Missing diver off Scituate

[whmcniven]

This is indeed tragic. For now, there are a lot of unknowns regarding the facts and the circumstances of this case. But as a former U.S. Navy diver, whenever we dove scuba without a buddy, we had tending lines attached to us instead, manned by a one or two man team topside.

This diver had spotters. A tending line might have made all the difference in the world. I understand this can impede mobility and present entanglement challenges too but safety is paramount and this method should be seriously considered if a buddy is not available.

 

[MASS-Diver]

This diver had spotters. A tending line might have made all the difference in the world. I understand this can impede mobility and present entanglement challenges too but safety is paramount and this method should be seriously considered if a buddy is not available.

Are you kidding me? This is why it kills me to read SB these days. Suggesting a tether for a 20' lobster dive WOW! I'm also so sick of reading the term "spotters" in the papers. It gives it a certain sort of tech edge, I've heard non-divers comment, "well, he did have a team of trained spotters." That's total BS, having a couple of your buddies follow your bubbles around is a joke. This poor kid was probably like about 1/2 of the people I've seen lately: no skills, overweigted by about 30lbs, goofy/tangley gear, but LOTS of confidence.

 

[ScubaSarus]

I am baffled that if in fact these were trained spotters why wasnt anyone prepped to free dive down to him as soon as no bubbles were spotted. Just my thought as 20ft is a doable free dive.

 

[pdive]

I am baffled that if in fact these were trained spotters why wasnt anyone prepped to free dive down to him as soon as no bubbles were spotted. Just my thought as 20ft is a doable free dive.

My wife asked the same question about why nobody jumped in. Not sure where you are getting the "trained" spotters from. Sounds like his brothers were on the boat but not sure what kind of training they have.

 

[RIOceanographer]

I am baffled that if in fact these were trained spotters why wasnt anyone prepped to free dive down to him as soon as no bubbles were spotted. Just my thought as 20ft is a doable free dive.

First, the Herald article does not actually say they didn't go looking for him. It just said they pulled on the flag and realized he wasn't there. It does not say what they did after that to try to locate him. We therefore don't know, and should not make assumptions.

Second, the article didn't say "trained spotters". Like Mass-Diver pointed out it said only "spotters" and that really doesn't mean anything. Anyone staying on the boat could be called a "spotter". The term doesn't mean anything beyond that. We don't really know how carefully they were watching him. Were they watching him like a hawk or were they sitting on the boat chatting and just looking over and seeing his bubbles from time to time like people on boats usually do? We don't know and the article doesn't say.

Third, people don't just instantly go into full rescue mode simply because they lost sight of a diver's bubbles. That happens all the time, and usually it just means you lost track of them, not that they are in trouble. It probably took some time for the people on the boat to realize how serious the situation was.

Fourth, we are ultimately responsible for our own safety as divers. Don't spend too much time second guessing what his buddies on the boat should have done to rescue him. The chances of a successful rescue in a situation like that (i.e. missing, likely non-breathing diver alone on the bottom) are terrible no matter what they tried.

 

[Rick L]

My wife asked the same question about why nobody jumped in. Not sure where you are getting the "trained" spotters from. Sounds like his brothers were on the boat but not sure what kind of training they have.

Like I said before I work with dennis!
Nobody on the boat ( the 2 brothers and the owner of the boat)
Where divers. He said the bubbles stopped coming up and they pulled on the flag!
He was not there. He said many divers showed up realy quick after he called in the coast gaurd! Im thinking that maybe he had lost the flag?
But that is just a guess.
Rick L

 

[ScubaSarus]

I guess the term spotters is taken with a grain of salt. When I worked on the river boats, if we were told to spot suddenly or be a spotter, we had to watch like a hawk and be ready to enter the water on the captain's order freezing or not.

One heck of a sad mystery when a diver disappears at 20ft and cant be found in these circumstances.

 

[Rick L]

I guess the term spotters is taken with a grain of salt. When I worked on the river boats, if we were told to spot suddenly or be a spotter, we had to watch like a hawk and be ready to enter the water on the captain's order freezing or not.

One heck of a sad mystery when a diver disappears at 20ft and cant be found in these circumstances.

Yes it is!
They are having a memorial for him monday!
They also are starting a fund for his kids.
I will get all the info and post it if anyone wants to help out!!
Rick L

 

[jimbo2006]

I think another Associated Press article on this same incident was posted elsewhere on the board: http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=200791

 

[MASS-Diver]

Lets be honest here - the reason why people have boats follow them around is that they don't even have the skills to find their way back to an anchored boat. They jump in and search randomly for bugs - no one of the surface knows their direction as they do not swim a compass course. It's a sloppy way to dive is as very unsafe (IMO), picture if you were out in your boat and you and you saw another moving boat trying to follow a dive flag around in the open ocean.

Anyone who knows what they are doing swims a compass course (and often runs a reel off the anchor line), this way you can come pretty close to the boat (with a compass) or right on with a reel. You also carry a surface marker, a whistle, and a mirror. The boat, NOT YOU, carries the flag. When you dive in the area where this accident occured other boats can easily spot a large boat dive flag, but if you are swimming around with a small diver flag that's a dangerous situation. This is basic stuff - having the boat follow you are around is so sloppy that it would be funny, if this was not such a tragic event.