Second abalone diver fatality for the season - California

[Eric Sedletzky]

I saw the chopper flying around, an all to common site here. More often it is for tourists that get too close to the edge or swept off rocks by sleeper waves. In the water or not, it only takes one slipup. The rescue crews and fire department here are all volunteers and do a pretty amazing job... way too often.

Same with Bodega Head, every weekend someone would slip off the edge and go over the cliff. When I used to work at the marina there was always fire and ambulance headed out to the point.

 

[Akimbo]

Eric

We have a close friend that lost his father around there somewhere. They were fishing and the dad got swept off, he went in after him, found him, and another swell tore their hands apart. He was a teenager and had to drive home and tell his mom how “he lost dad”. Pretty sad story as they all are, but a very heavy burden.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Eric

We have a close friend that lost his father around there somewhere. They were fishing and the dad got swept off, he went in after him, found him, and another swell tore their hands apart. He was a teenager and had to drive home and tell his mom how “he lost dad”. Pretty sad story as they all are, but a very heavy burden.

That sucks.

I see a lot of rock fishermen in regular street clothes (levi's, sweat shirts, and boots) out there way out on isolated rocks. I wonder sometimes how they even got out there, then I wonder what would happen if a sleeper wave came in and washed them off. Many times just the regular swells come right up to them. I wonder if they ever think about those things?
I've heard of guys climbing as far out as they can during low tide, then high tide comes in and they get stranded.

 

[Jrivers22003]

Don. Thank you for the blog. The diver that died in that accident is actually the twin brother of my best friend. While trying to climb out he lost his gripping on lose soil, which is a common mistake at that specific location as it looks to be very stable ground. He and his buddy were diving so they did not having climbing gear with them. Both were pushed into the cove by currents and so to try to find their location he tried to climb out. He was an extremely fit man.

Doc you can phrase it however you like. He came out of the water and to the cliff so it would still be diving related.

May you rest in peace Aaron.

 

[Jrivers22003]

I still don't see this as a diving death, just a poor choice in getting back to the starting point.

I prefer to apply the phrase "diving death" to a fatality that actually occurs while diving or due to the dive itself.

It was due to the dive itself.

 

[Jrivers22003]

I've never head of anybody climbing a 100 foot (or more) cliff upon exiting a dive. I'm guessing divers, free or scuba, wouldn't be carrying much in the way of rock climbing gear. Can anyone familiar with the area explain what might have happened? Is this an area where if you pop up around the cliff, you either chance it or get swept out to sea or something?

Richard.

I actually listed what happened in the blog list. If you care to read. Old news now for some. Continuing heartache for those that lost a very important and precious man that day

 

[george_austin]

This is an unfortunate accident and certainly not a dive fatality. Are you guys serious?

 

[JohnN]

It was due to the dive itself.

So if I'm killed driving home from the grocery store, it's a "shopping fatality" ?

 

[DandyDon]

This is an unfortunate accident and certainly not a dive fatality. Are you guys serious?

So if I'm killed driving home from the grocery store, it's a "shopping fatality" ?

He died exiting a dive, always a part of a dive experience. If you died exiting a store, would you have use call it a shopping accident?

Who cares what we call it? If you don't see any educational benefit to the story, ignore it.