Freediver missing in Eagle's Nest
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Kevrumbo
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Freediver probable shallow water black-out (if a body is found in the pond).
Else obvious outright drowning if the Freediver couldn't find the way back up through the Entrance Room. . .
Else obvious outright drowning if the Freediver couldn't find the way back up through the Entrance Room. . .
The basin usually has crappy visibility this time of year. By crappy I mean less than 3'. Any number of things could have happened to a freediver in that place.
Jack Hammer
Contributor
Not to disparage the dead... freediving in Eagles Nest is truly a bad idea.
WetRocks
Contributor
From the Hernando County Sheriff's Office Facebook page:
"Media Release
Re: Update -- Drowning – Eagle’s Nest
Date: July 19, 2018
Update
A civilian dive team was able to locate and retrieve the body of a diver who went missing Wednesday evening at Eagle’s Nest while attempting a free dive.
The victim has been identified as Said Marjane, W/M DOB/7-25-97.
Marjane, and five friends, arrived at Eagle’s Nest at 3 p.m.
The group of six completed between 15-20 free dives over the course of several hours.
During a free dive, divers commonly wear wetsuits, masks, fins and weight belts, but do not utilize air tanks.
During the last dive, Marjane told friends he was going to attempt a max breath dive to see how long he could stay submerged.
Marjane descended with another diver, Jacob Fernandez, for safety.
Fernandez said he descended to a depth of 80 feet before returning to the surface.
When Marjane failed to resurface, his friends began to dive in search of him.
They called 911 after they were unable to locate Marjane after a few minutes."
First responders were unable to locate Marjane.
A few hours later a civilian dive team responded and was able to locate Marjane at a depth of 150 feet.
The divers brought Marjane to the surface where he was pronounced deceased by the medical staff on scene.
Marjane’s body was transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Leesburg.
The investigation remains active. No additional details are available at this time.
"Media Release
Re: Update -- Drowning – Eagle’s Nest
Date: July 19, 2018
Update
A civilian dive team was able to locate and retrieve the body of a diver who went missing Wednesday evening at Eagle’s Nest while attempting a free dive.
The victim has been identified as Said Marjane, W/M DOB/7-25-97.
Marjane, and five friends, arrived at Eagle’s Nest at 3 p.m.
The group of six completed between 15-20 free dives over the course of several hours.
During a free dive, divers commonly wear wetsuits, masks, fins and weight belts, but do not utilize air tanks.
During the last dive, Marjane told friends he was going to attempt a max breath dive to see how long he could stay submerged.
Marjane descended with another diver, Jacob Fernandez, for safety.
Fernandez said he descended to a depth of 80 feet before returning to the surface.
When Marjane failed to resurface, his friends began to dive in search of him.
They called 911 after they were unable to locate Marjane after a few minutes."
First responders were unable to locate Marjane.
A few hours later a civilian dive team responded and was able to locate Marjane at a depth of 150 feet.
The divers brought Marjane to the surface where he was pronounced deceased by the medical staff on scene.
Marjane’s body was transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Leesburg.
The investigation remains active. No additional details are available at this time.
wgw04024
Contributor
So at 150' depth, that would put the free diver through the entry point and into the ballroom?
PfcAJ
Contributor
Last edited:
WetRocks
Contributor
Correct, the top the ballroom is ~70', 150' would be on the debris cone.
I have only a couple of dives in Eagles Nest, and the visibility in the upper basin was as bad Ken describes. If someone had told me they heard there had been a freediving accident there and not supplied an article, I would have assumed they had to have gotten it wrong. I cannot imagine anyone thinking it would be a good idea. Going into that chimney on breath hold and hoping you will find it for the ascent under those conditions is simply incomprehensible.
Unfortunately there has been a lot of stupid involving cave freediving over the past couple of years. I've only been to the nest a half dozen times in the last 10 months but almost every time I ran into a group that was there to do something stupid. We also have the almost daily stupidity of people trying to freedive from devil's ear to devil's eye:
We had a fatality in Silver Glenn earlier this year. Similar deal, freediving someplace they shouldn't be. One of my best friends drowned from shallow water blackout in 1995 while trying to freedive to the grate in Devil's Ear. I have zero tolerance for that crap.
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