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

[dumpsterDiver]

Thanks. I thought it was you, but didnt have a chance to search and be sure.

A couple of questions if you will:

Did you find the camera the same day, or was it a different day?

You say the camera is large - did you find it difficult to swim with, to the point that it could cause exertion?

Pure Speculation - I'm interested in an angle that if he were to have been in the middle of a cool sequence that he was in a hurry to get reloaded and back in the water and caused a breakthrough on the scrubber from CO2 from exertion. That might explain what happened, and why he would break off to make a solo ascent.

The camera was as large as a scooter, however it was perfectly balanced, and was maybe only 3 lbs negative. The area where they were diving was on the outside of a large well defined reef system that rose to around 50 feet on top. The outside (east) edge of this reef rolls off to around 70-74 feet approximately. There are fingers, alternating ridges and sand areas that are perpendicular to the reef. A finger may extend roughly 50 or 70 feet eastward.

The diver who recovered his body indicated that he was found on the sand (between the fingers) and that in the rush to attempt a rescue, the camera was left where it lie. Thus we were expected to find the camera on one of the sand valleys.

The police divers searched for at least 1 dive on the afternoon of his death. The police search team did at least one more attempt to locate the camera on the following day. We were planning on diving around 1;00 pm on the following day, but we were delayed in order to allow the dive team another attempt to locate the camera. We entered the water maybe 30 minutes (2:00 pm?) after they finished their search of that area. They may have done more dives, I do not know since they were diving independently and from their boat.

Another diver and I dove as a team on scooters, we were dropped upstream (south) of the exact location where Skiles was diving. I forget how far but we probably requested about a 400 ft lead. The capt who drove us was the same dive boat they were using for filming so, he had precise GPS coordinates. Skiles was NOT drift diving, but instead they had left a line anchored to the bottom with a tethered float ball on the surface. They were staying at one particular valley/finger location for their entire dive (is my understanding based on conversation with the capt and a look at his gps which showed his track from the previuos day ideling around the float ball as he waited for them to ascend.

The day of our search (maybe 30 hrs after his death), the weather was deteriorating and the seas were maybe 3-4 feet, however a tropical storm was going to hit the next day, so it was imperative that we locate the camera that afternoon or it was feared that large swells could make the camera walk and with the gulf stream in close proximity, it could be lost.

We found the camera (in maybe 12 minutes) on top of the reef, on one of the fingers, probably 30 feet away from the sand and 8 feet above the sand. Apparently there was enough surge at that depth, to lift the camera up onto the reef, the camera was partially covered with gorgonians and soft corals which are pretty dense in this area. The camera may have walked north some distance, we never compared the camera recovery point location from the actual dive site, but as we searched, I was beginning to get pessimistic because it seemed that we had searched for a while before we found it.

The camera was no trouble to ascend with and handle underwater, although it was large.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

I've been reading through the thread, and thank all for the interesting discussion. I think Wes was admired by many of us, especially after seeing the NG article on caves.

My thought is that this could have been hypoxia (not hyperoxia), as there are no symptoms--the person affected simply blacks out as T&S described earlier. The process of loss of consciousness from breathing low- to no-partial pressure oxygen is much like the shallow water blackout that free divers must contend with, as the oxygen can travel from the blood stream to the lungs, and be exhaled, when these partial pressures are extremely low. When free diving and ascending from a very long dive, I sometimes (this was many years ago) took off my weight belt and held it in my hand so that if I blacked out, I would drop it and automatically reach the surface. With a CCR, this is not possible. When I talk to employees about confined space entries, we sometimes talk about high nitrogen atmospheres, whereby the person blacks out without any warning. It seems that this is still a potential for the CCRs in use today, and maybe that is a message to take home from this.

There was a discussion on solo diving, and the thought that having a buddy immediately available would have made a difference--probably it would have IMHO. But I do think that concerning solo diving, we need to consider whether the diving is done with open circuit scuba, or rebreather technology. Since I do solo dive, and consider myself a pretty safe diver in the process, I do want to make that distinction. Solo on open circuit is a much different game, in my opinion, than solo on closed circuit. There is a reason JYC developed the Aqualung after almost getting killed using closed-circuit oxygen gear. The physiology and the equipment seem still to be orders of magnitude different in risk; this is even with the new sensors, and better understanding of physiology.

SeaRat

 

[flyboy840]

My admin in the cave diver forums wrote this reply to my questions:

Ops959,

We will never fully know *why* on most any accident. this one is no exception.

Wes may not have had any "formal' training on the O2ptima, but I am sure he had enough training from friends to safely dive it.

While it is possible he had some underlying medical problem(s), the coroner's report doesn't show any.

The camera was off after the videoing was done.

I don't think solo had anything to do with the accdent. Wes soloed all the time.

While some people don't believe in diving with no bailout, it is unlikely that bailout would have helped in 70' of water. If he couldn't have made a free ascent, then he probably wouldn't have been able to bailout anyway.

As far as deco time, that is pretty variable. It would depend on what his PPO2 was set to, and I haven't seen that information.

Independent groups looked at the rebreather, and if it was a breakthrough, they would have know that.

Because there has been no new information lately, I am closing this thread. If anything new information comes available, I will open it again.

Thanks.

 

[Ayisha]

...it is unlikely that bailout would have helped in 70' of water. If he couldn't have made a free ascent, then he probably wouldn't have been able to bailout anyway.

Surely this is incorrect? If he was dealing with the effects of breathing a gas that could not sustain life at that particular depth, switching to a bailout would have given him a life-sustaining gas so that he could take control of the situation instead of becoming unconscious and drowning - whether it was at 70 feet or any depth.

 

[Charlie99]

Surely this is incorrect? If he was dealing with the effects of breathing a gas that could not sustain life at that particular depth, switching to a bailout would have given him a life-sustaining gas so that he could take control of the situation instead of becoming unconscious and drowning - whether it was at 70 feet or any depth.

In many cases, hypoxia (low oxygen) happens without the victim feeling any warning signs.

It's just speculation, but if his rebreather was on the low side ppO2 at depth, then as he ascended this could have further lowered the ppO2 to the point of hypoxia. Kind of similar to the shallow water blackout problem that kills many freedivers.

I've spoken with a couple of freedivers about the shallow water blackouts they have had, and the shallow water blackout / hypoxia incidents they experienced were without warning.

 

[Charlie99]

I don't think solo had anything to do with the accident. Wes soloed all the time.

Being solo probably would not have made any difference in whether or not he had an incident.

Being solo makes it less likely that he would survive the incident. I'm sure that Wes Skiles, like any other reasonable thinking person that solo dives, recognized this, and after weighing the risks, decided to dive solo.

 

[lamont]

Being solo probably would not have made any difference in whether or not he had an incident.

Being solo makes it less likely that he would survive the incident. I'm sure that Wes Skiles, like any other reasonable thinking person that solo dives, recognized this, and after weighing the risks, decided to dive solo.

yeah, and whatever risks he was choosing to take on that dive it looks like he guessed wrong on at least one of them...

 

[Puffer Fish]

Something is very wrong with that post in Cave Diver Forum. I have never heard of a rebreather accident where the cause was not know. The equipment setting would have still been on the system.

And blood gas tests would have shown the O2 state at the time of death.

If there is no cause of death, and they just "happen", then one would question the wisdom of using that piece of equipment.

 

[Cave Diver]

Something is very wrong with that post in Cave Diver Forum. I have never heard of a rebreather accident where the cause was not know. The equipment setting would have still been on the system.

And blood gas tests would have shown the O2 state at the time of death.

If there is no cause of death, and they just "happen", then one would question the wisdom of using that piece of equipment.

I've heard of several *speculations* of what went wrong, but for whatever reason, those with access to the information are keeping silent. I've yet to see any public information about the the profile off the dive computer, or the settings on the rebreather.

Of course, none of us has any entitlement to that information, but I hope it's not being withheld simply because of Wes's status in the dive world.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

yeah, and whatever risks he was choosing to take on that dive it looks like he guessed wrong on at least one of them...

Would not this be true for most ANYONE who dies while diving, or driving to the 7-11 to get mik???