Wes Skiles Noted photographer's death will remain a mystery, medical examiner says

[LiteHedded]

Why would the topic of Solo diving come up again, the fact is that's the way he chose to dive and obviously he was well informed of the risks and probably more experienced than 90% of the divers on this board . The fact is he's dead Solo or not and there is no established COD period, it irks me when someone takes an sad event like this to grandstand their opinions on Solo Diving.

that's not saying much. and just because he's more experienced doesn't mean he didn't make mistakes. namely 1. not being trained on the unit and b. not carrying any bailout.

could a buddy have helped? ...probably

 

[Thalassamania]

Ascents are inherently a dangerous evolution for a CCR, the ppO2 drops as the ATA drop, if there is a slow ascent, with a D-stop (or just a safety stop) and there is a malfunction so that that oxygen is not added to the now oxygen deleted diluent there is a high potential for trouble.

 

[TSandM]

I think one of the saddest things about this case is that, if Wes made a mistake, it's a mistake all of us have the potential to make -- whether that was overestimating his capacity for that dive, or some operating error, if he could do it, so could we. If he had come close to dying but made it back, he could have told us the story, so we could avoid the error . . . dying made that impossible, so in the end, the only thing we can learn here is that even the most experienced and most intrepid diver can die dying. I'm not sure that's comforting, or even useful.

 

[Thalassamania]

I strongly suspect that the issue was with the oxygen add to Wes' unit, he likely went into an hypoxic state without even knowing it. This was a major problem in the old days with the early eCCRs (ElectroLung, BioMarine, etc.) and a diluent flush prior to ascent was always considered to be good protocol, though there was an unexplained accident where the diver, at 200 ft., confused the manual O2 bypass for the inert gas valve though they were on opposite counterlungs.

 

[The Chairman]

That being said, Wes wasnt diving alone. He just went up alone while others stayed.

That's like having an SOB for a buddy. If he went up alone, then he was in fact, diving alone.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I think one of the saddest things about this case is that, if Wes made a mistake, it's a mistake all of us have the potential to make -- whether that was overestimating his capacity for that dive, or some operating error, if he could do it, so could we. If he had come close to dying but made it back, he could have told us the story, so we could avoid the error . . . dying made that impossible, so in the end, the only thing we can learn here is that even the most experienced and most intrepid diver can die dying. I'm not sure that's comforting, or even useful.

I had my 12 yr old diving lyesterday (a night dive) in what is essentially the same location where he died. On the day of his death, the depth was maybe 70 feet, the water was clear and warm and the current was not unusual. He was following a rope up from the bottom which anchored to the bottom and tethered to a float on the surface- a continuous guide to the surface.

This was not an ascent that was outside of his capacity.

But I do agree that there is still a lesson: the ocean will take anyone of us if given the chance.

 

[Thalassamania]

I had my 12 yr old diving lyesterday (a night dive) in what is essentially the same location where he died. On the day of his death, the depth was maybe 70 feet, the water was clear and warm and the current was not unusual. He was following a rope up from the bottom which anchored to the bottom and tethered to a float on the surface- a continuous guide to the surface.

This was not an ascent that was outside of his capacity.

But I do agree that there is still a lesson: the ocean will take anyone of us if given the chance.

That adds to my suspicion that Wes' problem was an hypoxic mix.

 

[lamont]

That adds to my suspicion that Wes' problem was an hypoxic mix.

or it could have been hyperoxic mix and he left because he started getting muscle twitches and had a full-blown seizure on his way to the surface.

 

[Thalassamania]

While it is possible, I think it unlikely. If you suddenly had a facial tick (and you had no bail-out), what would you do? Swim to the surface or hit your diluent and swim to the surface?

 

[lamont]

While it is possible, I think it unlikely. If you suddenly had a facial tick (and you had no bail-out), what would you do? Swim to the surface or hit your diluent and swim to the surface?

hitting your dil and heading for the surface is no guarantee of heading off a oxtox, and the hypothetical off-effect may actually make the problem worse.