving weekly in California and off boats here where, as @vladodessit mentioned, you need to be pretty much self sufficient and have your s**t together. The reason I mention this is because even with all that being said, these were extremely challenging dives for me.

Divers more familiar with the rigs can chime in but this was my personal experience as a first time oil rig diver.
- The boats get a very short window (usually 20min) from the oil rig manager to offload divers. This means that there is a fair bit of urgency just getting in to the water. The boat crew's commands and directions reflect this and can be quite stressful as it may feel like they're yelling at you to get in the water. This didn't bother me as my buddy and I were ready to go but I certainly saw some divers get pretty flustered by it.
- The boats can't get super close to the rigs due to security reasons so there's always a surface swim to the rigs, sometimes a 100ft or so in pretty significant swell. You also have to swim as fast as possible since there can be boats coming and going from the rigs and, from what I saw, they were not very observant of divers in the water. Same for the swim back to the boat. For me, this was absolutely exhausting and the hardest part of the dive.
- This is open ocean diving with very little protection from swells. Even what looks like a small swell in the forecast has a much more pronounced effect here than closer to land.
- Depending on ocean conditions, the top 20ft can be quite rough. Even deeper, there was a fair bit of surge horizontally and vertically - we were getting tossed around as much as 10ft in every direction.
- The next statement is just relevant to me but it was significant enough that I felt I should mention it. The blue water below you is absolutely hypnotic. I was anxious enough as it is about this dive and not having anything below me was nerve wracking. It's not hard for me to imagine this taking a large mental toll to the extent that you can lose situational awareness. My solution was to always swim over a crossbar for pretty much the entire dive (lame, I know).

I was talking to the boat crew on the ride back to port and they told me a few stories of almost accidents that were pretty terrifying - losing awareness and ending up around 120-150ft seemed to be the most common as that's where one of the crossbars is. We actually even had a rescue on the trip I was on - a diver, new to California diving and in rental kgear, freaked out on the surface under the rig and actually climbed up on it in panic (huge no-no, people on the rig were yelling at him to get off, also had his reg out, mask pulled down to his neck, not responding to any instructions); the safety diver had to swim out and get him.

Again, the above is only my personal experience and assessment of the dives (based on 1 trip there). Not adding any specifics about this tragedy, just trying to provide some more context for those reading. Always sad to read these ...

 

[dytis-sm]

George, you are SPECULATING WILDY and taking one fact and then drawing a conclusion for no logical reason. The sun also rose on that day so it's like saying because the sun came up, it's very likely that sunspots may have played a role. A diver can lose consciousness for lots of reasons.

I made sure not to speculate... I just reported what I saw when someone mentioned oxygen toxicity. At this point a lot can be said since the diver was identified, someone even posted a picture of him before the fatal dive (how ironic is that). You should see the speculation opportunities on that page. I am with you on refraining from speculation when 100 things could be wrong and there is nothing below you.