Dateline NBC Now

[Splitlip]

More people on the water. Plus this is the infoirmation age.
And, you are a diver, so this type of story hits closer to home for you.

[JCAT]

Well done on keeping their wits and staying together! A positive attitude and a refusal to panic led to staying alive.

Using camera as signaling device
Being tied together
Dropping weights and tanks
Using each others body heat to stay warm.
Supporting each other emotionally.

Well done!

The televised interview was good, but I can't believe the dive op is refusing any responsibility in the matter.

[BouzoukiJoe A.K.A. wrecker130 AKA Chuck Norris AKA joeforbroke (banned)]

A survival strobe and a simple flashlight- continuous beam more likley to be seen than a camera flash. I never enter the ocean without a flashlight.

I still can't decide whether ditching the tanks was a good idea. An AL80 when empty is 4 pounds positive... they were ditching a potential source of bouyancy.

It would have also been nice to be able make a mooring line to avoid being swept in the current. He had a DSMB- only 4 ft in 6-9 ft sea. and some line- though I don't know how much. May not have been possible.

Tying together was an excellent idea.



Cannot tell a lot from the info on the show but in my gut I suspect they ended up in their situation because they ignored the dive briefing on the boat.

[ScubaToys Larry]

I was in Australia shorty after this happened, and there was a bit of talk about it there - so I was interested in watching it as well.

An interesting thing I noted, was basically, until long into the event, they did not even try to swim to the boat - saying the current was too strong. But when they were found 19 hours later - they said they were 7 miles from the boat. Assuming they did not do much swimming - that means the current was a little less than 1/2 a mile per hour current.. swimming at the surface, they should have been easily able to swim against that...

DM swims are 900 yards in 10 - 15 minutes, which means a half a mile in 12 minutes or so... even if the current was 1 mile per hour - they could have gained well over a mile in under an hour.

And it's not surprising that the Dive Op didn't want to interview - the divers have already filed a law suit - and talking on TV cannot do much to help your case - and could hurt it. I'm sure their attorneys told them to decline any comments until the case was finished.

And if they "dropped tanks" that would mean they still would have to have had over 1500 psi to sink... Why would there be that much air left in the tanks after an hour dive?? And why would they not use the air to drop to the bottom and swim along the bottom, pulling them selves along toward the boat until the air was lower??

How is it that the two "most experienced divers" could not tell they were getting far away from the boat while the less experienced divers all had no problem returning?? And all the other divers on the boat said it was pointed out where to go, and where not to go. Did this instructor never hear about starting a dive into the current if one is present??

I'm not sure what side of the coin is accurate - and we may never know - but when people are talking law suits and book deals, I have to wonder a bit on the actual circumstances.

[Vercingetorix]

From what I understand about Coz diving, a diver is left behind about once a month. I got this info from an instructor. Was he BS'ing me? I don't know. I hope so. Larry might know the true stats

[BouzoukiJoe A.K.A. wrecker130 AKA Chuck Norris AKA joeforbroke (banned)]

Originally Posted by Vercingetorix

From what I understand about Coz diving, a diver is left behind about once a month. I got this info from an instructor. Was he BS'ing me? I don't know. I hope so. Larry might know the true stats

Nowhere in this story do I see any indication that this couple was "left behind." They didn't surface in the lagoon where they were supposed to. And whether intentional or not they got themselves lost at sea.

It seems the divers, as usual, were 100% responsible for being lost at sea. I believe as a diver, it's my responsibility to make it back to the the boat. I'll probably be rescued if I screw up, but its best not to screw up, and in case I do screw up, I always have proper exposure protection and safety gear.

I believe its the boat's responsibility to start a search for me if I don't return. I don't have enough info to decide whether the boat shares any blame for not starting a search when they did not return.

[ian]

Originally Posted by ScubaToys Larry

An interesting thing I noted, was basically, until long into the event, they did not even try to swim to the boat - saying the current was too strong. But when they were found 19 hours later - they said they were 7 miles from the boat. Assuming they did not do much swimming - that means the current was a little less than 1/2 a mile per hour current.. swimming at the surface, they should have been easily able to swim against that...

I noted from the program last night that the divers were picked up 9 miles from where they went into the water. They also said that the boat had moved around a bit. Even so, I did the math and thought something was a bit off.

However, from the "maps" NBC showed, it appeared that the divers had gone through a channel in the reef. It is entirely possible that current in the channel was too strong to swim against.

Originally Posted by ScubaToys Larry

And it's not surprising that the Dive Op didn't want to interview - the divers have already filed a law suit - and talking on TV cannot do much to help your case - and could hurt it. I'm sure their attorneys told them to decline any comments until the case was finished.

It always makes me laugh when I hear comments about the respondent declines to comment and the reporter spins it as though the respondent knows they're guilty because of the refusal.

No attorney in their right mind would allow the respondent to talk on the record. It cannot ever lead to anything good. Such comments would have a neutral effect at absolute best.

Originally Posted by ScubaToys Larry

And if they "dropped tanks" that would mean they still would have to have had over 1500 psi to sink... Why would there be that much air left in the tanks after an hour dive?? And why would they not use the air to drop to the bottom and swim along the bottom, pulling them selves along toward the boat until the air was lower??

This worried me, too, Larry.

The report was that the divers had been down for about an hour. It seemed as though these two were away from the main group of divers and had worked themselves to a part of the lagoon near the channel to the open sea.

The woman was in a 5mm suit and the guy was in a 7mm suit. I know I float well, but I don;t think it would be possible for me to sink in just my 7mm suit. The guy had "7 meters" of chord for his "sausage". He cut 3 meters of it to use as a line to keep the two of them together. At worst, I think I might have use the rest to tie up the BCs and tanks into a raft after dumping the weights.

On the other hand, regardless of what you think about this couple, the fact is that the boat did little look for this couple for about an hour or so after they were due back in! As a DM, this is my worst fear. I check and double check as divers come back on the boat. I want to know who is still in the water at all times. I watch for bubbles and try to match up the number of bubbles with the number of divers still out. I get nervous when I can't count as many sets of bubbles as I know there are divers still in the water.

I think there's enough "blame" to share in this case.

[Bigg_Budd]

19 hours. That would suck! I would cry like a little baby with a dirty diaper.

[gthomas]

great article. I love reading, it really took you there.

[CamaroChick]

So does anyone really think they may have staged this?? That just seems crazy to me. From what I saw, and I'm sure Dateline spun it this way, the dive op should be held responsible. Even if they did surface in a different spot than expected, that boat should have been looking for them right away - not wait an hour and then start looking. I did find it odd that they didn't try to swim towards the boat - I know I would have at least tried.

There is just no excuse for a dive op leaving a diver behind in the water!