Female Diver Missing on The Yukon, San Diego

[Hatul]

Solid statement from the charter boat company. Clears up a few misconceptions I've seen thrown around on the net:

The deceased was participating in a Wreck Specialty Course, which can involve penetration, although Lifeguard reports state she was found outside the wreck in the "crevice". The crevice is well known to anyone who's dove the site more than a few times. There are a few old lines from broken moorings and lobster traps to be found in the crevice, though it would be tough for a conscious diver to get inextricably tangled in the same. Anyone who went unconscious pretty much anywhere along the "front side" of the wreck could well find themselves rolled down into the crevice.


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Which begs the question: where was her buddy? It's a deep dive in low light. The buddies need to be well within the visibility radius, which in practice means within a few feet of each other, otherwise you might as well be solo diving.

 

[Power Scuba]

I think there are quite a few questions left unanswered, but it's still relatively early in the process.

Bill

 

[Colliam7]

Detailed information remains to be presented. The statement from Waterhorse is informative, and impressive. I wish that all charter operations / instructional operations would post specific information just as quickly (I also wonder what their insurance carrier and attorney said about the post). Nonethless, it is very much appreciated. The situation as I read it in the OP and subsequent posts is every instructor's nightmare.

I was reading two posts this morning, before seeing this one. The first was from my dive buddy who visited a local quarry Sunday and went to 'The Pit', a 95 foot hole that he and I usually visit every time we go there, which he described THIS TIME as 'spooky' - essentially a blackout. The other post was about a weekend charter to a popular NC coastal attraction, the U-352, a WWII submarine sitting at 115 feet, which usually has good viz, or at least viz above 20 feet, moderate current at worst. This past weekend, the viz was apparently terrible, described as less than 5 feet, the water was described as 'black' and equivalent to making a night dive in the middle of the day. I have never seen those conditions on that site, which goes to show how conditions can vary. A usually benign site becomes something else altogether.

The incident decribed in the OP is something every competent instructor worries about, every time they go into the water with a student, even if they don't admit it. I don't care if there are 2 students, 4 students, 8 students, it doens't matter if you have dove the site 100 times before. Every dive with students, for whom you are responsible - certified divers doing an advanced course, or brand new OW students, is a challenge and it doesn't matter if you have a CA (DM, et) or not.

I was completing Open Water certification dives with a private student several weeks ago, in a local quarry where the tempratures have dropped from the summertime values of 75 degrees, to the mid 50's, and the vis has dropped to 6-8 feet. I have been there dozens of time, with (literally) hundreds of students, so there still should have been some level of comfort, even wioth the temperature and viz. This time, the student and I were swimming side by side (he did a great job of following directions about staying close), I was checking him every 20 seconds or so, but at one point I turned and he wasn't there! We were only at 25 feet, and I thought he may had lost buoyancy control and ascended. I did a quick 360 in the horizontal plane - no student. I looked up and to my left - no student - then up and to my right - no student - and I felt like my heart rate went from 70 to 140 in a flash. Fortunately, he was right above me, had tried to move to my left when he saw me turn, then tried to move back to my right when I turned my head back, but was behind my head movement both times. In the end all was well. But, it scared the dickens out of me. In 30 seconds, the situation changed from a comfortable (cold, but stable) dive to 'OMG, where is he???'

So, I agree with the calls for patience, and avoidance of speculation. I can naturally appreciate questions about where the diver's buddy was in all this. But, we have little information at this point about how the incident evolved. In addition to genuine feelings for the victim's family, I have concern for her dive buddy who could not help but be affected, and I also have empathy for the instructor, whomever it might have been. Hopefully, we will learn more about what happened.

 

[Ken Kurtis]

Which begs the question: where was her buddy?

Let's not be too quick to point a finger at the buddy. Given the low visibility and the surge I'm SPECULATING that buddy separation will factor into the equation. With 5 feet of viz, being 6 feet away is the same as beng 60 feet away. And I could certainly envision a scenario where the buddy is looking left, the victim is looking right, and when they look back towards each other 30 seconds later, they're outside the range of the viz and now separated.

IF my scenario above is close, it may also bring up another question that's puzzled me in the accidents I've investigated where buddy separation seemed to play a role. Why didn't she, when she realized she was away from the group, simply abort the dive on her own and surface? Did she instead panic? Did she get entangled (and perhaps then panic)? What happened that changed what should have been a minor problem to deal with into a tragedy?

Buddy separation IMHO is a fact of diving. Training, from basic on up, should be emphasizing that you may have to deal with something like this on your own and it shouldn't turn a routine dive into life & death. But the message that divers get in class is that diving alone is dangerous and if you lose your buddy you're now alone, so you've got big problems because this is now very dangerous. Doesn't make sense to me because nothing about the dive essentially changed other than that you no longer know where your buddy is. Too often I've seen cases where buddies got separated, one of them ended up dead, and there was no apparent reason why the lost buddy couldn't have just surfaced by themsevles and all would have been well. I think it's an issue that, as an industry, we need to address.

- Ken

 

[Power Scuba]

Ken, one of the news reports stated the Divemaster (the deceased's buddy) came up before the rest of the class to report to the boat he had lost his buddy. How and why has not yet been reported. The report also stated that the Divemaster (buddy) came up in such a manner as to require a trip to the chamber.

 

[Ken Kurtis]

Ken, one of the news reports stated the Divemaster (the deceased's buddy) came up before the rest of the class to report to the boat he had lost his buddy.

My understanding is that there were four students, two buddies teams of two, an instructor, and a divemaster. (So 6 people all together.) Based on what I think I know, the DM was NOT the buddy of the deceased.

- Ken

 

[flots am]

IF my scenario above is close, it may also bring up another question that's puzzled me in the accidents I've investigated where buddy separation seemed to play a role. Why didn't she, when she realized she was away from the group, simply abort the dive on her own and surface? Did she instead panic? Did she get entangled (and perhaps then panic)? What happened that changed what should have been a minor problem to deal with into a tragedy?-

I think the whole "lost buddy" problem is that most divers have such a loose concept of "buddy" and "buddy distance" that it's nearly impossible to tell when yours is gone.

If "buddy distance" is being with a kick or two of "rib poking" distance, it's generally immediately noticeable when the buddy is missing.

flots.

 

[Power Scuba]

Based on what I think I know, although the deceased may not have started out as the DMs buddy, at some point during the first few minutes of the dive the DM BECAME the deceased's buddy. The deceased is reported to have had some type of gear malfunction.

As I said before, the DM then surfaced and reported to the boat he had lost his buddy. The exact manner of this separation has not yet been reported. The DM then went for a chamber ride. (I believe it was the chamber on Coronado.)

Bill

My understanding is that there were four stuidents, two buddies teams of two, an instructor, and a divemaster. Based on what I think I know, the DM was NOT the buddy of the deceased.

- Ken

 

[Bopper]

Ken, one of the news reports stated the Divemaster (the deceased's buddy) came up before the rest of the class to report to the boat he had lost his buddy. How and why has not yet been reported. The report also stated that the Divemaster (buddy) came up in such a manner as to require a trip to the chamber.

Most DMs here in SoCal do not actually go into the water w. the divers. Do you know the circumstances on this trip? Was this person acting as a Divemaster or were they just somebody's "buddy" and happened to have a DM cert?


Excerpt from previously posted story:

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Lifeguards told 10News on Sunday that the woman's death appears to be an accident and that no foul play was suspected.

Initial reports from a source aboard the Humboldt told 10News that the woman's body appeared to be tied to the sunken ship and her ankles appeared to be bound.

However, lifeguards confirmed Sunday that the woman was not bound or tied to the ship. Lifeguards said the woman experienced a problem with her buoyancy apparatus.

Her dive partner saw that she needed help but went up to the surface too quickly and became disoriented. He was taken to a local hospital to be checked out.
Due to choppy seas, the current pushed the woman next to the Yukon and she became entangled in some ropes, according to lifeguards.

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[fisheater]

Most DMs here in SoCal do not actually go into the water w. the divers. Do you know the circumstances on this trip? Was this person acting as a Divemaster or were they just somebody's "buddy" and happened to have a DM cert?


Excerpt from previously posted story:

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The DM in question appears to be the DM for the wreck class, not the DM who was the boat crew. Typically (if not universally). on Calif, boats the class DM is on the dive and the boat DM is on the deck and only enters the water if needed to give assistance/rescue divers.


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