Geoduck diver dead - Port Angeles, Washington

[DandyDon]

Geoduck harvesting fatal for Port Angeles diver, 35 | Peninsula Daily News

PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles diver died Wednesday morning after his air umbilical cord apparently became entangled while he was geoduck harvesting east of town, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office said.

Anthony Gockerell, 35, was pronounced dead at 9:46 a.m. at Olympic Medical Center (OMC) in Port Angeles after unsuccessful attempts to revive him, according to a press release received at 5:27 p.m. Wednesday.

Peninsula Communications received a 9-1-1 call about a commercial diver in distress at about 8:30 a.m., said Sgt. John Keegan in the press release.

Crew members said Gockerell signaled to his crew that his surface-supplied air umbilical cord was “unable to clear.” The crew interpreted that as Gockerell’s umbilical cord was entangled in debris, Keegan said.

Gockerell’s crewmates and officers with the state Department of Natural Resources, who were on scene to supervise the geoduck harvesting, struggled to pull Gockerell loose.

After about two minutes, Gockerell was freed and brought aboard the 32-foot aluminum commercial fishing boat, Keegan said.

CPR was performed as the boat took Gockerell from the Dungeness West geoduck tract, which is about 6.5 miles east of the Coast Guard Station on Ediz Hook, to the Port Angeles Marina. CPR was continued by Port Angeles Fire Department personnel while en route as well as at Olympic Medical Center until Gockerell was pronounced dead.

The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office is investigating.

The Clallam County Coroner’s Office plans an autopsy.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

It is common for harvesters to not have a backup air supply as it slows them down resulting in lower income

 

[Mark Newland]

It is common for harvesters to not have a backup air supply as it slows them down resulting in lower income

... and dead men have NO incomes

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

... and dead men have NO incomes

“It will never happen to me....”

 

[kelemvor]

That's too bad. At 35, he may have still been partially invincible. Way too young to go.

Also, it turns out that it wasn't a geocaching style contest where you hunt for rubber ducks...

The Pacific geoduck is a species of very large saltwater clam in the family Hiatellidae. The common name is derived from the Lushootseed word gʷídəq. The geoduck is native to the coastal waters of western Canada and the northwest United States.

Seems like a situation where there should be a safety diver on deck or a pony or at least a spare air. So many easy to implement actions could have prevented the death.

 

[DandyDon]

Also, it turns out that it wasn't a geocaching style contest where you hunt for rubber ducks...

Far from it. We average at least one fatality a year reported here, at least for the last 10 years I searched. They're harvested in the wild and grown on farms up there.

 

[Steelyeyes]

That's too bad. At 35, he may have still been partially invincible. Way too young to go.

Also, it turns out that it wasn't a geocaching style contest where you hunt for rubber ducks...


Seems like a situation where there should be a safety diver on deck or a pony or at least a spare air. So many easy to implement actions could have prevented the death.

That's what I was thinking. My son was a commercial diver, mostly in Alaska, his outfit wasn't the safest on the planet but he did dive with a bailout, and sometimes a safety diver on standby. He got fouled one time when a large object they placed with a crane settled on his umbilical. Luckily they could just repick the load and got him loose. That time there was no standby diver.