Anyone hear of Central Florida Diver Death on 11/14/08?

[Surface Tension]

I don't have any details so regard this as hear-say at this point.

My wife heard news that her pastor when she was a child died while diving yesterday.

He lives and is a pastor in the central Florida area.

If anyone knows of any details we would greatly appreciate them.

Dave

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I heard that a 27 yr old male, diving from a charter boat, in 70 feet of water died yesterday off of jupiter area. I heard it was from a vessel operated by the Jupiter Dive Center. This is all second and third hand information, but I heard similar stories from multiple independent sources.

 

[Louma]

HI that was my brother in law Nick that passed away yesterday. I do not dive but right now i have so many thoughts in my head. He lived in Jupiter farms, and was 33 years old. From what my sister told me he was having problems with his tank and he had a partner but some how they got seperated and they found him floating later.

Guys please be safe.

RIP Nick Felipe

This would be the 2nd death out of Jupiter in 3 weeks (Li'l John being the first). I'm not a real fan of the "typical" dive profiles that this area offers. I know thousands have done similar profiles and we get away with it. Just because your computer says you can do it, dosen't mean you should do it. I'm rethinking the way I dive similar sities.

 

[hobodiver]

This would be the 2nd death out of Jupiter in 3 weeks (Li'l John being the first). I'm not a real fan of the "typical" dive profiles that this area offers. I know thousands have done similar profiles and we get away with it. Just because your computer says you can do it, dosen't mean you should do it. I'm rethinking the way I dive similar sities.

What type of dive profiles would that be?

 

[deepstops]

Jupiter diving is advanced and can be quite challenging under some conditions.
Stack that with back to back repetitive deep dives with shorter (<1 hour) surface intervals and you can get into trouble quickly.

 

[Stu S.]

First, let me state that I feel badly about the young man who just passed on, and send my sympathy to his family.

Now to answer the question about dive profiles. From my logbook, Jupiter, 6-8-2008.

Scarface Reef

In 2:19pm max depth 84, avg depth 66. Out 3:08 pm dove with Nitrox 37%

57 minute surface interval

Loggerhead Reef

In 4:05pm max depth 73, avg depth 59. Out 4:57 pm dove with Nitrox 38%

Used Cressi Archimedes 2 computer and all was within limits. Got on boat with 700 psi left.

This was a typical drift diving afternoon. Problem free.

Would we be presumptuous to assume the unfortunate events at Jupiter this year are due to this sort of profile?

 

[jupitermermaid]

This would be the 2nd death out of Jupiter in 3 weeks (Li'l John being the first). I'm not a real fan of the "typical" dive profiles that this area offers. I know thousands have done similar profiles and we get away with it. Just because your computer says you can do it, dosen't mean you should do it. I'm rethinking the way I dive similar sities.

I think it is completely unfair to blame or even suggest blame in the two recent deaths in Jupiter to the dive profiles Jupiter diving offers. Both accidents occurred that could have happened anywhere. It was just bad luck that it happened in Jupiter. I was on the dive with LittleJohn when he had his problem. He had two good dives, started having problems breathing later, was administered oxygen right away and the paramedics were waiting for us when we got to dock. After DCS treatment he got worse. A primary cause of DCS would have shown improvement after treatment. They found out later that he had a heart attack, stroke, and a large cancerous tumor on his kidneys. The same outcome could have happened if he was diving in 20' of water or mowing the lawn. The dive profile was not a major factor in his death. No disrespect intended, to John, as I admired and liked LittleJohn, and miss not having him with us anymore.

With Nick, he was new to wearing doubles. His instructor told him he was not ready to go out on a boat using them yet; that he needed more practice. Again, no disrespect to Nick, but he went against his instructior's directions and went diving with them anyway. That again could have happened on any boat. If you don't know how to use your equipment properly it can lead to problems no matter where you are.

 

[deepstops]

Would we be presumptuous to assume the unfortunate events at Jupiter this year are due to this sort of profile?

There are more factors at work here than just the profiles. It can often be high current, lots of animal encounters (distractions), changing viz, etc. Combine all these factors in one dive and even an experienced diver can be thrown off their "A game".

And I think we need to look at more than just this year. Every year, a few divers are lost diving Jupiter (either never found or found deceased or died later on after complications). More often than not, these divers are experienced.

And let's look at how many people are diving Jupiter (with four boats running regular schedules there that I'm aware of) compared to Palm Beach or Boynton Beach where dozens of charters run and you'll see there's certainly disproportionate number of diving accidents in Jupiter.

Looking at Little John's accident, other complications were a bigger factor than the diving.

 

[Rick Murchison]

...With Nick, he was new to wearing doubles...

Do you have any other information on what happened? Profile? Trouble at depth? On the surface? Lost? DCS? OOG? Rescue efforts?
Have there been any published reports anywhere?
Thanks in advance.
Rick

 

[Talon]

I don't want to get into too many details, but here are some facts.

Site: Area 51 - First dive of the day
Depth: Top of the ledge at about 75 feet
When: Problem occurred early in the dive (approx. 10 minutes)

Diver made it back to the surface, but almost immediately descended again.

We found the diver where he had descended.

*** Dive profile had nothing to do with this incident. He was spear fishing and diving alone. Pressure gauge read empty. Don't know if it was reading just one tank or both (i.e., isolator value issue).

Do you have any other information on what happened? Profile? Trouble at depth? On the surface? Lost? DCS? OOG? Rescue efforts?
Have there been any published reports anywhere?
Thanks in advance.
Rick