1997 Deep Dive/Shark Attack.

[boulderjohn]

So now you got me fidgity about going to Socorro - thanks John LOL

Sorry! However, it is still extremely rare that a shark (and there are lots at Socorro) will attack a diver when that diver has been clearly identified as "not the usual prey."

I did a night dive off of a liveaboard in Australia, and the water was full of sharks and large trevally swimming about. We quite literally had to be careful not to land on one with our giant stride entry. It was a great dive.

 

[brownie]

A year or two ago, divers ascending at the end of the dive in Socorro were harassed by a tiger shark, and as they reached the surface, the shark attacked one and inflicted a fatal bite.

If I recall correctly, that incident occurred at Cocos Island (Costa Rica)--not Socorro.

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

So now you got me fidgity about going to Socorro - thanks John LOL

I wouldn’t be based upon that. See some of the accounts from survivors of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. Sharks were primarily interested in the dead. That’s not to say that sharks didn’t attack and kill people, but that the majority of their attention...per witnesses...was focused on the dead.

 

[drrich2]

Sharks were primarily interested in the dead.

It's a tangent but too interesting to let slide without asking briefly. Do you recall what the survivors in the water did with the dead? It might run afoul of social sensibilities, but if the sharks were primarily interested in the dead, 'cutting them loose' to drift away from the live people to avoid 'mistakes' seems wise.

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

It's a tangent but too interesting to let slide without asking briefly. Do you recall what the survivors in the water did with the dead? It might run afoul of social sensibilities, but if the sharks were primarily interested in the dead, 'cutting them loose' to drift away from the live people to avoid 'mistakes' seems wise.

Guys tied themselves together with whatever they could find to keep groups together. Really the only thing to do with the dead was remove them from the group/let them float away. That was done primary because, as mentioned above, the survivors noted that the sharks were drawn to the dead.

The messed up thing (one of many messed up things about the ordeal) is that there were minimal rafts launched (I’ve read articles that claim that no rafts were launched, but I’ve read other accounts that stated that a small number of rafts made it in the water). The bulk of the Sailors were forced to just float in groups, with some of them lucky enough to find debris to cling to.

I grew up around the Navy and I’m a history nut. The sinking of the Indianapolis is something that I’ve read about periodically, as new pieces pop-up in the news. Ex. Survivor accounts on the anniversary of the sinking.

 

[boulderjohn]

If I recall correctly, that incident occurred at Cocos Island (Costa Rica)--not Socorro.

Yep--my mind is slipping in my old age.

 

[TooManyHobbies]

It's a tangent but too interesting to let slide without asking briefly. Do you recall what the survivors in the water did with the dead? It might run afoul of social sensibilities, but if the sharks were primarily interested in the dead, 'cutting them loose' to drift away from the live people to avoid 'mistakes' seems wise.

I used to record accounts of WWII vets in high school. We had a survivor of the USS Indianapolis come a couple of times. I don't have the videos myself, but I will tell anyone who sends me a message what he told me. I don't want to post it here.

 

[Bob DBF]

The messed up thing (one of many messed up things about the ordeal) is that there were minimal rafts launched (I’ve read articles that claim that no rafts were launched, but I’ve read other accounts that stated that a small number of rafts made it in the water). The bulk of the Sailors were forced to just float in groups, with some of them lucky enough to find debris to cling to.

Life rafts on Navy ships launch automatically as the ship sinks. Lifeboats have to be launched by hand, and is a matter of having the right people in the right place to do it. Since the Indianapolis was on a fast transit, not expecting trouble, when torpedoed, it sank quickly and the lifeboats weren't launched. The life rafts act more like debris so it depends where they launch, which way they drift, and how fast, whether someone in the water can catch them.

If they were in battle, there would have been men assigned at the lifeboats ready to launch. If the ship sinks the lifeboats are used to round up people and life rafts to get everyone out of the water. There are not enough lifeboats to carry the whole crew.

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

I used to record accounts of WWII vets in high school. We had a survivor of the USS Indianapolis come a couple of times. I don't have the videos myself, but I will tell anyone who sends me a message what he told me. I don't want to post it here.

I can only imagine what they went through. I had two great uncles that were on a cruiser that was sunk early in the war. If they served in modern times...they would have been diagnosed with PTSD.

 

[Mark IV]

........Brett told me that Sheck used to black out at times while diving deep on air. He would quite literally pass out for a while, wake up, and then go on diving. He said he believed that explained the strange circumstances of Shecks death........I wonder if passing out at such depths could be a toxic reaction to the high PPO2 rather than narcosis........

I cant dispute or corroborate anything, but from what I'd read years ago, it was believed that Sheck probably died ( at least in part) from HPNS ( "high pressure neurological syndrome", IIRC), which can result from breathing helium at very high pressures. Not too long before his death, he had reportedly had issues with it on previous dives in S. Africa (again, thats IIRC ), and apparantly finally pushed too far with that 1000ft record attempt in that cave.
Anyway, I'm envious of your private conversation with Gilliam, that's really cool, he was/is a big hero of mine !