Unknown 3 full face snorkel mask drownings in Hawaii

[zhoffritz]

I think incidents with full face snorkel masks get posted here? If not, apologies. A young couple drowned in Hawaii.

https://www.kitv.com/news/young-washington-couple-in-maui-snorkeling-tragedy-remembered-as-kind-and-selfless/article_789ce03e-7565-11ef-b68b-53ffb0a4e85f.html

 

[Waterwulf]

I'm actually surprised that there are not more drownings of people using those death traps. That first shot of water inside the mask and the coughing starts. The problem is that people who use those things are not divers. They start coughing and instinctively raise their heads out of the water so they can breath. Then the water that's been accumulating inside the mask flows to the bottom around the mouth and voila. The next breath is nothing but water and the slide down starts.

 

[dmaziuk]

Hawaii has the 2nd highest drowning rate in the USA (unsurprisingly, considering the number of people coming to their beaches every year). With the proliferation of the teletubby masks, the fact that some of the victims drowned while wearing them, is hardly surprising.

That is not to say those masks are a good idea if you can't hold your breath for a second and are prone to panic, but if that's the case, it's not the mask that is the problem.

 

[PeterNBiddle]

It’s easy to forget that the water in Hawaii is pretty cold for snorkeling in just a swim suit.

Hypothermia could also play a role in this, compounding issues from the waterboarding masks. You’re out there having fun, totally agog with all the marine life, and the cold starts to get you. Your motor response becomes sluggish, you are breathing harder than you ought to be, and you become extra stupid.

The first time I snorkeled on Maui I spent way too long in the water (4+ hours?). I only came in because the 30 minute daily rain allotment had started up and my snorkel buddy said she was scared, which in hindsight might have been her psyopsing me to come in. Up on the beach I was shivering hard and my lips were blue. It slomo crept up on me, like the reverse of the frog-in-a-pot myth.

That trip was also memorable because I (stupidly) touched the spine on one of those red spiky bastards and wound up with a spirochete lodged in my finger tip just under the nail bed.

 

[Wheeler925]

This is the first version of the story I've seen referencing full face masks.. makes more sense now

 

[alv0065]

I don't know if those masks are inherently more more dangerous than a separate snorkel and mask, but I feel like those full face masks are intended entirely for people who are not particularly comfortable in the water. If you were quite comfortable in the water, I feel you would tend to use the separate snorkel and mask.

 

[DandyDon]

I don't know if those masks are inherently more more dangerous than a separate snorkel and mask

Yes, they are.

I feel like those full face masks are intended entirely for people who are not particularly comfortable in the water.

Fake security.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

The Seattle Russian community is hit pretty hard with this (my wife is Russian). There's a discussion in a FB group about this and the dangers of these masks.

I wonder what it will take to get them permanently banned or properly tested/certified.

 

[tarponchik]

I saw the news about the couple and immediately thought of full face masks. Turns out, my suspicion was justified. I've already told my great kids never, ever to snorkel in full face masks.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

What an absolutely tragic event!
Here they are 25 and 26 years old with a brand new family, and then this..
They need to outlaw those god damned things!
Use a regular mask and snorkel, and if you can’t make that work then pick something else topside to do.
Wow!