Unfathomable tragedy hits Dudas family of divers
On Friday 23 April 2021, Zale Dudas (9) and Saxon Nairne (7), along with their father Rodney Nairne, visited a property in Jensen Beach. It is believed that the purpose of the visit was to demonstrate a DPV or Diver propulsion vehicle.
According to mainstream media reports, the siblings were “described by their father as experienced swimmers and proficient divers”. This is not a surprise because the family are ardent and experienced scuba and technical divers, and several members have done work in scuba diving.
Link to GoFundMe page: Help Suzie
Last Year’s Deadly Fire Accident Aboard The Conception Dive Boat Has Consequences For All
In September 2019, off the coast of California, a fire aboard the MV Conception, a 23-meter (75-foot) scuba diving liveaboard, broke out during the night, killing 33 passengers and one crew member. The captain and four crew members barely escaped. After more than a year of speculations and rumors, the NTSB (the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board) published the results of its investigation and the U.S. Coast Guard issued a new policy on a few topics, including the charging of lithium-ion batteries aboard small vessels and liveaboards.
A little good comes from Brit wreck diver's death
61-year-old Tim Saville was diving the wreck of the Titanic’s sister ship. At the time of writing this article, it is not known why Saville died.
There is a policy in place on Britannic that divers are not allowed to penetrate the wreck unless they are diving a rebreather because this will help preserve the ship. (Gas is expelled when diving open circuit scuba). It is understood that Saville was diving an X-CCR rebreather.
Choosing a BCD: Solutions for the Slight
In 2014, off the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand, a diver on a discover scuba experience died when she became separated from her group and ran out of air. She was discovered on the surface, floating face down. The inquest found that the dive operation involved was to blame because they had failed to supervise her properly.
The Lex Warner case continues a sad trend
On 14 August 2012 Lex Warner was about to conduct a technical dive off the Scottish coast. He was diving a rebreather and bailout stages and whilst he was crossing the deck of the dive boat, he stumbled, fell forwards and landed heavily on the deck. He went down on his knees, then onto his hands, before rolling onto his side and finally onto his back. Having been helped back to his feet by the boat’s crew, Lex Warner was reported to have expressed frustration and annoyance at himself for falling.
[update] Sharkwater director Rob Stewart's body found
Stewart is best known for his 2006 documentary Sharkwater in which he examined and exposed the shark-hunting industries of the world and the effect upon the ocean ecosystem.
Rob Stewart, 37, was diving with a small group on the wreck of the Queen of Nassau near Alligator Reef off Lower Matecumbe Key in about 225 feet of water, his sister Alexandra Stewart told Miami Herald on Wednesday morning. He was filming an installment of his Sharkwater documentary series, she said.
Accused of Involuntary Homicide: Malta vs. Martin
After losing his girlfriend and a friend in a dive accident, Stephen Martin was first commended for his handling of the situation but later found himself accused of involuntary manslaugher by the Maltese authorities who issued an international warrant for his arrest. The case was eventually dropped after the dive community kicked up a storm, politicians intervened and BSAC came to his aid.
Running Out Fast!
Ben is a scuba diving instructor—this is his story.
Ron Akeson (1957-2014) - Mission Well Done
I don’t think a week ever went by where I didn’t hear Ron tell someone at his Bellingham dive store, “My motto in life follows the saying: growing old is mandatory, but growing up is optional.” If you ever had the pleasure of knowing or meeting Ron Akeson, you probably understood how he viewed life, because he truly believed in trying to squeeze in every little bit of living into each and every day!
Where is the O2?
In many cases, there is actually no plan to deal with a DCI incident. The rationale given runs along the lines of, “It hardly ever happens, so it is not worth thinking about until it does.”