Diver Missing, Jacksonville FL

[johndiver999]

Very sad to hear. I am curious as to how someone could assume/conclude that the diver simply died and was eaten afterwards versus was eaten while diving?

I wonder if he had already shot a fish or too and they were on his stringer, which could be highly attractive to sharks. Then he was ambushed/attacked and dropped his gun before he could use it.

Is there some reason why an assumption of a medical event for a 37 yr old man who apparently was not overweight is more likely than simply getting bitten and knocked silly?

Perhaps, there were buddies diving at the same time and perhaps they heard no powerheads go off? That could be one piece of information which would favor a medical event, but I can't think of anything else right now.

 

[Vicko]

All his gear found in the same spot leads more to the sharks feeding on the bottom, not dragging him in the water column.
Grizzly end in any case, condolences to the family.

 

[Biotech Diver]

Is it also a possibility he had to ascend too quickly for some reason and DCS caused him to black out before reaching the surface, then sinking?

 

[The Chairman]

We weren't there to be able to speculate that the people who found the gear were wrong. I would tend to believe them.

 

[johndiver999]

I don't disbelieve them, I am just curious as to how they might arrive at that explanation as most probable.

 

[Biotech Diver]

We weren't there to be able to speculate that the people who found the gear were wrong. I would tend to believe them.

Every accident thread has speculation, it's what fosters dialogue and analysis. Nobody contradicted what they said or said they are wrong. What is also speculation, in practically every accident thread, is that the cause was a medical event. This is an easy cause to assign because it pretty much shuts down debate and cannot be proven or disproven. $0.02

 

[boulderjohn]

Every accident thread has speculation, it's what fosters dialogue and analysis. Nobody contradicted what they said or said they are wrong. What is also speculation, in practically every accident thread, is that the cause was a medical event. This is an easy cause to assign because it pretty much shuts down debate and cannot be proven or disproven. $0.02

"When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras."

If you look at DAN fatality reports, medical events are by far the biggest category for scuba fatalities. Then there are the cases in which a diver's body is found with no clear cause of death--a medical event is still most likely the cause, but there is no way of knowing.

A friend of ours is dealing with the grief of having her 41-year old son, fit and with no record of serious health issues whatsoever, die of a heart attack. He was driving the car, passed out, and never regained consciousness. (His son in the passenger seat prevented the accident.) It is rare that a young, fit individual can succumb this way, but it happens.

I see that you are frustrated by claims of medical events shutting down discussions on causes of scuba fatalities. I am frequently frustrated by the opposite. In thread after thread after thread, I see speculation on possible bizarre circumstances leading to the diver's death, when to me the description fairly screams "medical event."

 

[Moerae]

"When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras."

If you look at DAN fatality reports, medical events are by far the biggest category for scuba fatalities. Then there are the cases in which a diver's body is found with no clear cause of death--a medical event is still most likely the cause, but there is no way of knowing.

A friend of ours is dealing with the grief of having her 41-year old son, fit and with no record of serious health issues whatsoever, die of a heart attack. He was driving the car, passed out, and never regained consciousness. (His son in the passenger seat prevented the accident.) It is rare that a young, fit individual can succumb this way, but it happens.

I see that you are frustrated by claims of medical events shutting down discussions on causes of scuba fatalities. I am frequently frustrated by the opposite. In thread after thread after thread, I see speculation on possible bizarre circumstances leading to the diver's death, when to me the description fairly screams "medical event."

I wonder if a part of why this happens is diver's wanting to feel like all accidents are avoidable with proper training and equipment. It's scary to consider that your dive, especially a deco, cave, solo dive, etc can kill you, through no fault of your own, because of a heart attack or stroke that you otherwise might have survived on the surface or on a simpler dive.

 

[boulderjohn]

I wonder if a part of why this happens is diver's wanting to feel like all accidents are avoidable with proper training and equipment. It's scary to consider that your dive, especially a deco, cave, solo dive, etc can kill you, through no fault of your own, because of a heart attack or stroke that you otherwise might have survived on the surface or on a simpler dive.

Of course, the same thing could happen (and does) when playing golf or bowling. It is not the dive that kills you; it is the heart attack.

ScubaBoard used to have some regular users about a decade ago who argued that all scuba deaths were a result of poor instruction in the OW class. They included heart attacks in that argument. They said that any heart attack must have been caused by panic, and panic is always a result of poor instruction in the OW class. In those discussions I pointed out that most heart attacks on shore happen in the morning, after the victim has had breakfast, and the second most common time is at night, while the victim is sleeping. I asked if poor breakfast eating instruction or poor sleeping instruction had caused those heart attacks. I was mocked for my lack of understanding.

 

[DandyDon]

Of course, the same thing could happen (and does) when playing golf or bowling. It is not the dive that kills you; it is the heart attack.

Except that many of those are survivable. A heart attack leading to losing consciousness and an ambulance ride may not kill you, but the same event at depth will. I do not discount deaths from medicals events at depth as nondiving.