Diver dies on French Reef (Keys)

[DennisS]

It is very easy to lose sight of an obect at sea. As an example

We were off the virgin islands in 5-7 foot seas, the height of the bridge was 35 ft. Someone saw a white speck in the distance and we went to investigate. We got closer and saw that it was a 13 foot whaler without an engine. We kept losing sight of it, with 5 people watching through binoculars. Even at 2-300 yards we would lose sight of it for 20-30 seconds. If there was only one person watching and they were looking the wrong way when it made it's appearance at the top of a wave, they would never see it.

 

[String]

Are you basing this opinion on the sole fact that the vessel was anchored?

Partly. That coupled with the fact there was known bad visibility (sun glare) and the captain did absolutely nothing to reduce the effect of it and just sat there.

 

[String]

Ten or twelve commercial live dive boats dropping off and picking up divers all at the same time, running over divers, not knowing which divers came off which boat....sounds like a real cluster with the potential for a dramatic increase in deaths.

Again, odd how other areas in the world manage it without any issues at all.
And the red sea isnt all deep drop offs - a lot of the reefs close to shore are standard "reef on a sandy bottom". And they still dont have that issue.

 

[DandyDon]

Again, odd how other areas in the world manage it without any issues at all.
And the red sea isnt all deep drop offs - a lot of the reefs close to shore are standard "reef on a sandy bottom". And they still dont have that issue.

And they put out 200 yard drift lines...?

 

[String]

. It *is* suggestive of negligence if two divers on the surface go unnoticed for 30 minutes at 100 yds from the boat under any standard you'd care to apply to a dive-for-profit operation. It's not a difficult visual challenge under the conditions described, but you have to be trying.

How many times have you actually tried to cover divers off a boat ? I'd venture not a lot. 100yds is a LONG way to spot a divers head. Especially if the swell is more than 6 inches, even worse if wind, spray, rain, glare or just dim light. Most divers with hoods tend to have dark colours, divers without hoods aren't exactly dayglo either. Spotting objects that distance away is very difficult. That's why divers should always carry surface signalling aids. A 5ft long bright orange SMB is going to get noticed. A divers head wearing a dark coloured hood at the same distance has far less chance.

Human eyes generally rely on contrast to make out objects - a small head relatively dark coloured in a dark colour sea and/or sky provides very little contrast. Bright colours really aren't common on divers. Most suits and gear come in various shades of black, dark blue or grey at the moment. My "high vis" gear currently is a black hood (but SOLAS strip), black drysuit, fins, black wing and black harness. Purely because that's the colours the kit comes in. You see very few people wearing vivid gear looking like they just escaped from the 1980s on real dive sites.

Keeping track of and spotting divers is one of the most difficult things in coxing a dive boat.

 

[String]

And they put out 200 yard drift lines...?

No. They stay live and cover the divers or stand off at a sensible location whilst staying live. Or if its too shallow or windy to get in they use their zodiacs to deliver and recover their divers. No mooring or return to boat needed and boats are always ready for immediate response.

 

[widget]

Yes, String, I am with you again. I have dived extensively in the Red Sea and in some instances "live aboards" will drop 30 plus divers and cover them with zodiacs, I have been in the water with upwards of 100 divers in one small area and everyone gets by just fine.

Here in SA, no boats anchor or tie off, they all remain live and follow the divers around, and we have virtually no drop offs or ledges, all our diving is on standard reefs on sandy bottoms.We never drop drift lines as the boat just chuggs upcurrent of the diver, drifts down to them and the diver hops on.
We get around it here by using "Smaller" hard bottom boats and "Larger" zodiacs (roughly 10-12 divers per boat) to ferry divers to and from the site, these boats are nimble, easy to control in rough seas and in 30 years plus of diving I have never heard of a diver getting lost here. Operators have numbers of these boats ferrying divers backwards and forwards all day so its not unusual to have 70-100 divers in the water on a reef at any one time.

Although having dived extensively in the Keys, I have to agree somewhat with some posters, the big boats they use do not lend themselves to been "Live",............but again its a diver / operator mind set, most divers who regularly dive these reefs are used to this kind of diving and think nothing of it, indeed having live boats follow them around would be out of the ordinary and would take a while to get used to, whereas here we are used to boats zooming around above us and know not to just "pop up" somewhere or you may get a haircut.

I am the first to admit moored boats "IS" a working viable process in the keys, so theres no real need to change things, however I think the advantages of live zodiacs could easily be explored without too much of a problem.

 

[Walter]

Again, odd how other areas in the world manage it without any issues at all.

In what other areas do they use that practice with that volume of boats at the same site at the same time? I've dive in many places around the world and have yet to encounter another with the same density of divers or dive boats as the Keys. That doesn't even take into account the many fishing boats in the area. Even with less density, the boats I've dived from usually anchor or moor unless they have strong currents like in Cozumel where they do practice live boating and in SE Florida where they use float diving. While there are lots of divers anf lots of dive boats in both these locations, density is not nearly the same as in the Key Largo area.

 

[Captain Larry]

As a dive boat captain in Key Largo I can assure you that the operators here have adopted methods that work based upon 30+ years of tried and true experience. If someone wants to start up a boat operation that doesn't moor, but drifts around, come on down and start one. Good luck. The rest of the world can do whatever works for them; moored or anchored diving is the norm here in Key Largo. If you have a different opinion that's nice.
As many have said a safety sausage should be standard equipment for every dive. My preference is orange vs yellow because orange "lights up" with polarized lenses which most captains wear. A surface alert is also a great safety device.
Dandy Dan makes a great point on carrying a compact snorkel. It's another tool in the toolbox that's worth its weight in gold when you need it. We promote the Tilos roll-up snorkel. Uses a second clip on the back of the included mask clip to secure the rolled up snorkel. Makes a nice little self contained package that fits into your bcd pocket. I keep them priced low at $20 so that price isn't a deterrent.
When one hour is up and all of the divers are not back yet, the crew goes into a heightened stage of awareness which may not be apparent to most customers. We start scanning beyond normal distances for heads or signals. Many divers in resort type dive locations like the Keys don't even wear a dive watch and have no idea of when 1 hour is up. This includes many supposed advanced divers too. Wear a dive watch, check your times, always know where the dive boat is moored in relation to your dive. It's basic navigation 101. We only carry six divers per trip, it makes tracking divers a little easier than some of the cattle car operaters.
Nobody, not the captain, not the crew, not the coast guard, is responsible for planning and conducting a safe dive within your skills, experience, and training except the diver. Until you mentally accept responsibility for your behavior, and exercise risk assessment for every dive, you need to stay out of the water. Nobody can predict the future or plan for every unforeseen eventuality. But the basics that you consider should be waves, current, navigation, depth, air consumption, time, safety, and survival.
Yes the Keys are usually nice, sometimes they are not. Today it is blowing 25 knots and 6' + seas. Not a pretty day yet there are divers on the reef. Conditions can and do change. Divers must always expect that the conditions at the end of the dive may be different than at the beginning of the dive.
Scubaboard is a great learning tool and it's great that everyone can share their experiences, learn from other divers experience, and share ideas. Keep diving and come down to the Keys: Caribbean style warm water reef diving in the continental United States.

 

[Walter]

Nobody, not the captain, not the crew, not the coast guard, is responsible for planning and conducting a safe dive within your skills, experience, and training except the diver. Until you mentally accept responsibility for your behavior, and exercise risk assessment for every dive, you need to stay out of the water.

Great post!!!