Mesophotic zone research fatality - Solomon islands

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DandyDon

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Joshua Copus was a PhD graduate student at the University of Hawaii who died on a deep dive this past week. The mesophotic zone ranges from around 30 to 150 meters down. Mesophotic coral reef - Wikipedia

I can't find any real news stories. One twitter page suggests that he was on a rebreather: Twitter The link there goes to a Gofundme page that shows a photo of him with one.

Excerpting from The Wall of the Dead: A Memorial to Fallen Naturalists
Copus, Josh (19??-2019), an American Ph.D. student at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa , died, age ??, in a diving accident while conducting research on coral reefs in the mesophotic zone–meaning mid-light, from about 30 to 150 meters deep–in the Solomon Islands.
 
We used to support the mesophotic research in the Caribbean. It was all rebreathers.
 
According to his pix on the UH website, was diving an AP Inspiration or Evolution...can't quite tell from the pictures.
The HIMB FaceBook page says this:
upload_2019-11-17_15-49-59.png
 
I'm sorry to hear this news. :(

Don, I would like to say thanks though for drawing my attention to "The Wall of the dead" I had not seen this, and unfortunately, two people I knew made the list. Much appreciated.
 
I haven't yet found any video with Josh Copus in it but here's a short but educational clip of the kind of work in which he was involved.

 
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According to his pix on the UH website, was diving an AP Inspiration or Evolution...can't quite tell from the pictures.
The HIMB FaceBook page says this:
View attachment 550531
I have left this run for a few days to see if anyone wants to correct this but those close to the incident have either not seen this thread or just don't want to comment:

Although the picture on the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum Facebook page is Josh with an AP rebreather, I can confirm that he wasn't using an AP at the time of his death.
 
I have left this run for a few days to see if anyone wants to correct this but those close to the incident have either not seen this thread or just don't want to comment:

Although the picture on the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum Facebook page is Josh with an AP rebreather, I can confirm that he wasn't using an AP at the time of his death.

But was on a rebreather nonetheless? Is that correct?
 
But was on a rebreather nonetheless? Is that correct?
I had seen a facebook post saying he was diving a Poseidon seven, whether this is correct or not I don't know.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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