Breaking...Emerald Loses Divers off Jupiter 6/21

[drrich2]

Funny,just looked at the state statutes and they are pretty clearly required.In any case it is SOP for any rational person.

State statutes only apply in state waters. Emerald's shark dives are done outside state waters. I emphasize this point because otherwise it could create the appearance that if Emerald staff don't tow a dive flag, they're doing something illegal. Technicalities matter!

The staff 'group leader' on an Emerald dive, from what I saw, takes chopped fish in a couple of black plastic milk crates down, then feeds sharks, so if you want a dive flag towed the entire dive, I think you would need a 2nd staff person in the water.

It's also noteworthy that on an Emerald dive, at some sites they may be stationary rather than drifting along.

Interesting question; would one of the old Nautilus units with radio functionality, or a similar device, solve this problem?

Richard.

 

[tilikum]

The issue at hand is they lost their group of divers twice in a single month. I would have higher expectations from a charter operation and so should every potential customer. This is a case where one mistake is too many.

 

[scubadada]

Rumor has it JDC boat went out that day...got to the inlet...rough seas...Captain made the decision to abort diving for the day. Emerald goes out, no dive guide, no float ball, they follow bubbles, seas too rough to follow bubbles, boat captain loses divers.

That's just what I heard.

I was on the JDC boat on Wednesday. The seas were moderate in size, not outrageous. We easily got out of the inlet and continued on for at least 10-15 minutes before the captain called it and turned around. Capt Brian called it because of the large number of students and inexperienced divers on the boat. He was not willing to risk one or more of them getting injured using the ladder following one of the dives. Though I was very disappointed, it was probably the correct choice. The captain has to make difficult decisions

 

[Wookie]

I was on the JDC boat on Wednesday. The seas were moderate in size, not outrageous. We easily got out of the inlet and continued on for at least 10-15 minutes before the captain called it and turned around. Capt Brian called it because of the large number of students and inexperienced divers on the boat. He was not willing to risk one or more of them getting injured using the ladder following one of the dives. Though I was very disappointed, it was probably the correct choice. The captain has to make difficult decisions

There is only one thing worse than disappointing a customer. That's bringing one home hurt. Yes, the puppydog looks from disappointing them sucks terribly, and is the worst and often part of the job. But when one gets hurt, not withstanding the potential liability, is worse. Sometimes folks get on the internet and wish you ill will when that happens.

 

[100days-a-year]

Alpha flag is required in Federal waters if maneuverability is restricted by diving activities.In any case even if legal,it is foolish at best and is obviously unsafe based on the constant stories of divers being lost on drift dives on both private and charter boats in S FL.

 

[drrich2]

Good to know; thanks. I don't recall at just what point some sort of marker went up; I recall that by the end of the dive something was at the surface, because if one of us had needed to go up early, I believe there was a line and something to go up by. I didn't have to do that so I wasn't focused on it.

Richard.

 

[2airishuman]

The issue at hand is they lost their group of divers twice in a single month. I would have higher expectations from a charter operation and so should every potential customer. This is a case where one mistake is too many.

Emerald twice did the right thing and called for assistance early.

A&I has any number of tragic threads where other dive ops didn't make a call until too late. With every passing minute the search area gets larger and risk increases. Emerald should be commended for calling for S&R, and for the fact that, ultimately, no one was hurt.

The idea that calling for S&R once is one mistake too many, without due consideration to the facts of the situation, is both unfair to the operator and detrimental to overall safety. A boycott of any operator asking for S&R resources will over time incentivize operators to call late rather than call early.

 

[tilikum]

Calling for search and rescue is good, but Emerald should not have lost the dive groups in the first place.

 

[RayfromTX]

Emerald twice did the right thing and called for assistance early.

A&I has any number of tragic threads where other dive ops didn't make a call until too late. With every passing minute the search area gets larger and risk increases. Emerald should be commended for calling for S&R, and for the fact that, ultimately, no one was hurt.

The idea that calling for S&R once is one mistake too many, without due consideration to the facts of the situation, is both unfair to the operator and detrimental to overall safety. A boycott of any operator asking for S&R resources will over time incentivize operators to call late rather than call early.

That sir is a brilliant assesment and it is why I have come to respect your point of view on various topics.

 

[Joneill]

Emerald twice did the right thing and called for assistance early.

A&I has any number of tragic threads where other dive ops didn't make a call until too late. With every passing minute the search area gets larger and risk increases. Emerald should be commended for calling for S&R, and for the fact that, ultimately, no one was hurt.

The idea that calling for S&R once is one mistake too many, without due consideration to the facts of the situation, is both unfair to the operator and detrimental to overall safety. A boycott of any operator asking for S&R resources will over time incentivize operators to call late rather than call early.

Agreed - they did the right thing by calling S&R early.... and maybe I missed it, but I didn't see anyone calling for an outright boycott (beyond personal statements)?

To me, the real issue here is why have they "lost" 2 groups of divers in a short period of time?

I believe that there should be an investigation done to determine if there is an identifiable root cause(s) and if there are corrective/ preventive actions that could be put in place to address the root cause issue. In my industry (healthcare/ pharmaceuticals), our quality systems employ the INV/CAPA process to do exactly that when "issues" arise. Emerald should do something similar.

Corrective and preventive action - Wikipedia

It may well be that it turns out that these incidents were "flukes" and there is no common root cause, but they should do the work to see if improvements are warranted.