Bad News From Santa Rosa Blue Hole

[iain/hsm]

This accident even made the UK press, and for a national UK newspaper perspective it seems to cover the accident factually pretty well and cover all the relevant points:

Name, age, date of accident, depth and a little of the background circumstance and history of the cave

From a divers perspective all that missing at this stage to my mind is the rebreather equipment make and model used. Something I would not expect in a national newspaper but on looking into this further its something I would expect of a divers forum.

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As for coverage one of the best photo journalist reports you will see is by the name of M.E. Spengelmeyer of the Guadalupe County Communication one of who's photos is enclosed for reference

Guadalupe County Communicator

is his Facebook page he was at the scene and a short article is available on his Facebook page of the unfolding events.

He is well worth contacting for further information and photos and for the benefit of others here, his quotes

 

[boulderjohn]

I posted this picture of Shane with his rebreather in the Passings forum a couple days ago.

 

[dlofting]

Is that an MSR water bag, in the photo ?

 

[eeel]

Is that an MSR water bag, in the photo ?[/QUOTE

Is that an MSR water bag, in the photo ?

The Kiss Spirit in the photo uses MSR bags for the counterlungs.

 

[iain/hsm]

As an ex navy diver at 190 FSW assuming still of relative fitness he would have had the lung capacity volume of a seal and a RMV (respiratory minute volume) of a train,

His rebreather should have a performance and capacity greater and the written confirmation of this freely available.

Now you say this rebreather piece of kit had off the shelf water bags as breathing bags from a company that don't state the WOB (work of breathing) for the unit but instead play on the duration,

Is it any wonder then that the stated appearance of panic as he tried in a vain last hope to breathe is manifest

The only WOB figure I could find for Kiss was a 5.21 Joules per litre for the Sport and an equally dismal 3.44 J/L for the Kiss Classic for a breathing resistance at 75RMV at 40MSW depth,

The maximum a fit diver can achieve for a short period is 90 RMV
To my mind its time to check the the limitations of using cheap fix water bags.

And any responsible investigation needs to look very carefully at this specific piece of equipment if indeed water bags and misleading testing claims are acceptable as life support equipment. WOB figures against the respective RMV is an essential piece of valued information the bedrock from which an informed decision on suitability is reached.

The consequence of anything less can be seen in the heading of fatality with the struggle for a last breath tainted by a "claimed" appearance of panic.

 

[Jax]

Does anyone know how often Shane Thompson dived caves?

 

[SailorJoe]

The Plura incident in Norway back in 2014 shares some info about how panic can lead quickly to disaster:

"rebreathers" which artificially absorb the carbon dioxide they exhale, but these can become overloaded if the divers start breathing quickly, and at depth it is more difficult for them to control their breathing. "If you have to do anything physical - swim harder or faster or anything - that's very dangerous,"

The cave divers who went back for their friends - BBC News
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36097300
These two fine lads pushed the envelope on exploration. Sincere condolences to Shane's family and friends.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

"rebreathers" which artificially absorb the carbon dioxide they exhale, but these can become overloaded if the divers start breathing quickly, .

My understanding is that Megalodon rebreathers do not have this limitation.

 

[Storker]

What kind of magic goes into designing a scrubber that won't be overloaded?

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

What kind of magic goes into designing a scrubber that won't be overloaded?

Megalodon is the rebreather used by the US military. My guess is that those guys need one where they have to haul ass at times. I have noted that Megs are a bit larger than the others.

So it isn't magic, but basic common sense that a greater capacity is designed in.