Missing diver at Mukilteo lighthouse Park

[Jimchris]

Search suspended for diver missing in murky waters near Mukilteo | HeraldNet.com

On Friday, two divers were reported in distress near Lighthouse Park. One came to shore. The other remained missing.

www.heraldnet.com

MUKILTEO — Police were working to locate a diver reported missing Friday morning near Mukilteo Lighthouse Park on Puget Sound.

Around 9:15 a.m., two divers were reported to be in distress, said Mukilteo police officer Nathan Fabia. One came to shore. Another remained missing after 10 a.m. as several agencies, including the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Coast Guard, searched the water.

 

[Jimchris]

Update: As of 4:04PM (according to their twitter page)

"The #USCG has suspended its search for the missing male diver. USCG and partner agencies covered over 100 square miles during the search."

Snohomish county Sheriffs dept. dive team will resume the search tomorrow morning.

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Damn..... I just dove this site 2 weeks ago and it seems to be a fairly easy and trouble free site. I will say that the recent rains have severely limited the vis and there are some "taught" lines that could be problematic if a diver was unaware and became entangled or snagged on those lines. On my dive my buddy and I were almost immediately separated due to low vis.... but as agreed pre-dive, we completed our dives and met back at the truck after a 50 minute dive.

Hoping for a good outcome but not looking good.

 

[sabrisi]

I’d agree that the t-dock/geodome dive is pretty straightforwards but going out from lighthouse park seems like going out to the clay walls and there can be a lot more current there vs where the tdock is.

Latest news update I saw said the search would not be resumed in the morning. Sad situation. https://www.mukilteobeacon.com/stor...thouse-park-in-mukilteo-called-off/23163.html

 

[Seaweed Doc]

Big tides the last few days make big currents. Vis at the t-dock was so bad in the last couple weeks several instructors cancelled training dives there.

Was the diver at Lighthouse Park, or "near" Lighthouse Park? (I.e., could a writer have used that designation rather than trying to describe the entry for the t-dock?)

 

[White Chocolate]

Big tides the last few days make big currents. Vis at the t-dock was so bad in the last couple weeks several instructors cancelled training dives there.

Was the diver at Lighthouse Park, or "near" Lighthouse Park? (I.e., could a writer have used that designation rather than trying to describe the entry for the t-dock?)

There is a thread going on the nw dive club forum about this. It sounds like they may have started the dive at the T Dock and they were both inexperienced. Diver missing at Mukilteo Lighthouse park - Northwest Dive Club

While that site is usually tame and great for beginners, the current still occasionally moves strongly. There can also sometimes be a strong down current on the bigger exchanges. I've flapped like a flag in the wind on the dome before and had to crawl along the bottom a couple times over the years although it was never too scary. There was talk that the survivor was found at Lighthouse Park out of air. With the terrible vis lately and strong current I can see how a newer diver could become quickly disoriented and end up deeper, down the beach and panicked. Hopefully the details that he provides are shared for us to learn from.

 

[sabrisi]

Big tides the last few days make big currents. Vis at the t-dock was so bad in the last couple weeks several instructors cancelled training dives there.

Was the diver at Lighthouse Park, or "near" Lighthouse Park? (I.e., could a writer have used that designation rather than trying to describe the entry for the t-dock?)

For sure. I’ve also had a few “exciting” dives at the tdock with strong currents and terrible viz - and dives off lighthouse that we’ve cancelled predive as the conditions looked awful.

 

[Mrbigbe]

I did my first dive today. Evergreen dive service in Everett so Mukilteo was super close but our instructors said the tides have been the lowest in years and thought the current would be tuff so we dived in cove 2. Wonder if that may have been a factor

 

[nwbrewer]

I did my first dive today. Evergreen dive service in Everett so Mukilteo was super close but our instructors said the tides have been the lowest in years and thought the current would be tuff so we dived in cove 2. Wonder if that may have been a factor

I'm certain it was, that and the fact that they were still searching down at Mukilteo. The T-dock (where they normally do their training) usually has pretty decent currents, but with those extreme tides, the currents and visibility will be rather bad, especially for training. If you plan to dive locally, make sure and understand the tide and current tables for where you plan to go. Better yet is to grab someone whose done the sight to show you around the first time.

Someone linked the NWDiveclub.com above, I highly recommend joining there. If you do FB, there are a lot of very active groups there as well with people diving locally all the time.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

There is a thread going on the nw dive club forum about this. It sounds like they may have started the dive at the T Dock and they were both inexperienced. Diver missing at Mukilteo Lighthouse park - Northwest Dive Club

While that site is usually tame and great for beginners, the current still occasionally moves strongly. There can also sometimes be a strong down current on the bigger exchanges. I've flapped like a flag in the wind on the dome before and had to crawl along the bottom a couple times over the years although it was never too scary. There was talk that the survivor was found at Lighthouse Park out of air. With the terrible vis lately and strong current I can see how a newer diver could become quickly disoriented and end up deeper, down the beach and panicked. Hopefully the details that he provides are shared for us to learn from.

Yikes! Given the time, they were approaching peak ebb. No wonder the diver that made it out was at Lighthouse Park after starting at the T-dock.

Horrible vis, the absolute worst time to get in the water that day, a tide sequence with 10 year extremes that week, and inexperienced divers. What could go wrong?
Feel bad for these two. I try to reference Mukilteo with students doing open water. As in: We can dive here this day, but only at this time. Or we can't dive here this day and will be at Cove 2 because currents are too crazy. At least let them know the site can be sporty.

I also emphasize dropping weights: OOA at the surface can be fixed by oral inflation, but I tell all my students that if they CESA in "real life" they should just immediately drop lead at the surface.