Man in diving gear found dead on Fort Lauderdale beach

[Kevfin]

My condolences to the family. They are all in my thoughts and prayers.

Hopefully, at some point we’ll have more. What happened can’t be determined from the information provided.

This type of accident serves as a continual reminder of why I will not dive alone. For those that do, you all know the risk and it’s acceptable to you. I don’t have a problem with that. Life is a risk.

I have had the displeasure of seeing several dead divers. One at the morgue (that was found under water by another diver)… what was left of him (after more than six months of being at depth) started decomposing as soon as it touched air -- he had been a good source of food for many sea creatures. A few others found on the beach and some floating in the water --- not pleasant.

If I die while diving, I want my body out of the water ASAP.

 

[HowardE]

Reading todays paper, there is little information, other than the name of the diver which was.

Gregory Boyce, a resident of Rumford, R.I. The 43-year-old man took up scuba diving about three years ago and was on vacation here, his sister Elizabeth Ferrara said during a telephone interview Wednesday.

Drowning tells us little about what really happened, because even if he suffered a heart attack or something NON-Diving related, he still would have ultimately drowned in the ocean.

This is a tragic event, and unfortunately, for us (divers who are concerned with this) we'll never really know what happened to this guy.

Like Don said... Maybe DAN will release a report in a few years...

The spotty information from the police that claim that the tank was full, is also questionable... Obviously, since they are calling it OXYGEN in the tank, how can WE take the report that the tank was full seriously?? If they think it's Oxygen, they could think that 1000psi is Full too?

I think the best thing to say here is that I (we) send our condolences to the family in Rhode Island. This is truly a tragic (isolated) event.

 

[james croft]

Condolences to the family and keeping a good thought for them.

I'm wondering about something. If he was discovered floating, wouldn't that indicate an at least partially inflated BCD? Is it likely that a weighted diver would float without some air in the BCD?

Jeff

He may have been negative when he died. Warm water drownings cause rapid decomposition. Depending on many variables such as the depth of the body and what the last meal was can have an effect on how quickly the body gases expand. As the old dive team saying goes "they gotta bloat before they float." In the past decade there has been an increaed awareness on how to conduct scuba related deaths and most jurisdictions where diving is popular will have personnel familiar with diving related deaths that will conduct a thorough investigation of the equipment. The spokesman who stated the tank had "oxygen" most likely would not be the one investigating this accident. Water and diving related death investigation training are often found at at seminars taken by investigators for in-service training, etc. Hopefully some cause for this incident will be identified.

 

[SadiesMom]

That Lobster diver you had die out there recently still baffles me. Anyone who lives near an ocean should know that if you get caught in a rip, swim across it, or at worst - inflate BC & Safety Sausage and ride it out. Odd?

No intent to hijack the thread, but Don - are you referring to the lobster diver who died in Sandwich, MA (Cape Cod Canal) two weeks ago?

If so, I can help you understand that one a little...he was an inexperienced diver (certified less than 6 weeks) diving solo and got his reg somehow snagged in a lobster line (at least that's how he was found) in an area with current that runs 7 knots at full tide. He had no octopus, pony or any other secondary air source. He was also diving a backpack (not bp/wings) and and had no BC or any other buoyance device. He had dropped his weights, but apparently was unable to reach the knife strapped to his leg (it was still sheathed) to cut himself loose before he drowned. He carried no safety sausage, flag or any other surface marking buoy or device.

(I know some of the folks who were directly involved in the case.)

 

[DandyDon]

No intent to hijack the thread, but Don - are you referring to the lobster diver who died in Sandwich, MA (Cape Cod Canal) two weeks ago?

No- sorry for the confusion. I was referrencing the Calf death in this thread but failed to make that clear.

There was another thread on that one here.

 

[surfbummer]

Does anyone have first hand knowledge about how comprehensive a typical autopsy for a suspected drowning victim is? Do they typically search beyond suspected causes such as drowning and easy to detect injuries, into other more difficult to detect causes such as heart attacks and strokes?

Given that in this case the diver was found floating on the surface, one can surmise that even if the tank valve was closed he would likely have had access to surface air. I realize this is conjecture, and plenty of things can happen that would result in drowning in a similar scenerio. The point is, in an examination of possible causes, if one could conclusively rule out the occurrence of medical conditions such as heart attack, one can concentrate on other issues. But, can one reliably do so based on a typical autopsy report?

Yes, I'm in the healthcare field. A "typical" autopsy is very thorough - blood work, dissection of all major organs and vessels, x-rays, and even sometimes CT scans or MRI's. A good medical examiner should be able to determine the exact cause of death. Having the information from the scene will certainly help.

 

[LobstaMan]

Howarde:

In regards to the Oxygen comment in the local fish wrap...my non-diving wife(we've been together since 1990), didn't realize that scuba tanks use regular air until last year. Before I enlightened her, she thought tanks were filled with oxygen, too! I couldn't believe it!

LobstaMan

 

[factor310]

Condolences to the Family.

I have to agree on the above. I went out on Datura beach one night. The tide was out and the surf was rolling in. Keep in mind I'm way beyond 50. Got about 100 feet from the beach, water was up to my knees since it was low tide. It was a struggle for me to get that far in the soft sand. The waves were hitting me making the walk tough. A wave knocked me over and was unable to get back onto my feet in the soft sand. Fortunately I had my air on, my regulator in my mouth, my buddy trying to help me up and a beach walker also came out to assist me.

I consider my self quite lucky and learned a great deal from the experience. Having all the right safety things in place it is a blessing to be here writing this.

There is no speculation on Cbulla's Post. It happpened to me and this is just to support his post.

Something to consider. The sad part is the diver is the only one that really knows what happened.

I know that the Dive Community is very saddened when were lose one our own.

My codolences again to the family and they are
in my prayers, as I sure we are all doing.

Joe

Just curious... at what point would you have abandoned your gear to get back to shore?

 

[cdiver2]

I can't believe you guy's are making lite of this man's death and all the speculation about what killed him.

Especially from people that protested about the CCV incidentS. How about we resurrect that one

 

[idocsteve]

I don't see a problem with speculating about the cause of an accident. It encourages critical thinking, promotes greater understanding of the risks of scuba diving, and may prevent other accidents. For example, when I dove earlier today (solo, off a beach), I took a second look at my valve to make sure that it was on. Sure, the unfortunate fellow who is the subject of this post may have suffered a different fate, but it got me thinking, and made me just that much more careful; it most likely will do the same for others that read this thread. In a way, it makes this unfortunate diver's death more meaningful then it otherwise would have been.