Creepy things found diving

[Skodises]

Well, as long as the thread has been resurrected (so to speak) anyway, might as well weigh in with our "creepiest dive" story. We were at Stragglers Rocks on St. Thomas with Aqua Marine just before this past Christmas. We were just finishing up a very nice dive, the first of the day. The other divers were already back on the boat, and it was just my wife and I left finishing up our safety stop, with the divemaster using up the last of his air doing a little reef cleanup below us at about 35' right at the mooring pin. We were hanging out at 15', just relaxing, when the divemaster kicked over to what looked like a soggy, collapsed cardboard box sitting on the bottom. He tried to pick it up, but it was very heavy, and just tore apart, leaving him sitting in a little silty cloud of made up of the contents of the box. Just then, a little piece of white paper floated up out of what was left of the box. He caught it, and the expression on his face cannot be described... He waved us down very emphatically, so we dropped back down to see what was going on. He handed the paper to my wife, and her expression pretty much matched his. She handed it to me, and I suspect that my expression was, if anything, even weirder than theirs...

The paper (Tyvek, actually, like the "do not remove" tag from a pillow- they intended it to last!) was a nice little form that read: "Cremated human remains", and gave the decedent's name, date of death, date of cremation, and the name and address of the mortuary that handled the deed. So there we were, hovering in a little cloud of ashes. We replaced the paper (one of about 5 copies) respectfully back into the pile of ashes, and headed off to the boat.

The person had only passed this past September, and was cremated in October, so the remains really hadn't been there very long. They'll be thoroughly dispersed by the current before long, I'm sure. But it appears to me for all the world that somebody in this person's family had sailed out, hit the mooring at Stragglers, and simply dropped the box over the side. We are children of the digital age, so naturally while we were doing our SI before the next dive, we borrowed the boat's Blackberry and Googled the guy. Found his obit, learned a bit about him, and all in all it was quite the surreal experience.

The gear got a really, *really* thorough rinsing after that one.

Moral of the story: be really specific about that whole "scattering" thing, if those are your wishes. And I didn't know that mortuaries put multiple copies of traceable, long-lived documentation in with the remains- and I'll bet that person's family didn't either...

 

[fjpatrum]

In Taiwan, there is a very strong belief in Ghosts and Spirits.

Annually there is a "Ghost Month" where offerings in the way of food, fruit and other items are assembled on tables on the sidewalk outside all offices, apartment buildings and the like, with prayers and incense burnt alongside. In addition there are also small incinerators where "ghost money" (paper notes) is burned for the spirits to collect. At first in Taiwan I was intrigued, but soon learned that the offerings and regular burning of "ghost money" are considered as a way to keep the spirits and ghosts happy and bring luck to the businesses, buildings and occupants, and is one of the many good cultural traditions.

So - A few years back, doing my Open Water check out dives, with Taiwanese buddy and Instructor, I saw an area in a shallow harbour with loads of small sheets of yellow paper on the sea bed, and swum into the area, picking up a few sheets, having a look at the chinese characters on it, holding some up and and shrugging to buddy and instructor a "what's this motion" ? - getting a look of terror and concern in their faces, getting "no", "danger" :shocked2: and "get away" hand signal signs from them - with them basically swimming away from me fast ?

At surface, I was advised by a very irate :furious: and angry buddy, that I had been picking up "ghost money" that would probably have been placed in the area for a previously drowned person - and that is something that just should not be done, as the spirit might consider I was stealing from them, and bring me bad luck ..

Needless to say, picking up or taking "ghost money" is not a thing to do, and infact such is the strong belief, even going diving in "ghost month" - is seen as very unwise by many local divers !

Now there's something not in most peoples PADI training !

Cheers

PS: Lekima - the black Asian sole pic in 'things you found underwater' - that I recently posted, was in the same dive location as the ghost money - so if you want the booty - be wary as it may be owned by a spirit !

It's actually quite rare for people to use real money these days. Most of the time, they buy packets of "money" that are just yellow pieces of paper that normally biodegrade reasonably quickly... at least the stuff we get here in the US.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

Can't say I've found anything really creepy while diving, but on a Jeep trip once, we did find someones ashes.

 

[sukelduja]

Well, while diving remains of a passenger ship Jossif Stalin (most of her was removed after war) where some 1900-2500 people died (historians educated guess, noone really knows) I noticed something on the sea floor. It did not looked like a stone or anything else, so it turned my attention to that object. When I pulled it out of sand, it appeared to be someones thigh bone. It was quite creepy to hold it in my hand. As I had camera with me I took a picture (back in 1999 it was analog camera)

 

[deadbilly]

On the Yukon in San Diego, I came across the freshly severed head of a soupfin shark impaled on a metal spar such that the spar was coming out the shark's mouth. This was the middle of the week and no other boats in sight. Someone had to catch the shark, cut its head off, and swim it down to 85fsw and jam it on a piece of metal.

 

[Chris12day]

Well, as long as the thread has been resurrected (so to speak) anyway, might as well weigh in with our "creepiest dive" story. We were at Stragglers Rocks on St. Thomas with Aqua Marine just before this past Christmas. We were just finishing up a very nice dive, the first of the day. The other divers were already back on the boat, and it was just my wife and I left finishing up our safety stop, with the divemaster using up the last of his air doing a little reef cleanup below us at about 35' right at the mooring pin. We were hanging out at 15', just relaxing, when the divemaster kicked over to what looked like a soggy, collapsed cardboard box sitting on the bottom. He tried to pick it up, but it was very heavy, and just tore apart, leaving him sitting in a little silty cloud of made up of the contents of the box. Just then, a little piece of white paper floated up out of what was left of the box. He caught it, and the expression on his face cannot be described... He waved us down very emphatically, so we dropped back down to see what was going on. He handed the paper to my wife, and her expression pretty much matched his. She handed it to me, and I suspect that my expression was, if anything, even weirder than theirs...

The paper (Tyvek, actually, like the "do not remove" tag from a pillow- they intended it to last!) was a nice little form that read: "Cremated human remains", and gave the decedent's name, date of death, date of cremation, and the name and address of the mortuary that handled the deed. So there we were, hovering in a little cloud of ashes. We replaced the paper (one of about 5 copies) respectfully back into the pile of ashes, and headed off to the boat.

The person had only passed this past September, and was cremated in October, so the remains really hadn't been there very long. They'll be thoroughly dispersed by the current before long, I'm sure. But it appears to me for all the world that somebody in this person's family had sailed out, hit the mooring at Stragglers, and simply dropped the box over the side. We are children of the digital age, so naturally while we were doing our SI before the next dive, we borrowed the boat's Blackberry and Googled the guy. Found his obit, learned a bit about him, and all in all it was quite the surreal experience.

The gear got a really, *really* thorough rinsing after that one.

Moral of the story: be really specific about that whole "scattering" thing, if those are your wishes. And I didn't know that mortuaries put multiple copies of traceable, long-lived documentation in with the remains- and I'll bet that person's family didn't either...

We placed my Dad's ashes off the coast of Jupitar, Florida near Bonnie's reef in 2007. The box is biodegradable and meant to degrade quickly.

 

[Dive Bug Bit Me]

Actually an interesting if somewhat macabre thread.

I dived the site where the Ethiopean Airlines plane went down in the Comores about six months after the tragedy. Most of the plane had been recovered, but there were plenty of suitcases and personal effects (including some child's toys) still on the site. It really brought home the human cost of that tragedy (incidentally it was a hijacking gone wrong).

Recently I was diving the Christena in Nevis. The ferry went down in the 1970s and is known to have human remains. At the bow of the wreck I dropped into a really tight room through the roof (only space for one and you cannot fin) to get a look at a skull (with coral growing out of one eye socket). What blew my mind was that when I returned to the DM he was proudly waving a human femur with one hand and a rib with the other for photos. Just felt plain wrong.

 

[j2s]

We were diving today at a spot where we find lots of old steamship pottery....and found the right side of a human skull!! It had been underwater a long time....we dive this area frequently and have never found anything like this there. Very creepy....so I am wondering what other creepy things have been found?

When I was a kid growing up in the Keys I found a complete skull w/a broken blade embedded in it........Museum curator said it was the tip of a sword/sabre......

 

[Divesanywhere]

My sister's breakfast? Fish liked it though...

 

[1thumper]

Free-diving in La Jolla cove about 35 years ago. Found two whole, corroded pistol cartidges on the bottom about 20 meters from shore. Not sure that I want to know the story behind why someone felt that they had to toss them in the ocean.