Bahamas: Missing Female Diver

[DandyDon]

...narc'ed or not....the obvious 'clue' that one is decending...without needing to read depth guages or even needing a visual reference at all, is having to clear one's ears very frequently....let's call that 'clue # 1' ......

I don't know your dive experiences as you seem to have skipped putting those in your profile and I don't try to remember many details about many members here, mostly because I don't trust my memory - but once I get down to 100 ft, I don't have to clear my ears. The changes below that are gradual enough that it happens easily - and I have been deeper than I should have once, narced, no problem, just loving the mellow feeling - but also thinking that I know I'm narced and maybe stupid. I was thinking how much fun it'd be to go even deeper but heard a rapping sound and avoided that mistake.

Anyone here knows if her body can come up from that depth?
You know, internal bacterial gas expansion?
They found corpses in the Atlantic from the Airbus crash.

Kinda doubt it. Those bodies were not weighted with dive lead. Depending on how much lead she was wearing and how cool the water is where she may have landed, there may never be a spontaneous surfacing. Even the positive buoyancy of neoprene if she wore any or a drained tank if she sucked it down could be offset by the increased atmospheres.

Excerpting...

They (the "We") are my friends. In a bar fight...many here would already be looking down the end of my unfinished but broken beer bottle. (or ofcourse watching the police and paramedics scoop my entrails into the nearest ambulance......)

Either my posts are credible or not. You'll accept them or i am a troll. This is you choice, i'd urge you to PM me for further details for i am what i claim to be. And not all that clever for that, Over educated isn't an adjective that those of the west encounter, perhaps you'll google it.

Thanks for explaining. Your use of the Royal We was confusing. Since you do seem to be in the know: Was Mrs.W a certified and recently experienced diver, or was she required to have a personal DM because she wasn't? They as been so very much talk here than I may have missed that clarification.

 

[Dantheengineer]

Don, i'm still awaiting some clarification on that myself.......
if i get it, you shall also.

Yes folk lore. speak a language for 2000 years. it tends to mutate. look up Doherty, my last name it's actually several, if you really wanna count...........ever since nialle of the nine hostages back in '405ad.

And yes it's pirates expelled, commerce restored. Make of it what you will.
Better than that come here and dive with me? Thal wont even be able to save ya!!!

:inquisition:

 

[widget]

...wasn't this a wall dive ??? H*ll, if bouyancy is lost or a diver panics and for whatever reason can't figure what to do to recover bouyancy, the natural survival instinct would be to fin over the the wall and grab something to keep from dropping further...then claw back up the wall...the apparent absence of such a survival instinct is mind boggling for anyone actually wanting to live !

Absolutely agree, as I said previously, from accounts here it appears the lady was very much in control of her equipment.

She purposely vented her BC from a shoulder dump ( this discounts the theory she was confused by the inflate and deflate buttons) she made no attempt to stop her freefall by heading to the wall, nowhere dos it say she was panicked or stressed to the point she was out of control - and this is easy to see, flailing arms, circular paddeling motion of the legs, panting rapid breathing with massive exhaust emmisions, wide eyes, possible discarding of equipment like masks, - none of this is noted, its very odd indeed, if these actions were present, surely this is the first thing that would be noted by the DM, or other divers especially her husband, yet its not reported.!

Aggression and anger is not a normal "narced" response, and medication would dim the ability to respond normally (use the BC) as she appears to do.

In my opinion, from the reports available she acted like she was fully in control of her equipment and was thinking rationally, or something in the reports dos'nt add up.

 

[Riger]

Many [-](most)[/-] BCD's release air from the shoulder when the inflator hose is pulled downward.

Is it possible that whilst the DM was inflating the BCD, Mrs Wood was pulling away from her, thus activating the shoulder dump valve.

If this is possible, then the reaction of Mrs Wood may have been misinterpreted.

Best Regards

Richard

Edited for accuracy

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Many (most) BCD's release air from the shoulder when the inflator hose is pulled downward.

Is it possible that whilst the DM was inflating the BCD, Mrs Wood was pulling away from her, thus activating the shoulder dump valve.

If this is possible, then the reaction of Mrs Wood may have been misinterpreted.

Best Regards

Richard

Hi Richard,

The way I read the description, it sound like the victim intentionally vented by pulling on the dump.

Whether the inflator had a pull-dump was not clear to me... your are right that many BC's do have the pull dump, but certainly not all, and I'm not even sure if "most" do (none of the seven we have in our family do...). I really don't know what percentage of BC's do or don't.

Best wishes.

 

[Riger]

Hi Richard,

I really don't know what percentage of BC's do or don't.

Best wishes.

Interesting, I wonder if it is a generational thing that modern BCD's more often have.

Wording changed in original text to improve accuracy.

Regards

Richard

 

[ItsBruce]

There is one thing I have not seen mentioned that really concerns me.

As I read the thread, the DM made contact at about 140 fsw, but did not take strong action to control the victim. People have talked about narcosis in the victim. What about narcosis in the DM?

That could explain why the DM didn't ditch weight or grab the tank valve and inflate her own BCD. DMs have specialized training. DMs have special responsibilities. But, DMs are not immune to narcosis. ... Or at least I don't think so.

 

[widget]

Many [-](most)[/-] BCD's release air from the shoulder when the inflator hose is pulled downward.

Is it possible that whilst the DM was inflating the BCD, Mrs Wood was pulling away from her, thus activating the shoulder dump valve.

If this is possible, then the reaction of Mrs Wood may have been misinterpreted.

Best Regards

Richard

Edited for accuracy

I guess we could look for explanations for anything, but although its probably possible, I would say its rather unlikely. The release of air would be jerky and sporadic,certainly more air would be going in than coming out, especially if the DM had hold of the victim and was moving with her, as I assume was the case, seen as reports claims she was physically fought off.

To vent the air (as we see from the report) the lady would have had to have control of the inflator head and either pulled it downward, raised it above her head, or used the alternate opposite shoulder dump if the BC had one - ALL three actions require a concious rational line of thought - stressed, panicked and narc'ed divers usually do not follow rational thought patterns.

 

[widget]

Body language under water? 30 yrs as a commercial diver is nothing short of thoroughly impressive! I, frankly, envy you!! Have you spent some time with shark or larger pelagics in your dive vicinity? You recognize such "jerky" movements as a tell tail fairly soon on, i can tell you! In you're own species it's even easier. Anger and aggression when one's looking for it under water are more than just a facial expression. Honestly we'd need to open a whole new thread just to sufficiently analyze that alone!Better yet, gimme a PM when you're free and we'll get over to Tiger Beach off, Freeport. From the recent report (Bahamas) i KNOW i'll learn sommat! i reckon you may too?

..............

I think you misunderstood my original post.

The report said "she exhibited signs of aggressive body language and anger" What I meant was, "what signs of aggression and anger did she exhibit"?

Did she show point or wave a finger, flip a bird, wave a fist around, - if she did, these are signs of a diver in control of themselves, not of a diver in a state of panic or undue stress.

I could be seething inside, yet you wouldnt know it unless I exhibited a sign which allowed you to recognise it, pushing the DM away is a fairly good sign of "controlled aggression and anger", ripping the DM'S mask off, pulling her demand valve from her mouth and then pushing her away / grabbing on to her etc are signs of uncontrolled aggression / stress / panic - It dos not appear this happened.

Have I see / dived with large predators,........................I dont make my living in Disneyworld mate, this is the real world.

 

[DocIndyDiver]

A narced DM is a good point. This may have been the deepest she's ever been. This incident is good example of why all pros on a "bottomless" dive need to be on air vs. nitrox, in case a deep rescue is necessitated.