Diver panics - Cape Town

[Dan]

I didn't see anything about training dive either, but the way the diver panicking by pulling her mask down, taking the regulator off her mouth, just from not being able to ascend, appear to be a reaction of a student diver.

 

[pepperbelly]

The reported fact that the assisting diver is neither her buddy nor a divemaster/instructor puts this video in a different light.

Much of the previous discussion centered upon how the "divemaster" should have intervened sooner.

It looks like the diver giving assistance was the DM. He was looking around at each diver and gave each the thumbs up signal to ascend. The other divers were gathering around him.

 

[Storker]

The rescue diver was neither an instructor nor a DM. He did, however, take charge in a sticky situation.

If you can stand browsing through the countless inane comments, you can get some of the facts about the incident instead of just speculating. Here's what the rescuer himself says in one of the comments:

I did not lead the dive. We got seperated from the dm due to bad viz so I just kept everyone together

And the description of the video says:

A few of us divers got separated from group and decided that we should ascend. Inability to ascend caused one diver to panic...
I am not a dive instructor...