Deaths at Eagles Nest - Homosassa FL

[Texas Torpedo]

Here's a good video report about Eagle's Nest by 10 News in Tampa with help from Becky / Liquid Productions - for those who want to know more about this cave, including the inherent dangers.

Underwater cave Eagle's Nest video | wtsp.com

 

[Diver0001]

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[PfcAJ]

There isn't a 60 foot rule.

Something is fishy. The kids facebook page shows him in full cave kit in one instance and single tank kit in another. He may not be certified, but he's sure been in the water a lot. The old man's facebook page shows him well into an overhead in a number of photos. These shots were not taken with a happy snappy with built in flash, someone with real camera gear has been taking these guys diving.

His cover photo is copyrighted "Danny Riordan 2008", which may mean nothing at all.....

his is cover photo is a pic of my friend Clare Pooley. If you look at the stage bottle, it's marked CHG. Clare H Gledhill (her maiden name). It's not him.

 

[Hetland]

Well at least for today that tidbit got pulled down. Wonder how long it will be before it is up again.

I took out the directions on how to get there, but here is what they had posted:

www.ShopEZScuba.com​

We will beat Any Price Online!
​

OUR Pics Of Eagle's Nest Here->>>CLICK ME




Please Understand, This is NOT INTENDED AS AN OPEN WATER DIVE SITE, BUT.....
The Basin is sometimes very clear and can be enjoyed as an Open Water Dive Site as long as
you stay within your cert level.
Under ideal circumstances (viz etc..) this can be a Very Cool cavern dive site.
Unfortunately It only takes one badly placed fin kick to dump muck down the entrance tube.
A silt out down the tube removes the Sunlight requirement for cavern diving. Sooo...
Don't screw it up for the rest of us!
This link lists the recommended minimum Certs for this site NSS CDS

This is how to get to Eagle's Nest....
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**********************************************************************************************
U are ready to dive, Be Careful, Don't Go In the Cave If U Are Not Trained For This Kind Of Diving.
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These Steps Are now Finished. For the those of us that have been diving here for years, this
is an unbelievable improvement in access, Thanks to those who made it possible.

 

[flots am]

Tursiops is correct. There is no requirement for a hard bottom for training dives in any agency I know of. Every day thousands of divers around the world are certified in ocean waters deeper than the maximum allowed depth for their training. It is up to the instructor to make sure the students do not go deeper than allowed.

Obviously the ocean is much deeper than training limits in many places, however the area where training occurs, typically doesn't have a hole in the bottom and an entrance to an overhead.

In any case, there's no way I'd take OW students anywhere near a hole into anything. If someone else wants to, that's fine, but it won't be me.

 

[Bratface]

This is a very disheartening story. Two people died who didn't have to and they died trying to do what they enjoyed. How exciting is it to get new gear, and who wouldn't be eager to try it out? But why would a father who was only OW certified take his non-certified 15 year old into a cave? We will never know. I feel so very sorry for family and especially the boy's mother.

Let's not throw the victims under the bus but urge everyone to learn how to dive properly and within the limits of their training.

 

[debajo agua]

There are no accurate statistics for this, but it would not surprise me to learn that 98% of the people diving in caves are appropriately certified. That means that only a very tiny percentage of certified divers die in caves, while a very high percentage of uncertified divers die in caves.

The depth of where they found one of the bodies, suggest they never left the Ballroom, which technically is a cavern dive and not a cave dive as reported.

 

[mdwypro]

Doing tmix training with an instructor recently at Eagles Nest, I learned even before you enter the downstream or upstream tunnel, the big room starts at about 110 feet. The space is intimidating. I ran a jump line from the gold line at 160ft deep. Holding at 160ft I ran my spool out 100ft to the wall. I was not being very careful with the spool, until I turned around and tried to see the gold line and the surface opening. When I realized the lifeline I had was the spool in hand, I made sure it was secure. The room is huge and deep. You can drop down to 200 feet or up to 110 feet and 1000 feet around and still not be at the exit to the surface. My cave lite only lit up a small spot and the darkness absorbed all the lite. It would be very easy to get lost. The odds are if you’re untrained you are going to die. Even being a trained cave diver, Eagles Nest is different. Even cave divers should start with a guide or minimum someone with a lot of experience at EN before you dive there.

 

[Matt S.]

If anyone is curious, the incident is being discussed on Reddit too.

Father, son die in Christmas cave diving excursion : scuba

 

[Doppler]

The depth of where they found one of the bodies, suggest they never left the Ballroom, which technically is a cavern dive and not a cave dive as reported.

Sorry mate, but the definition of a cavern is that daylight is the primary light. I have been diving EN since 1996 and have NEVER seen any part of the cave once you have dropped through the chimney where the primary light is daylight. Therefore, no "technically" a cavern dive at all.

I'd suggest the body found at the shallower depth was trapped on the roof of the ballroom away from the chimney. The other sounds as though it was partway down the debris mound... again, away from the chimney.

AND who the hell would take gear into a CAVERN, let alone the EN to try it out!????