Student lost - Seattle, Washington

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

I don't think a wreck was involved.
This was what I read in the article posted in the link of post #1:

“According to Seattle Fire Department scanner traffic, they have confirmed with a Dive master that a woman, approximately 30 years of age, was last seen in Cove 2, at 1661 Harbor Ave SW near a wreck called the Honey Bear. That wreck is at a depth of 35 feet and is a popular dive location. The woman may have drowned.”
 
I haven't dove at Cove 2 this weekend (the site of the death), but I have dove at two nearby sites yesterday and today and viz was excellent for this time of year -- 20'-30'. Honestly, it's probably the best viz we've had in my two years of living in Seattle.

I'm so so sad and angry to hear about another student death in our local community. I hope that's it's possible to learn something from this experience so we can improve diver training safety in general in our community, but I worry that with fatalities and fear of litigation too often there's plenty of blame but little curiosity, learning, and improvement... I feel so bad for the diver and her friends and family.
 
This was what I read in the article posted in the link of post #1:

“According to Seattle Fire Department scanner traffic, they have confirmed with a Dive master that a woman, approximately 30 years of age, was last seen in Cove 2, at 1661 Harbor Ave SW near a wreck called the Honey Bear. That wreck is at a depth of 35 feet and is a popular dive location. The woman may have drowned.”

Just to clarify, the Honeybear is barely a wreck. It's like half a hull of a small boat that has anemones and stuff growing on it. It's not something you can go inside of, it's just debris with life on it.
 
I dove at Cove 2 early in the morning yesterday and visibility was very good for this time of year (close to 20 feet or so), but that could have changed during the day because there are a lot of classes in the cove. The Honey Bear is more of a flattened wreck at this point -- not a lot of entanglement hazards or penetration hazards unless you were to try to squeeze in under the stern. There are a few lines run around the cove that have some loops up off the bottom which could potentially be entanglement hazards, but it's generally considered a good site for inexperienced divers.
 
The wreck is very small and mostly collapsed, if you don't know it's a boat you wouldn't necessarily think boat. It does not have entanglement hazards on it, nor can you swim through anything.

Viz this weekend has also been the best we've had in months. We had 15-20' on a low tide this morning, for the people who have been asking. Very easy to see my buddy's light from very far away.
 
When was the last one?

That depends on whether you mean divers lost or students lost.

We've lost four divers this year in the Puget Sound (that I know of.) Two are suspected to be medical issues, one (last week) was a solo diver in a current sensitive area, and now this one. If you're talking about students, I know there have been one or two others lost at Cove 2 in the last ten years -- someone else would have to fill in that history.

Edited to add: The last student death that I can find reference to was 5 years ago, also at Seacrest Park.
Student Pulled from Elliott Bay in Seattle
 
That depends on whether you mean divers lost or students lost.

We've lost four divers this year in the Puget Sound (that I know of.) Two are suspected to be medical issues, one (last week) was a solo diver in a current sensitive area, and now this one. If you're talking about students, I know there have been one or two others lost at Cove 2 in the last ten years -- someone else would have to fill in that history.

Is there any background/reference on the solo diver incident?

Thanks.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

Back
Top Bottom