Scuba death at Rye Back beach

[Peter69_56]

From the Age Victoria 27/1/2014;

Man dies while scuba diving in waters off Rye

A man has died after scuba diving alone at Rye back beach on Monday.


The man, believed to be aged in his 40s, was scuba diving in waters off Browns Road in Rye when he was found to be in trouble by another group of divers in the area about 3pm. A police spokeswoman said the divers dragged him to shore where paramedics and bystanders tried to revive him.
But the man was declared dead at the scene. Police will prepare a report for the coroner.

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ABC News; Scuba diver dies off beach south-east of Melbourne


Photo: Paramedics and divers tried to resuscitate the man, but were unable to revive him. (ABC News)

Map: Rye 3941

A scuba diver has died after getting into trouble off Victoria's Mornington Peninsula this afternoon.
The man, believed to be in his 40s, was diving alone off a beach on Browns Road at Rye when a group of divers spotted him struggling around 3:00pm (AEDT).
They dragged him to shore and tried to resuscitate him, but he could not be revived.
He died at the scene.
Charles Pratt was one of the divers who discovered the man in trouble.
"It looks like he might have jumped in with his regulator off which is sad because his tank was still full," he said.
"It's a dangerous sport, clearly, but if you take precautions it should be relatively safe."

---------- Post added January 27th, 2014 at 09:21 PM ----------

It is a sad day for his family. I imagine he would have had young children as well? So sad.

One of the risks of diving alone

 

[Southern-Diver]

That is such a pity

 

[Jan Kruger]

Very sad indeed. We were part of a group that dove last week and as we descended one of the divers realised he had no air. He went up immediately , opened his cylinder--apparently his buddy closed it instead of opened it. This happened very quickly after going down .Was rectified immediately. Zero viz dive as well.

 

[Peter69_56]

Very sad indeed. We were part of a group that dove last week and as we descended one of the divers realised he had no air. He went up immediately , opened his cylinder--apparently his buddy closed it instead of opened it. This happened very quickly after going down .Was rectified immediately. Zero viz dive as well.

Having nearly been caught with this early in my diving career, I now always (before I dive) I put my reg in and take 2 quick sharp sucks while looking at my SPG to ensure it doesn't drop off in pressure at all, thus showing the valve is open.

On the assumption that the story is correct as detailed in the ABC report (and who knows if it is or isn't), if this happened maybe the diver on realising he was out of air after descending may have then shot to the surface while holding his breath in a panic, thus causing an embolism.

I guess in your circumstance the diver had the presence of mind to breath out while ascending? Not an easy thing to do when ones mind is screaming that one is out of air as survival instinct kicks in (keep the water out and the air in).

 

[Ayisha]

On the assumption that the story is correct as detailed in the ABC report (and who knows if it is or isn't), if this happened maybe the diver on realising he was out of air after descending may have then shot to the surface while holding his breath in a panic, thus causing an embolism.

If the diver went in negative, and didn't have any air in his lines to inflate his bc or to breathe, and didn't drop his weights either, he could well have just drowned.

I learned on SB many years ago through accidents like these to always look at my gauge while breathing from it to ensure it doesn't fluctuate, and to ensure that I can reach my own valve. If I set it up and then turn it off for a length of time, I purge the lines so there's no confusion. This is unfortunately a type of tragedy we have seen before, and many of us have seen or heard of near misses of this kind too many times.

 

[Peter69_56]

Further information which is unconfirmed; It was stated that he was found in the water under a ledge at depth? Perhaps someone else has more information?

 

[DevonDiver]

Another one to quote on the solo diver forum...

 

[fsardone]

Hi DD, solo diving done properly is safe as is buddy (proper buddy) diving maybe with the exception that if you die there MIGHT be someone that can share light on the how, why and when and bring back your body.
I am a tech diver and a pilot. I see a lot of similarities on the tech diving and flying a plane .... solo.
Solo is not prohibited in diving and flying. When you fly an airline you need to have 2 pilots so if one keels over the other can land the hundreds of pax, but you can legally carry pax with single pilot.

The difference between flying and diving is thta the proper level of equipment maintenance, medical checkups and best and safe practices are enforced! So if you manage solo diving appropriately you will be as safe (and with some istabuddy safer) than diving in a pair.

Just my 2 cents ....
Fabio

 

[crosshairs]

Condolences to his friends and family.....if in fact he did jump in with his air turned off that's a horrible mistake, but I will never understand how someone dies that way....how can someone be so negatively buoyant as to not be able to swim their rig up ,I cant imagine that ever being the case with me.

 

[Mr. Black]

And why would someone solo dive without a redundant air supply? 80 on the back, valve turned off, negative entry and solo.... Still survivable if you have a 40 cu ft slung like you should (unless he was in doubles?)

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