Spear fisherman accident on Vandenberg

[trtldvr]

Tourist, 39, dies diving

CITIZEN STAFF
A Tennessee man died diving offshore Key West Thursday, according to a press release from Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Deputy Becky Herrin.
Ollie Macon Smithwick, 39, of Cookville, Tenn., was on vacation with his wife, 10-month-old baby and two male friends, Herrin said in the release. The three men intended to dive the Vandenberg and spearfish on the wreck.
They set out Thursday morning, with Smithwick reportedly diving first and his two friends getting in the water 10 to 15 minutes later.
One friend headed toward the bow of the boat and the other toward the stern.
The friend at the stern "was startled when he spotted a large fish thrashing around near the side of the vessel," the report says.
He swam to the bow and told the other diver, and both went to the stern to see what looked like an amberjack, speared and thrashing.
They said they traced the line to the spear gun and found Smithwick, who was unresponsive. The two friends unsuccessfully tried to inflate his buoyancy compensator to get him to the surface, then returned to the boat and called 911, the report says.
The Coast Guard responded, along with a nearby dive boat. They pulled Smithwick aboard the Coast Guard vessel and began CPR en route to shore.
Paramedics met them and took Smithwick to Lower Keys Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
An autopsy will be done to determine the cause of his death. Major Crimes Detective Manuel Cuervo is assigned to investigate, Herrin said.

 

[RickyF]

Something just doesn't sound right here. Two divers couldn't bring another diver to the surface with their BC's? There has got to be more to the story than this I hope. No buddy, and even the two that entered the water later were not buddied up.

 

[Wookie]

Sounds completely plausible to me. One of the problems with spearing AJs is that if you don't stone them, they will take you for a ride. They are powerful fish. I'd guess that the deceased shot an AJ from inside the wreck and the AJ either tied the diver up on a piece of wreck or dragged him into something and clunked him on the head. The other 2 divers did exactly wha they should have done, they tried to inflate the deceased persons BC, and, failing, they got help. You would never use your own BC as a liftbag. What if the deceased really was stuck and you didn't notice the mono he was stuck in. There you are with a fully inflated BC, not able to hang on, rocketing to the surface. You NEVER use your own BC to lift an object from the bottom. Spearfishermen typically dive without a buddy. The buddy tends to mess up your shot...

 

[jar546]

I hope we have a post accident report that will clarify factual information sometime in the future. I just adore speculation..........................

 

[Wookie]

I hope we have a post accident report that will clarify factual information sometime in the future. I just adore speculation..........................

Please name one accident that happened to a recreational diver for which a "post accident report that will clarify factual information" was prepared and presented. Good luck with that....

 

[RickyF]

Sounds completely plausible to me. One of the problems with spearing AJs is that if you don't stone them, they will take you for a ride. They are powerful fish. I'd guess that the deceased shot an AJ from inside the wreck and the AJ either tied the diver up on a piece of wreck or dragged him into something and clunked him on the head. The other 2 divers did exactly wha they should have done, they tried to inflate the deceased persons BC, and, failing, they got help. You would never use your own BC as a liftbag. What if the deceased really was stuck and you didn't notice the mono he was stuck in. There you are with a fully inflated BC, not able to hang on, rocketing to the surface. You NEVER use your own BC to lift an object from the bottom. Spearfishermen typically dive without a buddy. The buddy tends to mess up your shot...

I understand what you are saying, they don't call them "reef donkey's" for nothing and I know that a lot of spear fishermen are solo divers. I have shot a few, but the only two reasons you would not be able to inflate someone elses BC is they are out of air or they have a hole in their BC. In either case, you either manually inflate their BC or you drop their weights and get them neutral and bring them up. If they are tangled, you get them free first. I just can't imagine leaving a friend on the bottom, but maybe that's just me.

 

[Tfast78]

That's sad- Ollie had a wife and young child :depressed:

I hope we do get some better information so we can all learn a little here.
Maybe it's just me but the information given doesn't really add up. Curious regarding the depth to the bottom at that site. Anyone?

My lesson learned here is - Solo diving has too high of a risk factor and is not for me.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I'd like to respond to the Wookie comment about "You NEVER use your own bc to lift and object from the bottom." I would use my bc to aide me in retrieving a deceased friend, or a badly injured friend, or a buddy whose own bc got ripped or torn. I also retrieve dropped weight belts, and have to inflate a little to "lift them" to the surface or just to stay neutral as I swim them to the shore. Agree to disagree.
DivemasterDennis

 

[trtldvr]

I have just recieved some additional info from a reliable source (If you know my background or have read my profile you may be able to guesse).

1. The speculation that the Amberjack took him for a ride and wrapped him up is correct.

2. He was cut loose and brought to the surface by 2 crew members of the dive boat. This raises the question: did the diver or the 2 buddies have anything to cut with???

As to the depth of the site, the main deck is at 90 ft and 140 to 150 to the sand.

Safe dives
trtldvr

---------- Post added May 11th, 2012 at 09:19 AM ----------

I'd like to respond to the Wookie comment about "You NEVER use your own bc to lift and object from the bottom." I would use my bc to aide me in retrieving a deceased friend, or a badly injured friend, or a buddy whose own bc got ripped or torn. I also retrieve dropped weight belts, and have to inflate a little to "lift them" to the surface or just to stay neutral as I swim them to the shore. Agree to disagree.
DivemasterDennis

I am afraid i must agree with Wookie on this 1. A few years ago in the Keys we had a single diver death turn in to a double because a rescuer who had used their own BC for lift instead of using the victems shot to the surface after loosing her hold of the victem.


Safe dives
trtldvr

 

[Wookie]

If the gun was rigged with a riding rig, the connecting line may have been aircraft cable. Texas spearos targeting AJ often use aircraft cable on their rig. That way, the cable is much less likely to break on a cookie cutter barnacle on a rig. Of course, your buddy must have something to cut the cable with, because when your arms are pinned to your sides and a wounded fish with a spear through it's back is thrashing you to death, you are probably not likely to cut yourself free.

While not common, it is not unheard of for spearos in Texas/Louisiana to get tied to a rig leg after spearing an AJ. Ummmm. That's kinda why I said it. But hey, it's all speculation, right?