Diver dies in Islamorada

[BDSC]

The boat, "Giant Stride" happens to be 42 ft. long with a capacity of 30 divers but how many divers they had that day I have no idea. But even if there were only six divers I'd have to believe they would have at least two crew members on a boat that large. But I could see one of the two possibly being in the water as a DM/Instructor with one left on the boat. Maybe in a situation like that with rough seas a lone crew member would not want to leave the boat should the boat somehow break free and start to drift away.

 

[TJF]

Thoughts and prayers to the family.

 

[rakpix]

if all the info posted here is accurate, this could leave the dive ops very liable. there's no circumstance that would excuse leaving a diver to drift for twenty minutes, except maybe a hurricane.

 

[reefman]

The article states that an instructor got her to the ladder but just couldn't seem to wait the 1-2 minutes it would have taken her to get on the boat (and saved her life). Also the article says "crewmembers" and "they" indicating there was more than one crew member on board.

i realize this is pure speculation, but the other crew member could very well have been the dive instructor/master in the water diving the eagle; if the vessel had 6 divers/passengers or less(leaving the master as the only sole onboard) which adheres to US coast guard regulations,,,,,,,,,,


reefman
key largo

 

[mjmason1]

As divers we all feel frustration and grief when a member of the diving community passes away. Often times we never get the true answer as to what happens. If we do not learn from incidents like this then we are as liable as anyone else. My condolences to the family, but we must not forget the dive operators. Having nearly lost 2 divers over the years I can empathize with the diving professionals. The guilt and hurt they are feeling is overwhelming. As well as the family of the deceased lets keep our hearts and prayers for the dive operators also.

 

[ianr33]

Hope this wasn't something as silly as throwing/passing fins up to the boat then falling off the ladder.

 

[DivingPrincessE]

i realize this is pure speculation, but the other crew member could very well have been the dive instructor/master in the water diving the eagle; if the vessel had 6 divers/passengers or less(leaving the master as the only sole onboard) which adheres to US coast guard regulations,,,,,,,,,,


reefman
key largo

This is also pure speculation, but in reading the article, that does not sound like what happened. The article says that instructor brought her up, then returned to the group underwater. After this occurs she drifts away from the boat and "crewmembers" couldn't reach her, and "they" banged on the ladder.

The way the article is written (and I realize there could be mistakes in the article) it sounds as if there were at least two employees on board.

Although, if indeed one of the "crewmembers" was the instructor on the surface, that is even more disturbing. That would mean there was someone in the water, in full gear, with enough air to return to the divers below...and even HE didn't swim after her when she started to drift away. So I am going to truly hope that "crewmembers" was referring to those on the boat and that the instructor was long gone by then, b/c if he wasn't...well that is just horrifying

Originally Posted by deeper thoughts
The instructor helped her to the surface, then returned to the group underwater, Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Deputy Becky Herrin said.

Herrin said #### made it safely to the stern of the boat. She was removing dive gear when she began drifting away from the boat. When crewmembers couldn’t reach her, they banged on the aluminum ladder to call the divers to the surface, Herrin said.

 

[diver 85]

I too am sorry for the diver & her family......

I bring up this..Does anyone know what kind of dive briefing was given?.....ie, I have been on dives in the GOM(Flower Gardens) where the captain has stated in the dive briefing 'Conditions are ruff right now, it may be up to a 45 minute+ surface float for boarding you IF conditions change & we have to untie the boat due to changing conditions---EVERYONE make sure you know how to use your SMB, understand?......'......

Also, (if stated I must have missed it) what kind of certification was she/they obtaining--"The couple and a group of other divers were with an INSTRUCTOR on the 'Eagle' wreck."..Apparently the conditions were very tuff that day, possiblly too tuff for running instructing dives??...

Just 2 stupid thoughts on the situation.....Again. so sorry to hear of this accident.......

EDIT:...In general, 5-7' is tuff, esp if you're over 50, .....(lol- like me)

 

[DennisS]

Hope this wasn't something as silly as throwing/passing fins up to the boat then falling off the ladder.

Fins on wrist when climbing the ladder

The seas were up, a research ship cancelled the survey dives they had planned

It just seems odd that they let her drift away, if that is what happened

 

[Scubakevdm]

Wow. A very sad story. My condolences to the family and my sympathies for the crew as well.

When I read the article, I started trying to put a picture together in my mind of what could have been going on for this to have happened. There are some questions that popped up as I thought about it. Was the instructor teaching a class and also responsible for the safety of the divers below? If the diver was at the back of the boat doffing gear, and the instructor went down to supervise the students (if they were in fact students) I'm guessing that the instructor thought the diver was okay at that point. But what if the instructor felt that there was a serious problem? Its possible that he went down to recall the other divers? That would strike me as being responsible also. The problem is, we don't know the details.

As far as the actions of the crew, again, we don't have a very good picture. Did they know that there was serious a problem with the diver at the back of the boat, or did she seem okay? Did she get washed off of the ladder by the rough seas, and was unable to overcome the current to get back to the boat, or did she lose consciousness and drift away? We don't know. We do know that they recalled the divers by banging on the ladder, which suggests that at some point they were pretty concerned about what was going on, but we don't know at what point the situation as perceived by the crew went from a diver thumbing the dive early and getting back on to a situation with a diver in serious trouble.

There are inherent risks to diving, and tragedies happen. Every time we go diving, we make hundreds of judgment calls. Sometimes we are forced to make them even when all he facts aren't clear, and sometimes the calls don't work out. I am sure that nobody is second guessing the crew more than they are second guessing themselves. I feel very badly for them, because I will end this post and go on about my day, while they will for a long, long time continue to play the incident over and over again in their minds searching and wishing for what they could have done.