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Posted on Thu, Jul. 01, 2004
Death of cave divers highlights sport's peril
BY WES SMITH
The Orlando Sentinel
HUDSON, Fla. - (KRT) - In a dark, deep-water chamber known as "John's Pocket," relief and then anger swept over cave diver Paul Heinerth.
Heinerth and fellow diver Larry Green of High Springs, Fla., were two days into an exhaustive search when they finally found their former student and friend.
Craig Simon's body was cocooned in an eerie web of safety rope 290 feet deep within the world-renowned Eagle's Nest cave system near Weeki Wachee, Fla., where he and dive partner John H. Robinson Jr. disappeared June 12.
"When I found him, I had a sense of relief that we knew where he was. He wasn't missing anymore," Heinerth said late in June. "And I was angry at him for putting himself in that situation."
Since 1960, there have been 374 Florida cave-diving deaths recorded by International Underwater Cave Rescue and Recovery. Historically, most of those fatalities were divers who lacked proper training for deep diving in what enthusiasts call an "overhead environment."
But now there is growing concern that even veteran cave divers are putting themselves in unnecessary danger. Complacency and carelessness have increased in direct relation to advances in high-tech equipment for their demanding sport, some cave-diving experts said.
So far this year, there have been five cave-diving deaths reported to the IUCCR - three in Mexico and the two deaths at Eagle's Nest. All five of those who have died were certified cave divers. Last year, at least four of the 10 cave divers who died were certified.
"In recent years, the people who are dying are often trained cave divers. People are relying on tools that they may not really know how to use," said Michael Garman, vice president of the National Association for Cave Diving, based in Tallahassee, Fla.
High-tech breathing regulators, gas mixtures, rebreathers, submersible scooters, wristband dive computers and other equipment have encouraged trained cave divers to go deeper and farther into underwater labyrinths - sometimes without proper planning or basic safety precautions, Garman and others said.
Thirty years ago the small numbers of cave divers in Florida were generally zealots dedicated to refining their skills. But today there are many more recreational cave divers. They may be certified but only dive once or twice a year "so their skills are not as finely honed," said Jeffrey Bozanic, who analyzes accident data for IUCRR.
Cave divers are increasingly having accidents because they grabbed the wrong regulator, lost control of their scooters or misused rebreathers, he said.
"The slow accumulation of knowledge, skills and experience that is necessary to progress deeper into the realm of technical diving is being short-circuited, and this is leading to an inordinate number of avoidable incidents and accidents," the Huntington Beach, Calif., researcher said.
At the same time, he said, more individual cave divers are making scores of sorties into underwater caverns and returning safely.
"People have a gut-level terror of being in dark places and drowning, so it makes for good news copy when cave divers die," Bozanic said. "But if you look at the data, it's not that much more dangerous than a lot of other activities."
In the end it's often difficult to say exactly what caused most cave-diving deaths "because there is no one left to tell the tale," he said.
That grim fact and an equally sobering responsibility are part of the culture of Central Florida's certified cave divers, most of whom also share advanced technical skills, physical prowess and a love of high adventure in the many freshwater caves of the region.
The responsibility comes in the fact that when someone from their ranks makes a fatal mistake, only other cave divers are qualified to do a search.
"It's a necessary task and a somber one, but it has to be done because there is always a family waiting for closure," Heinerth said.
The call that cave divers dread went out most recently on the afternoon of June 12. Simon, 44, of Spring Hill, Fla., and Robinson, 36, of St. Petersburg, Fla., had not resurfaced from a June 12 dive into the Eagle's Nest cave system.
Cave divers from around the world are drawn to the remote and murky pond north of Tampa, Fla., that offers entrance to 5,655 feet of surveyed passageways through a long chimney that opens into a spectacular cathedral-sized cavern.
Even expert divers regard Eagle's Nest as a system of many dangers because of its deep network of tunnels and chambers with heavy silt and mud deposits. It had claimed at least five victims, including the most recent deaths. During the years, access has been blocked - with limited success - by a variety of owners, but it was officially opened to the public in July 2003 after the surrounding 720 acres was acquired as part of the state's Chassahowitzka Wildlife Management Area.
Heinerth, who owns Scuba West dive shop in Hudson, Fla., and has dived Eagle's Nest since the 1970s, was surprised to learn that the two missing men were experienced cave divers. He was stunned that Simon was one of them.
Simon, a father of four and owner of a lawn service, was a "very outgoing Italian guy who talked with his hands, had a New York accent and loved diving a great deal," Heinerth said.
Simon had "started cutting the grass here at our shop," he said. "Now the saddest part is that his littlest boy and girl probably won't remember their dad."
Heinerth and Green were among dozens of divers who responded to Eagle's Nest to take part in a marathon recovery effort. Drenching storms made it impossible at times to leave or enter the remote site until a bulldozer was brought in as a tow truck.
Certified cave-rescue divers from Citrus and Pasco counties' teams had tried without success to find the missing men June 12. Heinerth and longtime dive partner Steve Straatsma of St. Petersburg were asked to join the search on June 13. On June 14 the divers found the second and last body.
Investigators had learned that Simon and Robinson, using submersible scooters, were intending to explore the far reaches of the "downstream" tunnels of Eagle's Nest.
Twenty minutes into their search, Straatsma found the body of Robinson, an electrical engineer for Raytheon, inside Jim's Room, a cavern about 1,000 feet into the downstream tunnel at a depth of more than 260 feet.
"He was facing out, near the main guide line, and his tanks were empty," Heinerth said.
It took three more dive teams to get the body to the surface in stages. Heinerth and Straatsma spent nearly 2 1/2 more hours working their way slowly to the surface in order to avoid decompression sickness.
Robinson had worn a wrist computer that recorded the depths he had encountered before things went fatally wrong. From his computer profile of the dive, searchers were able to determine about where he and Simon had been.
For June 14's search, Heinerth teamed with Green, who had trained both Simon and Robinson in cave diving. Initially, they swam the 1,000 feet into Jim's Room and then into a deeper chamber within it called "John's Pocket."
There, Heinerth's searchlight hit "a lump" in the 6 feet of silt and mud coating the cave floor. "When I put my light on it, I saw a stainless-steel clip like that used on the scooters."
Heinerth and Green recovered the scooter and resumed their search for Simon. The veteran divers methodically followed safety procedures by running guide rope as they scanned the black chamber.
After nearly 40 minutes, their breathing tank levels were running low, and the two divers were on the verge of beginning a slow, four-hour ascent to avoid decompression sickness.
"I was using a rebreather, which gave me a little more time, and just before we made the dive, Craig's mother told me, `Please find my son,'" Heinerth said. "I'd told her I would do my best, so I told Larry to give me one more minute."
Heinerth swam deeper into the dead-end chamber, and there, in a tight "nook" at the very end, he found Simon's ensnared body.
Theories abound as to what went wrong, but the truth will likely remain buried deep in that "nook."
"I didn't see a guide line when I found Craig's scooter, though that doesn't mean one wasn't there," Heinerth said. "When you have a scooter, it is very tempting to just go and take a quick look at something without running a line. Something could have happened to kick up the silt, and then things could have gone sour fast."
No one knows whether that is what happened, Heineerth said.
But if it did, "it's a reminder that you can't stray from the basic rules, as tempting as it may be," he said.
---
© 2004, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.).
Visit the Sentinel on the World Wide Web at http://www.orlandosentinel.com. On America Online, use keyword: OSO.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
Original link here: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/9055583.htm?1c
Death of cave divers highlights sport's peril
BY WES SMITH
The Orlando Sentinel
HUDSON, Fla. - (KRT) - In a dark, deep-water chamber known as "John's Pocket," relief and then anger swept over cave diver Paul Heinerth.
Heinerth and fellow diver Larry Green of High Springs, Fla., were two days into an exhaustive search when they finally found their former student and friend.
Craig Simon's body was cocooned in an eerie web of safety rope 290 feet deep within the world-renowned Eagle's Nest cave system near Weeki Wachee, Fla., where he and dive partner John H. Robinson Jr. disappeared June 12.
"When I found him, I had a sense of relief that we knew where he was. He wasn't missing anymore," Heinerth said late in June. "And I was angry at him for putting himself in that situation."
Since 1960, there have been 374 Florida cave-diving deaths recorded by International Underwater Cave Rescue and Recovery. Historically, most of those fatalities were divers who lacked proper training for deep diving in what enthusiasts call an "overhead environment."
But now there is growing concern that even veteran cave divers are putting themselves in unnecessary danger. Complacency and carelessness have increased in direct relation to advances in high-tech equipment for their demanding sport, some cave-diving experts said.
So far this year, there have been five cave-diving deaths reported to the IUCCR - three in Mexico and the two deaths at Eagle's Nest. All five of those who have died were certified cave divers. Last year, at least four of the 10 cave divers who died were certified.
"In recent years, the people who are dying are often trained cave divers. People are relying on tools that they may not really know how to use," said Michael Garman, vice president of the National Association for Cave Diving, based in Tallahassee, Fla.
High-tech breathing regulators, gas mixtures, rebreathers, submersible scooters, wristband dive computers and other equipment have encouraged trained cave divers to go deeper and farther into underwater labyrinths - sometimes without proper planning or basic safety precautions, Garman and others said.
Thirty years ago the small numbers of cave divers in Florida were generally zealots dedicated to refining their skills. But today there are many more recreational cave divers. They may be certified but only dive once or twice a year "so their skills are not as finely honed," said Jeffrey Bozanic, who analyzes accident data for IUCRR.
Cave divers are increasingly having accidents because they grabbed the wrong regulator, lost control of their scooters or misused rebreathers, he said.
"The slow accumulation of knowledge, skills and experience that is necessary to progress deeper into the realm of technical diving is being short-circuited, and this is leading to an inordinate number of avoidable incidents and accidents," the Huntington Beach, Calif., researcher said.
At the same time, he said, more individual cave divers are making scores of sorties into underwater caverns and returning safely.
"People have a gut-level terror of being in dark places and drowning, so it makes for good news copy when cave divers die," Bozanic said. "But if you look at the data, it's not that much more dangerous than a lot of other activities."
In the end it's often difficult to say exactly what caused most cave-diving deaths "because there is no one left to tell the tale," he said.
That grim fact and an equally sobering responsibility are part of the culture of Central Florida's certified cave divers, most of whom also share advanced technical skills, physical prowess and a love of high adventure in the many freshwater caves of the region.
The responsibility comes in the fact that when someone from their ranks makes a fatal mistake, only other cave divers are qualified to do a search.
"It's a necessary task and a somber one, but it has to be done because there is always a family waiting for closure," Heinerth said.
The call that cave divers dread went out most recently on the afternoon of June 12. Simon, 44, of Spring Hill, Fla., and Robinson, 36, of St. Petersburg, Fla., had not resurfaced from a June 12 dive into the Eagle's Nest cave system.
Cave divers from around the world are drawn to the remote and murky pond north of Tampa, Fla., that offers entrance to 5,655 feet of surveyed passageways through a long chimney that opens into a spectacular cathedral-sized cavern.
Even expert divers regard Eagle's Nest as a system of many dangers because of its deep network of tunnels and chambers with heavy silt and mud deposits. It had claimed at least five victims, including the most recent deaths. During the years, access has been blocked - with limited success - by a variety of owners, but it was officially opened to the public in July 2003 after the surrounding 720 acres was acquired as part of the state's Chassahowitzka Wildlife Management Area.
Heinerth, who owns Scuba West dive shop in Hudson, Fla., and has dived Eagle's Nest since the 1970s, was surprised to learn that the two missing men were experienced cave divers. He was stunned that Simon was one of them.
Simon, a father of four and owner of a lawn service, was a "very outgoing Italian guy who talked with his hands, had a New York accent and loved diving a great deal," Heinerth said.
Simon had "started cutting the grass here at our shop," he said. "Now the saddest part is that his littlest boy and girl probably won't remember their dad."
Heinerth and Green were among dozens of divers who responded to Eagle's Nest to take part in a marathon recovery effort. Drenching storms made it impossible at times to leave or enter the remote site until a bulldozer was brought in as a tow truck.
Certified cave-rescue divers from Citrus and Pasco counties' teams had tried without success to find the missing men June 12. Heinerth and longtime dive partner Steve Straatsma of St. Petersburg were asked to join the search on June 13. On June 14 the divers found the second and last body.
Investigators had learned that Simon and Robinson, using submersible scooters, were intending to explore the far reaches of the "downstream" tunnels of Eagle's Nest.
Twenty minutes into their search, Straatsma found the body of Robinson, an electrical engineer for Raytheon, inside Jim's Room, a cavern about 1,000 feet into the downstream tunnel at a depth of more than 260 feet.
"He was facing out, near the main guide line, and his tanks were empty," Heinerth said.
It took three more dive teams to get the body to the surface in stages. Heinerth and Straatsma spent nearly 2 1/2 more hours working their way slowly to the surface in order to avoid decompression sickness.
Robinson had worn a wrist computer that recorded the depths he had encountered before things went fatally wrong. From his computer profile of the dive, searchers were able to determine about where he and Simon had been.
For June 14's search, Heinerth teamed with Green, who had trained both Simon and Robinson in cave diving. Initially, they swam the 1,000 feet into Jim's Room and then into a deeper chamber within it called "John's Pocket."
There, Heinerth's searchlight hit "a lump" in the 6 feet of silt and mud coating the cave floor. "When I put my light on it, I saw a stainless-steel clip like that used on the scooters."
Heinerth and Green recovered the scooter and resumed their search for Simon. The veteran divers methodically followed safety procedures by running guide rope as they scanned the black chamber.
After nearly 40 minutes, their breathing tank levels were running low, and the two divers were on the verge of beginning a slow, four-hour ascent to avoid decompression sickness.
"I was using a rebreather, which gave me a little more time, and just before we made the dive, Craig's mother told me, `Please find my son,'" Heinerth said. "I'd told her I would do my best, so I told Larry to give me one more minute."
Heinerth swam deeper into the dead-end chamber, and there, in a tight "nook" at the very end, he found Simon's ensnared body.
Theories abound as to what went wrong, but the truth will likely remain buried deep in that "nook."
"I didn't see a guide line when I found Craig's scooter, though that doesn't mean one wasn't there," Heinerth said. "When you have a scooter, it is very tempting to just go and take a quick look at something without running a line. Something could have happened to kick up the silt, and then things could have gone sour fast."
No one knows whether that is what happened, Heineerth said.
But if it did, "it's a reminder that you can't stray from the basic rules, as tempting as it may be," he said.
---
© 2004, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.).
Visit the Sentinel on the World Wide Web at http://www.orlandosentinel.com. On America Online, use keyword: OSO.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
Original link here: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/9055583.htm?1c
