Ohio diver dead in St.Lawrence River - Kingston, Ontario

[DandyDon]

Ohio man dies in scuba incident near Kingston, Ont. | CBC News

CBC News · Posted: Sep 23, 2019 5:42 PM ET | Last Updated: 5 hours ago
A 53-year-old man from Akron, Ohio, died in a scuba diving incident in the St. Lawrence River near Kingston, Ont., Friday afternoon.

Ontario Provincial Police were called just after 1:45 p.m. to Bateau Channel, where a diver lost vital signs after surfacing from a dive.

The man's friends performed CPR until emergency crews arrived, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Leeds County Marine Unit, Leeds 1000 Islands Fire Services, Leeds and Grenville Emergency Medical Services and the Canadian Coast Guard all responded to the incident.

Leeds OPP are working with the coroner's office in the ongoing investigation, and an autopsy is being performed to confirm the cause of death.

 

[DOBY]

Might want to read the A&I forum rules.

Special Rules for the Accidents & Incidents Forum

• You may not use real names here, until after they have appeared in the public domain (articles, news reports, sheriff's report etc.) Please cite the source if you do.

 

[Peter69_56]

Seems the St lawrence River is a bit of a trap for divers? Whats the risk there? Cold water and poor vis? or is there more?

 

[Marie13]

Seems the St lawrence River is a bit of a trap for divers? Whats the risk there? Cold water and poor vis? or is there more?

Water levels on the Great Lakes are as much as 3ft or so higher this year. Earlier in the year, there was very strong current on the St. Lawrence, with lots of trees and other debris in the water, which is obviously an entanglement danger for divers. One very experienced diver died in the St. Lawrence earlier this summer (his body wasn't found until at least a day or two later), as well as someone quite recently who was not experienced with the river's conditions. There might have been one or two other diver deaths that I'm not recalling.

EDIT: the non experienced diver death might have been on the Niagara River.

 

[DandyDon]

This one is rumored to be rebreather related, altho that may not have anything to do with cause of death. I've spoken with a mutual friend on FB and confirmed the identity, but even that has not been made public yet.

 

[doctormike]

Seems the St lawrence River is a bit of a trap for divers? Whats the risk there? Cold water and poor vis? or is there more?

It's a pretty popular dive destination, due to the great wrecks, warm water and good visibility (I was just there three weeks ago in a 5 mm wetsuit).

I don't have numbers, but are you saying that the accident rates there per diver-hour or whatever higher than they are at other places? The current does vary from year to year, this year it's pretty high because the opened the locks more to deal with high water levels in the lake.

 

[Ayisha]

It's a pretty popular dive destination, due to the great wrecks, warm water and good visibility (I was just there three weeks ago in a 5 mm .

I was with you right up until you wrote "good visibility". I only had up to 20 - 30 feet visibility this summer, similar to the last 10 years or so.
I contrast that with the 100+ feet visibility in some areas of the St Lawrence river back in the early 2000's. From the wheelhouse of the Keystorm, you could once see to the stern. You could easily see inside the huge holds. You could see ahead of you on the Lillie drift as far as the eye could see, and you could see the ascent line dozens of feet before you got to it.
I agree with you about the great wrecks and warm water. The visibility is better than some other places, just not what it used to be.

 

[Ayisha]

Seems the St lawrence River is a bit of a trap for divers? Whats the risk there? Cold water and poor vis? or is there more?

The temp in the summer in the St Lawrence river goes to 74 F/23 C, so fairly warm compared to our Great Lakes.
The hazards of the St Lawrence river include fast current, converging currents on walls (horizontal plus downcurrents or upcurrents), back eddies, deep wall dives, and some virtual overheads due to the shipping channel and other boat traffic. There's an area called the "toilet bowl" near Refugee Island where the current swirls divers in circles, much like the "washing machine" in the Niagara river.

Since the water was particularly high and fast moving this year, it proves to be more of a challenge for anyone with potential cardiovascular health issues, as well as for gas consumption. In general, some areas of the St Lawrence river, other than some shore dives, are best for advanced, experienced divers.

 

[doctormike]

I was with you right up until you wrote "good visibility". I only had up to 20 - 30 feet visibility this summer, similar to the last 10 years or so.
I contrast that with the 100+ feet visibility in some areas of the St Lawrence river back in the early 2000's. From the wheelhouse of the Keystorm, you could once see to the stern. You could easily see inside the huge holds. You could see ahead of you on the Lillie drift as far as the eye could see, and you could see the ascent line dozens of feet before you got to it.
I agree with you about the great wrecks and warm water. The visibility is better than some other places, just not what it used to be.

Yeah, the vis was definitely not as good as the last time I was there in 2013... but still pretty good!

 

[DandyDon]

"On Tuesday afternoon, OPP identified the man as David Snethcamp, 53." He was the owner of Atlantis Outfitters, Inc. in Akron OH.

The original article sited was updated: Ohio man dies in scuba incident near Kingston, Ont. | CBC News