Catalina diving accident Oct. 12th

[manitou diver]

Referring back to the two previous threads I wanted to add some details to the report that there was a death on October 12th. The family was told that it happened at Catalina. I am not familiar with the islands so I am not sure the distance between Catalina and Santa Barbara Island. Perhaps there were two separate incidents but the information I have seems to correspond with the first posting.

The details I have are that the male diver had completed his dive safely with his buddy and were approximately 200 yds from the boat. They had been lobster diving. Seems like a long surface swim and I don't know if they had any signaling devices. We don't know what happened but the buddy made it safely back to the boat. I guess the buddy lost track of the missing diver and didn't realize it til the boat staff counted divers. They then commenced the search. Could the currents there have separated them?

The missing diver had 1000 psi of air and was found in 25' of water without the regulator and his mask pulled up to his forehead. He also still had some weights but not all and a torn BCD. The LA Coroner is still investigating. If anyone has any information to share on this incident I will share it with the family as this is still a mystery as to what happened. The diver had experience but hadn't been diving with the buddy before.

It would seem that the lesson from this would be, once you reach the surface, don't get separated from your buddy til you are both safely back in the boat. There are many possibilities for speculation as to what went wrong. This is an accident that might not have happened.

Nancy

 

[drbill]

Just to clarify the geography, Santa Barbara Island is about 20 miles nearly due west of the West End of Catalina. The West End of Catalina is another 17-18 miles from Avalon.

 

[manitou diver]

Is it usual for accidents in this area to be considered Catalina then by the authorities? The family lives out of state and wouldn't necessarily know the difference.

 

[tc]

Is it the one discussed here?

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/206386-diver-death-catalina-weekend.html

If so it seems to have occurred at Santa Barbara Island and he was transported to Catalina before being turned over to the Sheriff or Coroner- That could explain why the difference in the listed location.

 

[manitou diver]

Yes I had read that post but was unclear on the difference between Santa Barbara and Catalina Islands. I am surprised that divers would surface 200 yds from the boat and have to swim that far. I guess I am spoiled by diving Cozumel. Where is the usual Lobster hunting done? I do know that's what they were doing.

 

[drbill]

Diving accident victims are occasionally brought into Catalina from the adjacent islands because we have a recompression chamber here as well as medical facilities (hospital, Baywatch) and resident sheriffs. I hope they don't count in our statistics, but if they do that could explain the higher number I hear compared to what Ken Kurtis has from his consultation.

Most dive boats here anchor and divers are responsible for returning to the boat after their dive. Live boats and drift diving (as in Cozumel) are not very common based on my experience.

 

[SilverSails]

Re: Catalina diving accident Oct. 12th...

I am this young man's aunt and a long past scuba participant. I was left cold after reading your responses. This is not intended to flame, but he was not just a statistic. He was a very bright, sincere and loving person, who loved his wife, his parents, and family greatly.

We are still grieving and still searching for answers. His father has yet to find peace with this tragic loss. All of his family, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, are working very hard to cope. We loved him deeply. A special light has gone out in all our lives.

Thank you for hearing me.

 

[Gombessa]

Hi SilverSails,

I'm terribly sorry to hear about your loss. Please try to understand that participants in this forum are not trying to denigrate or dismiss the value of your nephew's life. Rather, we use this forum to attempt to analyze diving accidents in order to determine the causes, learn from potential mistakes made or unexpected situations encountered, and hopefully come away more aware and more safe in our own diving.

Unfortunately, this does have the effect of making the discussions much less personal. I think that's the reason why the moderators have created the Passings forum, ScubaBoard - Passings for memorials. If you post there, I'm sure you'll see that as divers we mourn the passing of one of our own.

Safe diving.

 

[manitou diver]

As the original poster to this thread and one who knew the victim for several years, I was hoping to gain insight in the situation to share with other members of the family. The causes behind this unfortunate incident are still unknown even months later. Finding closure is important and using this forum to help educate or increase awareness by divers of the risks of the sport is an important service provided by those who participate. In a previous thread I did speak of the loss of my friend which perhaps Silver Sails missed. I do send my condolences and totally understand your sorrow and losing your loved one so tragically.

 

[D_B]

SilverSails .. It's not that all of ScubaBoard is unfeeling, uncaring. In only this one, particular part of ScubaBoard's forums .. Accidents and Incidents, is not a place for condolances, it is where we try to learn from others, what we can do as divers to make sure something like what is being discussed, does not happen again ..
... please do not misunderstand, we do care, deeply

DB