Spiegel Grove fatality - Key Largo, Florida

[Jim Lapenta]

I only have a few dives on the Spiegel. First time was nearly zero current. Second dive a few days later, it was ripping. On the ascent one of the other people in the group turned his head sideways and the big high volume mask he was using got turned sideways on his head. Both dives were great though.

 

[boulderjohn]

Reporters don’t get to write the headlines for their articles. When a headline contradicts the article, my initial impulse is to assume the headline writer didn’t read the article carefully,

Speaking as a former journalism instructor....

In traditional journalism, where the headline has to fit in a certain space determined by the layout of the newspaper, the headline is written by a headline writer as fast as possible. It is the last thing that is done before the newspaper is printed. The reporter may not be responsible for the exact wording, but the reporter is still responsible for it in a sense. The first paragraph, which is often only one sentence, is supposed to contain all the key facts in the story--it is essentially a quick summary of the entire story. The headline writer will often read nothing but the first paragraph and then write a clipped sentence that is a summary of that summary.

In this case, the headline writer saw from that first sentence that the diver went on a dive trip to the Spiegel Grove and died later in the hospital, so he wrote that the diver died after a dive trip to the Spiegel Grove. That is essentially correct.

 

[Kimela]

He may not have reached the Grove, but he did make a dive.

Anchor line obsession will do that to you. You're feeling the water whip around you in a frenzy, your mask feels like it might get ripped off at any second, and you're questioning your sanity for just being there. You... just... want... to... get... to... the... bottom ASAP!!! It robs you of situational awareness including what it's doing to your body. Slow down. Use just your arms to pull yourself down, make sure you're not kicking, and go slow. No, slower than that. That wreck ain't goin' nowhere!

I think you're right about the 'anchor line obsession'. Being the first off the boat, I think I was more keenly aware of just how strong the current was at the surface. I think the dive op had the other divers jump 'to the line' rather than just 'off the boat', after witnessing my experience. If you're holding onto a line securely, even if you're being pulled, you still have the security of that line. Jumping in and then having to fin like crazy to get to the line, and still not being able to make it, crystallizes just how 'sporty' the current is and just how at risk you are. I don't think the rest of the boat experienced that dive as I did (@markmud was on that dive with us, along with his wife). I don't think they had to do that hard surface swim to get to the line, so it just wasn't so exhausting. And of course the hard work at the surface increases heart rate, air consumption, and the general feeling of anxiety. Being on the descent/ascent line wasn't so bad, as I knew I just needed to go down/up, one hand at a time.

Anyway, when I read about this poor guy I thought about how taxing that was - and if he didn't have some young, strong swimmer to bring him to the line ... and if he had any underlying health conditions ... ugh. RIP.

 

[The Chairman]

I think you're right about the 'anchor line obsession'.

Thanks... the best way to fight it is to recognize it! I died twice in Little River Cave system because of it. Thank goodness it was a training dive and my instructor let me make the error, but not pay for it. Generally, currents are a large part of task loading. You can only deal with so much and then everything else gets ignored. On a down line like that, it's not unusual for people to crawl right past you if you feel the need to stop. Let them. That's OK. You don't have to be the quickest just because you're first. Learn to enjoy the rush! Yeah, it's an acquired taste.

 

[Rollin Bonz]

I consider myself extremely lucky. My only trip to the SG, the seas were flat as a lake, zero current, and spectacular viz. The travel lines just laid there when the crew threw them in. Free descent straight down to the wreck. It was like skydiving in low gravity.

 

[The Chairman]

I failed to mention that when you stop and are safe holding the line, close your eyes and clear your mind. Take a moment to assess where you are physically and emotionally. When you're calm, look around and take in as much as you can. Especially on the Speigel, where every downline looks the same when you want to go up. Take a moment to leave a cookie or marker of some sort on the base of that downline. Pick it up on your ascent.

 

[wgw04024]

I've been on the SG a fair amount of times over the years. We did dive it once when conditions were terrible. Ripping current, and terrible vis. We did not take as careful notice of which line we came down on, probably because it's never been an issue. After exploring a very small area, we decided to bounce a bit early. We made our way to what we then realized was not our line. Vis was still terrible, so it wasn't possible to look around and see other divers from our group to follow either. Instead of blowing through an unknown amount of gas to get to the next ball, and it still not be correct, we decided it prudent to simply surface, and live with the embarrassment of coming up next to the wrong boat, which we did. It's the only time we surfaced at the wrong boat, but still the correct and cautious decision in that situation. No current at the surface, we just swam to our boat....

 

[azstinger11]

Being alive, on the surface, on a bouy/descent line, and being slightly embarrassed is a far better outcome then most of the alternatives.

 

[wgw04024]

Being alive, on the surface, on a bouy/descent line, and being slightly embarrassed is a far better outcome then most of the alternatives.

This was exactly what I was thinking when we thought about pushing to the next anchor line. Honestly, I think of these things now because of reading this forum.

 

[greeniguana]

Aren't there numbered tags corresponding to each buoy at their attachment point on the wreck?