Diver Separation

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Divegoose

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Scuba Instructor
Divemaster
Messages
685
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Location
Vancouver Island
# of dives
1000 - 2499
Three of us started out on a dive at one of our local shore dive sites. We had planned to go out, head down the sand chute, turn left, and head over to the wolf eel den to check on the resident wolf eels. We got to about 20 feet when one buddy signaled a problem with his camera. He indicated for the two of us to stay put, and he would surface, fix the problem, and come right back down. After about 5 minutes, no sign of him, so the two of us signaled that we would go up, and see if everything was okay.

We arrived at the surface to find no sign of our missing buddy. We waited on the surface for about 10 minutes, hoping that if he descended looking for us, and couldn't find us, he would re-surface. After about 10 minutes of floating on the surface, and no sign of our missing buddy, we worked our way back in to shore, all the while scanning for our missing buddy.

Once on shore we continued to scan for our missing buddy. After there had been no contact for approximately 45 minutes, we made the 9-1-1 call to the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre and the RCMP to report our buddy missing. While waiting for assistance to arrive, our buddy finally surfaced right at the shore. We of course cancelled all the emergency services who were on their way. We even had a boat come into the bay to confirm the missing diver had been located, as the incident had been broadcast over the marine radio system.

Turns out our buddy had only been on the surface for a couple of minutes, while he fixed his camera. The breeze, and a mild surface current had moved him away from our location. When he descended, and couldn't find us, he went looking for us. Had he ascended again after looking for a minute, he would have found us, and we could have continued with the dive.

Lessons learned:

1. when he had a problem with his camera, we all should have come to the surface.

2. when he couldn't find us after a minute of looking, he should have come to the surface

3. a SMB or dive flag would have marked our location so that he could have come straight back down to where we were (not sure why no one uses a dive flag at any of our shore dive sites)

4. our buddy separation procedures should have been reviewed prior to the dive

We are all very experienced divers. Perhaps we were complacent, as we have all dove this site hundreds of times. In the end, we all came home safely, with the knowledge that our little mistakes could have led to something much worse. When discussing the incident a few days later with the dive shop owners, we were 100 percent correct to call for emergency services when we did. Better to have them coming and not need them, then to need them urgently and not have called them.

Divegoose
 
Glad everyone is ok. Thanks for the story and analysis. Seems like this could happen to anyone.
 
Deploying an SMB would have been an excellent method to maintain group contact. Thanks for the story. Glad all's well.
 
Don't let anyone go up by themselves. You don't ever want to have to know you purposely planned the separation and then have no idea what happened to your buddy. You will spend the rest of your life wishing you had taken 5-20mins from a single dive to do things differently, occasionally also wondering what he experienced before he died.

Of course accidents happen anyway, but at least you don't need to know it was indeed partially your bad judgement that made something happen. That last 6m on the way up and at the surface is one of those areas where things esp. often go wrong.

BTW This is one example of why accident threads are very worthwhile: it made me a believer. I've read so many dead/disappeared presumed dead diver stories (esp. from the UK, diving at sea) where the victim was on or near the surface and then disappeared, was never seen again/ never again seen alive. Stay together and keep a good eye on you buddy until you are both securely on board/on dry land. You may not prevent whatever happens, but at least you kept yourself in the game.
 
3. a SMB or dive flag would have marked our location so that he could have come straight back down to where we were (not sure why no one uses a dive flag at any of our shore dive sites)

This is the one we never break - this is the one you all should be embarrassed about... It is not about others not dragging a flag it is about you and your group using a flag.... :)

We get a ticket if we don't drag a flag here in NJ...
 
thanks for sharing and glad all is good........point number three is a good one...."3. a SMB or dive flag would have marked our location so that he could have come straight back down to where we were (not sure why no one uses a dive flag at any of our shore dive sites)"
 
This is the one we never break - this is the one you all should be embarrassed about... It is not about others not dragging a flag it is about you and your group using a flag.... :)

There is no legal requirement that I can find that says we have to fly a dive flag when we are shore diving. When I first moved to the island many years ago, I brought my dive flag and line to a dive. When I started assembling everything, I was told that no one uses a dive flag. The only time I have seen a dive flag flown is when classes are being conducted, or when we are diving from a boat.

Many years ago, when I lived in central Alberta, we always flew our dive flags. When classes were being conducted, we set up a pattern of flags to mark off the area we were in. Unfortunately the local boaters and water skiers tended to use the flags as a slalom course. As I correctly predicted, one day a diver who was setting out flags was struck and killed by a boater :mad:

I am going to raise the question with the dive shops on why flags are never used for shore diving. Look forward to some "interesting" answers. o_O

Divegoose
 
The situation of one part of a dive group following the lost buddy rule and another part of the group NOT following the rule has been repeated countless times. I have been there myself.

As for dive flags, their use varies by location. They are quite commonly used on the east coast of the United States, but they are actually inappropriate in other places. Where I dive in Florida, for example, the reefs are not very tall, so you swim on top of the reef or on the edge, with no possibility of any kind of a snag on the line. Try that in Cozumel and your line to the flag would be snagging on the coral above you continually.
 
Thanks for sharing. Good illustration of how things can go wrong without anything actually malfunctioning or anyone doing anything particularly imprudent. As you say, lessons learned, and nobody got hurt.
 

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