Diver killed by lightning in FL

[Damselfish]

He had an Oxygen tank? Was this a deco dive? How many tanks did he have? This is new information. Where did you find that out?

When this was first posted in some thread there was a link to an article refering to the "oxygen tank." A little while later that same article showed an update, and was changed to "air tank" I think it was just the usual mistake, but they actually fixed it for once.

 

[DandyDon]

Correct. Leave the BC on, as the risk of drowning without it in a storm & waves is greater than that of being hit by lightning. I do remove my BC to pass up at times, but for other reasons, and my fins are on my feet or my wrists in case I fall and need them.

Besides, removing it to pass up to the crew isn't going to reduce the lightning risk, is it?

 

[diverbob]

Besides, removing it to pass up to the crew isn't going to reduce the lightning risk, is it?

True, but if I can move that strike more than a few inches from the back of my head, I'm all for that. Also, you are going to make the boat a bigger object, instead of the tank, and the boat is more capable of discharging the bolt, as long as its build correctly.

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

True, but if I can move that strike more than a few inches from the back of my head, I'm all for that. Also, you are going to make the boat a bigger object, instead of the tank, and the boat is more capable of discharging the bolt, as long as its build correctly.

Lightning doesn't normally have such a surgical attack. It usually strikes an area, rather than a single point. I'm really surprised that the boat didn't take a hit at the same time. So, under normal conditions, it isn't going to help being separated from your gear, or the boat by a few feet, everything in the immediate area is going to be hit.

 

[DandyDon]

Let the deckhand take the hit instead, huh?

Lightning doesn't normally have such a surgical attack. It usually strikes an area, rather than a single point. I'm really surprised that the boat didn't take a hit at the same time. So, under normal conditions, it isn't going to help being separated from your gear, or the boat by a few feet, everything in the immediate area is going to be hit.

That's right. If the tank gets hit, so is the ladder it's on and the boat.

 

[Wayfarer2]

I would think that if you are close enough to the boat to remove gear and hand it to them it might be quicker to just board the boat

 

[lamont]

I would think that if you are close enough to the boat to remove gear and hand it to them it might be quicker to just board the boat

If I couldn't stay down, that's what I'd do. Get rid of the tank/lightning-rod on my back and get on the boat ASAP. And surface as close to the boat as possible as well, so that its more likely that the boat will take more of the hit than you do. If I'm going to risk being a pathway to ground, I want as many other alternative pathways around me as possible and the bigger the better...

 

[tridacna]

I remember seeing something about an oxygen tank somewhere else, too. However, I take that with a grain of salt. The media, and most non-divers, refer to all tanks as oxygen.

I know. I was actually being tongue in cheek. I just never expected that kind of mistake on SB. I somehow thought that posters on the board knew better. Silly me.

 

[DandyDon]

I know. I was actually being tongue in cheek. I just never expected that kind of mistake on SB. I somehow thought that posters on the board knew better. Silly me.

I once knew a physician who was a diver who kept calling it an Oxygen tank. You'd think that a medical doc would get it right, but...?

I don't think a Nitorx or Trimex diver would ever make this mistake.

 

[Lehmann108]

Lightning doesn't normally have such a surgical attack. It usually strikes an area, rather than a single point. I'm really surprised that the boat didn't take a hit at the same time. So, under normal conditions, it isn't going to help being separated from your gear, or the boat by a few feet, everything in the immediate area is going to be hit.

The talk down here is that he was not actually directly hit by the bolt, but that it landed very close to him.