Lessons to be learned-Death in Palau

[Albion]

Good point! I am DEFINITELY going to practice this on my next safety stop - never occurred to me before.

DO NOT practice during your safety stop!!!!!!! Do it at the start of the dive. If you do it on your safety stop and have a problem you will bolt for the surface and blow off your stop.

There have been many justifiable complaints here about the hooks and destruction of coral, sponges etc. But in regards to your term, "lifeless rocks": they don't exist under the sea, unless it's been a few hours since it was first submerged. They may not have visible coral or hydrozoans but they have life. Microscopic bacteria, algae, fungal spores etc. If you continue to hook onto these diverse ecosystems, I'm calling PETA. (how do you inset those little smiles faces anyway?)

True so maybe we should never walk on the grass either, think of all the blades of grass we destroy with every step

How?

installing a permanaent mooring requires making a largeish damage area to the reef, Reef hooks do less damage than this. Better they use reef hooks and free descents than permanent moorings all over the place. Plus in this part of the world we have loads of shark finners, you put in a permanent mooring with a bouy and its a great big flashing neon sign to the shark finners and there will soon be nothing left to see anyway.

My guess is, with better training, and lots of practice, this situation MAY have been avoidable. She still had gas to breath. That's the sad part.

Exactly, the reef hook had nothing to do with it directly, she was diving beyond her experience and had not been properly briefed or monitored.

 

[MoonWrasse]

True so maybe we should never walk on the grass either, think of all the blades of grass we destroy with every step

Come on, you can't seriously compare the growth rate and time to regenerate grass with the time coral takes to regenerate.

 

[Albion]

Come on, you can't seriously compare the growth rate and time to regenerate grass with the time coral takes to regenerate.

Oh no, I forgot coral takes tens of millions of years to regenerate. :reaper:

Stay with the plot, I wasnt reffering to hooking onto live coral but saying there is plenty of dead coral and rocks around. Hank point was that that even rocks and dead coral have algae and what not living on them and they would suffer, that's taking environmentalism too far, and if thats what you believe then stay out of the water altogether. :***:

 

[Charlie99]

DO NOT practice during your safety stop!!!!!!! Do it at the start of the dive. If you do it on your safety stop and have a problem you will bolt for the surface and blow off your stop.

Ummmm. This is a certified diver that is saying he plans on getting more time and experience without a mask. It's not like it's something he's never done before. If removing his mask has a significant chance of freaking him out to the point of bolting to the surface, then he shouldn't really be diving.

Safety stops are a great time to expand your ability to be comfortable without a mask, to be comfortable removing the reg and blowing some bubbles, to be comfortable in unusual attitudes like vertical upside down or on your back looking at the surface.

 

[Scuba]

Working with equipment not familiar with or fairly proficient in - is not a good idea, when there is certainty of conditions being challenging enough, or a likelihood of such.

Recreational divers are taught to get to the surface by any means necessary as an option of last resort. Ditch the weight belt. In this very sad and tragic event the diver did just that. She must have struggled mightily as she attempted to take off her bc and couldn't. Loss of weight belt, open bc, and abrasion on her forehead, indicates a desperate struggle to free herself anyway she could think of in an attempt to surface. However, when she tied herself down with the reef hook she lost the ability of using her option of last resort, since she found herself in an entanglement situation which required the ability to free oneself - and sadly she was unable to do so - and found no one to assist her in time.

No doubt an experienced, highly skilled diver would have used other options at his disposal and this would have been a minor incident. But not everyone falls in that category. As someone mentioned there is enough blame in this accident to go around for everybody.

The first and best option a diver has is avoiding dangerous situations

The problem with new divers is that they simply don't know what they don't know. Dangers they may face. Sometimes they rely on others for guidance in instances like these. Possibly the best thing to do in situations like this, assuming one is able to recognize possible challenging conditions or other factors beyond one's comfort zone, is to ask and demand close professional supervision. And if that is not available sit it out. Easier said then done. Before booking a charter, do some research. What sites will you be diving? What are conditions like? If conditions are not within ones skill and experience level - avoid. In the event conditions worsen when at dive site or one is expanding one's limits, will you be able to count on professional supervision in the form of a buddy pro if you so desire. How many divers will this pro supervise at one time? What do others who have been on this charter have to say.

 

[Albion]

Ummmm. This is a certified diver that is saying he plans on getting more time and experience without a mask. It's not like it's something he's never done before. If removing his mask has a significant chance of freaking him out to the point of bolting to the surface, then he shouldn't really be diving.

Safety stops are a great time to expand your ability to be comfortable without a mask, to be comfortable removing the reg and blowing some bubbles, to be comfortable in unusual attitudes like vertical upside down or on your back looking at the surface.

True he is, but not everyone reading this is! OWSI orignal post did say at the end of your safety stop try it, which is ok but i would still prefer at the beginning than at the end, MHO. If you did have panicky moment and it can still happen to experienced divers, there is less risk if you decide to head for the surface with a fast ascent. remember the last 5 m (15ft) is the area of greatest pressure differential and a fast ascent after a long or deep dive could get you bent. YMMV

 

[OWSI176288]

DO NOT practice during your safety stop!!!!!!! Do it at the start of the dive. If you do it on your safety stop and have a problem you will bolt for the surface and blow off your stop.

Start of dive is good too, but please re-read my post:

"The problem is you should of been taught to breath without a mask. And divers need to practice this skill once in awhile. A good time is at the end of a safety stops while hanging out at 15 feet."


The key word there is "at the END of your safety stop." At no time did I advocate practicing this "during" the safety stop. I guess I also need to add, only practice this if you have sufficient air supply remaining. Don’t do it on a very low or empty tank.

 

[String]

Plus its a non mandatory, non essential safety stop NOT mandatory decompression stop. You can quite happily blow the stop if needed otherwise it wouldnt be optional.

 

[scubatwinned]

The boats dont anchor however. Normally they tie off to buoys.

 

[MoonWrasse]

Start of dive is good too, but please re-read my post:

"The problem is you should of been taught to breath without a mask. And divers need to practice this skill once in awhile. A good time is at the end of a safety stops while hanging out at 15 feet."


The key word there is "at the END of your safety stop." At no time did I advocate practicing this "during" the safety stop. I guess I also need to add, only practice this if you have sufficient air supply remaining. Don’t do it on a very low or empty tank.

I agree, good idea. Just look up first before removing the mask to make sure your boat isn't on top of you