Two divers struck, killed - Isla Mujeres, Mexico

[Dan]

DSMB shouldn’t be attached to diver. We should have just held on the spool piece by thumb & index finger. So if the DSMB got tangled, wrapped around the boat propeller, the spool would be quickly ripped off our hand.

 

[Johnoly]

..... From underneath we can see a slow moving boat .......

You are looking up and that's Great!!
So many divers (old & new) only look at their "Screen" as they go up so that yellow ascent light doesn't come on. Same folks that go thru an intersection cross walk staring down at their screen and don't see the cars. Gotta look around all the time when diving.

 

[Kimela]

DSMB shouldn’t be attached to diver. We should have just held on the spool piece by thumb & index finger. So if the DSMB got tangled, wrapped around the boat propeller, the spool would be quickly ripped off our hand.

I know there's nothing to indicate anything like this happened, but on one dive in Cozumel my insta-buddy got tangled up in the DMs line to his SMB at the surface. She was yelling to me to help her because the DM was "trying to drown me" as he was continuing the dive, and the pull on the line was dragging her downward. Simple fix - put the regulator back in your mouth while I untangle you. But she was panicked and not thinking straight. When we are faced with these unnerving moments our brains don't always think logically. We might not release a reel (which we think of as our line to a safe ascent), even though our logical brain tells us to do so. However, having read this thread we may be more likely to do so now.

 

[lexvil]

I’m still not clear on what happened other than two hit by a prop and a captain being arrested.

 

[Diver With Altitude]

That would explain google translation's strange use of "propelled,"

It’s trying to translate the Spanglish word “propeló,” which would be better translated as “prop’d,” or “propellered,” meaning he struck them with the propeller.

 

[Kimela]

I look at these reports as a learning opportunity for me. I'm not blaming anyone for how they handled themselves in an extreme situation. Just trying to help myself learn how to survive in tragic circumstances, while also trying to be respectful of the deceased.

My husband pointed out something else. The reels are called 'finger spools' because we generally hook a finger through one of the holes. If you try to hold onto the reel withOUT hooking a finger you're likely to drop it and have the string unspooling. What if your finger gets stuck in the spool when a boat hits your SMB? How do most of you hold your spools? Will you try to do it differently after this incident?

 

[Dan]

How do most of you hold your spools? Will you try to do it differently after this incident?

As I mentioned in my previous post, I hold (sandwich?) the spool with my thumb and index finger. I don’t stick my finger into the hole.

 

[Pearlman]

Is the thread on the DSMB really so strong as to withstand the lashing of a propellor at high rpm and pull a diver up (granted the diver is buoyant, but still…)?

 

[Dan]

Is the thread on the DSMB really so strong as to withstand the lashing of a propellor at high rpm and pull a diver up (granted the diver is buoyant, but still…)?

My DSMB cord is made out of the string that is used for parachute. So, yes it is very strong.

 

[Dan]

See how this guy holding the spool & once it reaches the surface, you can locked the cord onto one of the spool side holes with double ender to keep it from getting unspooling and staying on tension. Once you lock it you can actually let it go floating in water column if there is no current.