OP
I know the position you (wolf eel) are coming from, as do many others on this board. I also know that it is not from a position of malice or disrespect, rather it is from a point of view of an informed diver who expects all other divers to be just as informed.
Unfortunately that is not always the case, as was the situation that lead to this tragedy. Let me put it this way, and hopefully it will aid in understanding the mindset of some divers that we come across. For many divers in the world, their primary contact with diving, the rules of diving, and the practices common to diving, is through the media, magazines, and the dive shop they chose to train them for diving. The lines we draw that govern our actions are primarily derived from the coaching we have received by very responsible and safety conscious instructors and seasoned divers. We have been fortunate to have had this exposure, as it very likely has saved us from harm in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Not all divers have had this opportunity to be exposed to this knowledge. This may in part be due to their unwillingness to learn and a feeling that all they need to know they can learn on their own, or they live in a remote area that is not serviced by multiple dive centers and exposure to highly experienced and qualified divers is not probable. Add to that the possibility that the dive center in this remote are merely fails to reinforce those safety concepts and sound dive practices we now take for granted, because they simply forget to do so due to complacency or even laziness. The last possibility is that the dive center knowingly chooses to ignore safe and sound diving practices, and the students follow along because they have no other source of reference.
We are truly fortunate that the Internet and Scuba Board exists today. At least it provides a portal for less experienced divers to be exposed to knowledge and opinions that they may never have had a chance in the past. Ill qualify that by adding that not all of what is written as advice is in agreement with what I feel to be safe and sound diving practices, and when I see it I do respond. However in most cases my disagreement is more philosophical than operational, and they tend not to concern safety as much as they do style.
The victim of this tragic story had two things going against him. A remote area serviced by only one shop and not enough experienced divers to bounce ideas and concerns too, and a shop owner who consistently showed he did not follow safe and sound diving practices. This combination proved fatal in the end.
Unfortunately that is not always the case, as was the situation that lead to this tragedy. Let me put it this way, and hopefully it will aid in understanding the mindset of some divers that we come across. For many divers in the world, their primary contact with diving, the rules of diving, and the practices common to diving, is through the media, magazines, and the dive shop they chose to train them for diving. The lines we draw that govern our actions are primarily derived from the coaching we have received by very responsible and safety conscious instructors and seasoned divers. We have been fortunate to have had this exposure, as it very likely has saved us from harm in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Not all divers have had this opportunity to be exposed to this knowledge. This may in part be due to their unwillingness to learn and a feeling that all they need to know they can learn on their own, or they live in a remote area that is not serviced by multiple dive centers and exposure to highly experienced and qualified divers is not probable. Add to that the possibility that the dive center in this remote are merely fails to reinforce those safety concepts and sound dive practices we now take for granted, because they simply forget to do so due to complacency or even laziness. The last possibility is that the dive center knowingly chooses to ignore safe and sound diving practices, and the students follow along because they have no other source of reference.
We are truly fortunate that the Internet and Scuba Board exists today. At least it provides a portal for less experienced divers to be exposed to knowledge and opinions that they may never have had a chance in the past. Ill qualify that by adding that not all of what is written as advice is in agreement with what I feel to be safe and sound diving practices, and when I see it I do respond. However in most cases my disagreement is more philosophical than operational, and they tend not to concern safety as much as they do style.
The victim of this tragic story had two things going against him. A remote area serviced by only one shop and not enough experienced divers to bounce ideas and concerns too, and a shop owner who consistently showed he did not follow safe and sound diving practices. This combination proved fatal in the end.
