I am on the island and might have some more info on what happened but before I start I want to make it very clear that this is
ALL HEARSAY! (albeit from relatively close sources).
What I
heard:
The deceased went diving in a group of 7 + DM. She's AOWD, no info on the amount of dives she has, but from reading this thread it could well be that she has a fair amount of dives (100/150), but most if not all of them in fresh water lakes and quarries. Also from this thread I gather that she didn't dive in a while but did a refresher before going on the boat (she may or may not have been advised to take a private DM, she did not take one). She apparently was diving with two of her brothers, I have no info on their skill-level, number of dives or if they took part in the refresher course.
During the dive on Palancar Reef the DM went through a swimthrough and waited for his divers to come out. Only 4 came out of the swimthrough, so he returned to see where the other 3 (the deceased and her two brothers) had gone. When he came out on the other side he didn't find them there, but saw bubbles in another swimthrough then the one he went into. Upon checking these bubbles he found the two brothers who had gone into another swimthrough then the one he was guiding his group into. Reasons for this are unknown but it seems to be a decision made by the brothers, not because they had lost the group. Upon meeting with the brothers he discovered that their sister was not there. They looked but couldn't find her and all went to the surface.
Before I continue I want to point out once again that this is all HEARSAY.
On the surface one of the less experienced divers in the group said she saw the woman having some kind of problems the kind of which are unknown just before she (the witness) went into the swimthrough herself. As I understand she didn't make this known to anybody at this point.
I heard that the witness described it as buoyancy-problems but it might be very hard for someone that inexperienced (and even experienced!) to tell what problem someone has exactly. It could have been a health related problem leading to buoyancy-problems, or any other kind of problem.
Speculation on my part as to the why the witness didn't alert anybody: being a very new diver herself, and maybe even a bit in awe of the very experienced diver (the victim had over a 100/150 dives, which to a novice might seem an awesome lot), she probably thought the victim had buoyancy problems like she herself might experience every now and then and would be able to solve the problem. She probably didn't want to bother the DM (who was relatively far away by now anyway as he was leading the group through the swimthrough, so he was on the other end of it), and maybe didn't want to embarrass herself (by alerting the whole group when there wasn't a problem, or one that would have been solved by the time she got the DM's attention) or embarrass the (later) victim by pointing her out while having buoyancy-problems.
This was the last time she was seen, a bit higher then the rest of the group whilst experiencing (buoyancy-) problems of an unknown kind. My condolences and best wishes to the family and her brother especially.
Some other info as to circumstances and aftermath:
1.
The current was very strong and unpredictable that day, meaning people exert themselves more then on a regular dive, and breath harder (use their air more quickly). But as far as I can say the current wasn't a direct component to this tragedy (it hardly ever is), although overexertion because of it could have played a part in the problems that developed, and of course it makes for a more challenging dive, which can make task overload more likely.
2.
I cannot say anything as to the search efforts by DP, the navy or the other dive-ops. What I can say is that other instructors and myself were astonished to see that not all boats were called in to the search effort for this lady. Our captain/marinero where having lunch as usual at 12.00, and all proceeded as normal. We would have expected all boats out looking. To look under the water would not have been top priority (as it would have been a recovery operation), but the surface-current (if she made it to the surface) could have taken her a fair distance, and we thought ALL boats available would and should be looking for her. They were not.
A couple of things from a DM (instructor actually, as all our "DM's" are, but that seems to be a uncommon "title" when you're guiding
):
- Please look how your buddy is doing every now and then, even when he/she is someone you never saw before. The buddy system is there for a reason and we like you to follow it. You don't have to babysit, but plz keep the buddy system upright
- Plz don't swim into swimthroughs we don't guide you into. You don't know them, and even if you do, chances are you are putting a "DM" in a very tough position, what with 7 other divers to look after and having to come up with all divers present and stuff like that (Palancar can be a maze at some points, very hard to find people when you have to keep the group together at the same point, and thats without to much of a current)
- Stay in sight of the DM. You have no idea what a pain you are when you're just "hanging out in the back" and there is a current going and I have people that are new and don't know how to go slow in a current! And I'm not even talking about the situation where those same inexperienced diver are hanging on to my buoy because they run low on air, and as to not spoil your dive I send them up first.
I've had my buoy line break because I have people on the safety-stop hanging on to it, and I have to hold on to some rock because the experienced divers are "hanging out in the back" and I have to wait for them. For you it might be fun and games, but I am about to loose my divers (or have my "newbies" loose their surface marker buoy) because of you (btw. I will rather loose you then the inexperienced divers, so you better have a buoy in that case! And your next dive will not be with me btw.)
As stated before, if you want a private dive, no problemo. Just get a private DM, all shops can provide you with one.
Peace
