Diver missing - Emerald Bay - Catalina Island

[C Dub]

I was on a 3-day to Catalina for the lobster opener. There were 22 divers, most of whom come back every year for this trip, and usually it is 4 days but we limited out on the third.

As a newer cert'd diver, it was eye opening, to say the least. I can not even begin to explain how much I learned about what NOT to do. Everyone (except me and my instructor) dove solo. All night. 4-5-6 tanks a night. Rather rough water with strong currents. After drinking, some heavily. Then some sleep, food, more booze, and start again right at sunset. Divers jumping in with 200 pounds of air in their tank. Divers diving with broken inflators. Dropping/losing brand new GoPro's. Divers drifting down current, around the corner of the island and out of sight, with only a sliver of moon, and then not being able to get back. Missing in pitch black for 2 hours. Luckily that guy managed to climb onto the ONE rock within miles that was climbable. The rest of that area was vertical rock wall. The search for him with a kayak was sobering, as well as the 1500 feet of line it took to drag him back to the boat, hand over hand. I should add that the 200 pounds, the inflator, GoPro, and drifting away out of sight were all commuted by the same diver.

I don't know how typical this was....

(By the way, I was doing my AOW with an instructor, and did exactly zero lobster dives beyond the required Night dive.)

 

[Sheri SGR]

It was Santa Cruz Island on the backside....three in a week in SoCal

Refreshers, guided dives, qualified buddies - if you don't dive regularly consider one or all when you return to the water....and pay attention to your general health people, I wonder how many of these had nothing to do with "scuba diving" rather poor fitness, heart health or some other age related issue.

 

[muddiver]

C Dub,
It depends on the boat and if it is chartered by a club or open boat. I've seen situations a little like what you describe when I have been on a boat with a club. Some clubs do a lot of drinking. I do not approve or partake in inebriated diving, but it seems that it occurs. Also, there are a number of low standard instructors handing out certifications like candy at Halloween. If safety is watered down to chase the dollar, activities like you witnessed will occur. Such stupid action by any diver totally explains why all the fatalities. The other is out of shape divers having heart attacks.

I think that there are charter boats out there that will stop a diver from getting in the water if they have been drinking because to know the risk and not take action opens the captain and charter company to an un defendable liability lawsuit.

 

[OCdiving Deb]

Back to the original thread topic, the diver missing at Catalina. His body was found this morning at 100' by LA Sheriff Dept's Special Enforcement Bureau. http://t.co/H1klwtgrPZ

My condolences to all affected by this week's 4 diving fatalities related to lobster opening season. Yes, 4. Please be careful out there, divers.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I was on a boat last week that has one standing rule; your first drink is your last dive.

 

[ertes]

My condolences to all affected by this week's 4 diving fatalities related to lobster opening season. Yes, 4. Please be careful out there, divers.

4? Catalina, Mission Bay. Where are the other two?

 

[coldfire22x]

4? Catalina, Mission Bay. Where are the other two?

Catalina, Mission Bay, Anacapa, and Alamitos Bay.

Condolences to the family, friends, and all involved with these accidents.

 

[Captain Ray]

Four?, I've heard nothing about Alamitos Bay. Someone needs to update me. Sounds like BS. Debbie, get your facts straight. One incident at Santa Cruz on Saturday, Commercial dive Boat. One incident at Catalina, Monday night. Not in a reserve, probably not in 300 fsw. Even George wouldn't do that. One more incident in Mission Bay Wed., not involving a commercial vessel.

That said, I have never been a proponent of this Saturday opening, We almost never had a fatality during all the years of Wednesday openings. Divers that don't dive all year get in the water without understanding that they need to be responsible for there own safety, regardless of what the rest of us do to protect them.


You of all people should understand that. Please try to refrain from speculating on accidents until the family and operators have had a chance to deal with them. Facts please, only the facts.

 

[dytis-sm]

This is not about lobsters but bad diving habits and simple errors amplified at night and bad conditions. Those incidents can also happen to photographers (wink wink) under similar circumstances. In all incidents there was something pointing to a likely simple error/miscalculation and that could happen to anyone due to the nature of the sport. A simple mistake in diving can prove deadly and I think these poor divers and their families were dealt a bad hand last weekend. I think that at the end of the day we all accept certain risk while diving and even with the best training and habits, it takes a simple miscalculation or panic for a problem to get ugly.

My condolences to the families.

 

[Keith.M]

I was on a boat last week that has one standing rule; your first drink is your last dive.

And that... Is a damned good rule.