Accident Details Desired

CDN:

I am a big fan of your magazine! I think that readers are lucky to have it as a resource for local diving.
Recently, there have been a couple of articles about very experienced divers having accidents. One article was Kim Sheckler’s about an accident that she had but was able to safely recover from. The other was a news brief about Mia Tegner dying as the result of an accident. However, in both instances, the description of what went wrong was not included. I would like to be able to learn from the mistakes of these divers so that they can be avoided in the future.
Thanks again for the great magazine!

Nathan Piehl
via e-mail

Nathan:
I was diving with Kim when she had the problem. It is not even what I would call a “near-accident,” but had somebody not been close by to help her, things may have dominoed into a more serious situation. Briefly, a propulsion device that attaches to the butt end of a tank malfunctioned, sticking in the “on” position. The quick release of the battery pack stuck and had to be pulled free by myself.

As for the death of Mia Tegner, a full investigation was conducted. A local newspaper reported that she ascended alone from a second moderately deep dive with a decompression obligation on her computer and an empty tank. Asking for a another full tank, she descended alone to fulfill her omitted decompression in-water. A short time later, the tank she had been handed popped to the surface without her. Divers rapidly deployed to look for her but could not find her for some time. Because she was alone, it is not clear at what point she lost control or consciousness. She was found on the bottom sometime later. It was, however, determined that her weights were difficult to release, although it is not clear if that contributed to the accident.

California Diving News does not like to be a journal of accident statistics and analysis. Diving is a hazardous past time with its dangers but can be pursued with proper safe diving practices. We’d rather tell you about the wonderful times to be had underwater and how to go about safely participating, then to pick apart how a tragic accident occurred. Many dive accidents are never reported here. Most near-accidents are not reported either.

The point of Kim’s report on her problem was to tout the importance of having a good dive buddy.

The report of Mia Tegner’s death was mainly a tribute to her notoriety and importance of how she contributed to our knowledge of the underwater world, not to say how she died.

Editor

Returning to the SCUBA Show

CDN:

I saw your ad in California Diving News. Please put me on the list for ticket information for your June 2 & 3 show. My husband and I went both days last year and had the best time. We took a lot of useful information away with us. So we are looking forward to this year’s show.

Thank you
Laura Couch
via e-mail

An insert in this month’s issue covers SCUBA Show 2001 in detail. Full details on the show, to take place at the Long Beach Convention Center, can also be found at www.saintbrendan.com.

Grunion Article Appreciated, Verified True

Dear CDN

I want to thank Mr. Ken Kurtis for the excellent article about the grunion runs here in So. CA waiting for them, it’s hard for some to believe it’s true.
This article had given my ex-wife and myself something to laugh and talk about instead of the “how’s work” junk. We’ve been able to joke about all the nights we spent on the beach in the sleeping bag just waiting for them. We’ve even talked about going again!
I hope being able to talk again can maybe re-kindle or spark up our relationship—or more.

Thanks Again,
Mark Byron
Chino, CA

Club Wants Back in CDN

CDN:

My name is Jennifer Evanson and I am the newsletter editor for the Sport Chalet Burbank Dive Club. I recently started noticing we are not listed in your publication. I double checked the address I have for you on our mailing list and it seems to be correct (Box 11231 Torrance, CA 90510), so you should be getting it.
We used to get one or two people per month calling us because they saw us in California Diving News, so please put us back in! We don’t put out our newsletter until the weekend before our club meeting (the second Wednesday of the month) so it usually goes in the mail around the 8th. That means we miss your deadline, but maybe you could still list us as a club.
Thanks for all your hard work over the years. You have a wonderful
publication.

Jennifer Evanson
Sport Chalet Burbank Dive Club

California, Arizona and Nevada dive clubs will be listed in our “Dive Club News & Happenings” section at no charge, provided we are kept updated with current information (usually best done by putting us on your newsletter mail list).
Editor

Response on Populations Exploding Inquiry

To CDN:

Regarding Feb. issue Vol. 18 No. 2., Kelp Vine article “Populations Exploding.”
My name is Gordon Lehman, President of Coastal Marine Technology in Anaheim. We are in the business of kelp reforestation along the Orange County coastline. For the last two years, we’ve noticed a large increase in halfmoon perch. In fall the fish migrate into the area in schools. We’ve seen schools of 50 to maybe 1000 fish along the OC coastline. Once here, they sort of disperse through the area and on each dive we see 1 to 10 fish. We know they are around because of the grazing signs on the kelp plants. They love kelp and can cause more damage then sea urchins. Maybe some increase in Norris Top snails, but we felt they came with the increase in kelp plants. Glad to see someone else is paying attention to what’s down there.

Gordon Lehman
via e-mail

Rebreather for Hunting?

Hello CDN,

I recently purchased my first rebreather after diving with scuba gear for seven years. I bought the rebreather with the intent of using it for underwater hunting but have had nothing but hassles whenever I mentioned hunting on a rebreather to dive store owners (even the one that I am getting my rebreather training from). They told me not to mention to anyone the fact that I was collecting game on a rebreather because it gave me an unfair advantage. They told me that free divers would crucify me if they caught me doing it.
I have been a very active underwater hunter for the last few years and judge the success of the dive by the quality of game I collect. My family enjoys the fruits of my dives with a constant supply of seafood for the table. I always eat what I kill and consider myself an ethical hunter. A rebreather seemed to be just another tool to increase my success rate. Sort of like upgrading from a spear pole to a spear gun. I never expected such a hassle from other divers.
Now I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to give up the rebreather and could never imagine diving without a gun. I am also afraid that dive boats won’t allow me to hunt on their trips if they find that I am using a rebreather.
I would appreciate any advice that you could give me on this subject.

Ray T.
via e-mail

Ray:
It is a free country, and the law sees no difference in hunting with a rebreather versus scuba, but I’d discourage you from using your rebreather to hunt. I think I’m safe in saying that all divers hunt for sport and do not have to hunt underwater to feed themselves and family. That said, there comes a point when mechanical advantage removes so much of the “sport” of the hunt as to make it just too easy. Underwater hunting should be pursued for the thrill of the stalk and the enjoyment of being in the underwater wilderness. If it is only results in what we want, why not just throw a bomb in the water?
Many purist free-divers feel that even scuba is an undue advantage. In some respects, they are right. One of the reasons the population of abalone along the north coast continues to remain strong is you can take abalone only by free-diving. Much of the population below 30 feet is left alone to breed and continue seeding the shallower waters.
Your analogy of upgrading from a pole spear to a speargun is poor. The reason for moving up to a more powerful spear is not necessarily results, but rather the smaller spear would only wound the fish, risking possible escape and a wasted death, rather than a swift and sure kill.
You will get a lot of resistance on using your rebreather for underwater hunting. I, along with many other underwater hunters, consider it unsportsmanlike. It is, however, as I stated previously, a free country.

Dale Sheckler
Editor

CA Waters Owned by CDN

Bruce [Watkins] (and Dale):

No wonder “fish life in Carmel ain’t what it used to be.” Your magazine advertises California waters as though it owns them. Your habits as writers may not change, and so you have no right to continue complaining that fish in California are being hunted out.

Alastair Bland
via e-mail

Wants more CDN

I was wondering—is there a way to subscribe to your publication? Where do I pick up the publications? I live in Marina Del Rey, CA. I am a newly certified advance diver and just read your issue. Great articles!

Thanks,
John Palyok
via e-mail

John:
California Diving News is available for free at almost all Southwestern dive stores, clubs and dive boats, as well as on the web. Sport Chalet in Marina Del Rey is located on Maxella. Marina Del Rey Scuba is located on Washington Blvd. Both carry the publication, free for the asking.
Or you can subscribe to California Diving News for $21 for 12 issues. Send a payment to: P.O. Box 11231 Torrance, CA 90510, or you can send credit card #, exp. date and billing zip to our fax line at 310-792-2336.

Editor

More “Brains” Editorial Comments

Dale,

I agree that Ken’s Editorial [February 2001, Vol. 18 No. 2, “Your Brain as a Primary Piece of Diving Equipment”] was geared toward using one’s brain before we strap on our gear and go on a dive. In fact, I think that it is a point that needs to be made. The industry has marketed all the risk out of diving. It is important to remind people that there is still risk. That is not to say we need to overstate it either.
I don’t think it matters what a diver is breathing or the mode of diving they’re using or the depth they happen to have been to. All deaths are bad for the sport and sad for those close to those who die. Interesting enough, those who die diving outside of the “recreational limits” often do so on the surface after coming up. It is not the dive that kills them. It is their return to the surface and their behavior in doing so that is the problem. We do lose some at depth, as well.

There is no environment or geographical region that is immune to incidence. In fact, just days ago two newly certified divers chose to do a dive in the spring basin of Royal spring in north central Florida. It appears they decided to explore the cavern zone, knowing full well they were not qualified to do so. Unfortunately, that decision cost them both dearly, as well as their families. The cave diving community has been educating the general diving public for years. Still, each year divers die in caves who were never trained to be there.

It is good to bring things like this to people’s attention. However, there will be a certain number of divers each year that choose not to listen, no matter how loud the message. I don’t believe that there are any more fatalities than before. I think that those that have happened recently have been publicized more than in the past. The Internet has changed how information like this gets out. There was an incident in North Carolina where the word went out on the Internet before the boat got back in port with the dead diver. Makes for one hell of a nice surprise for the family that way.

Despite all of this, I do think it is important to make a distinction between the type of fatality that occurs. In particular, the death of Tony that was mentioned in the reply to Mike. Tony was testing a prototype unit of a non-conventional gear configuration that he built himself. While it has been stated he was diving mixed gas, I think the point Mike was making was that he was not diving trimix. He was most likely diving nitrox as the San Diego [wreck] is in the 95-foot range. The gas he was breathing is not at issue at all. He died because he had a problem with his all-in-one, full-face mask, gas- switching prototype. He was found on the surface sans his kit.

We need to distinguish this type of fatality from the general pool. The same holds true of the more extreme exposures experienced during exploration work and deep dives that fall well outside even the norm for technical diving. These participants in this type of diving go into these dives accepting a much higher degree of risk than that experienced in 99.99 percent of diving. These divers understand full well what they’re doing. Often, these dives are planned for months. You can plan all you like, but performance has to match the plan or exceed it.

As the diving population ages we will, and are beginning to, see incidences that are cardiac related that by chance occur while diving. It appears that 25 percent of fatalities in diving are actually heart attacks. These people would have died playing tennis or at the gym. They just happen to have a heart problem while diving. Is a heart attack a diving fatality or not?

The truth is that regardless of the dive, mindset is critical. The point was made well.

Rock climbing uses the mentality of “How can this fail” when evaluating climbing systems and climbs before anyone actually begins to climb. Diving can learn from this. No matter what type of dive, the bottom line is that it is not worth doing unless you plan on coming back. The alternative produces results that benefit no one.

While statistics do not matter to the deceased or their family or to the press, I think we will find that in the end the incident rate remains unchanged or reduced. Diving in all its forms has much less risk than most of the things we do every day. We are far more likely to die driving to the dive boat than underwater.

My two cents.
Grant W. Graves
via e-mail

Clubs Consolidate, CDN Readership Strong

Dear California Diving News (CDN),

On behalf of the Golden Reef Divers, Inc. (GRD), I’d like to thank you for sending issues of CDN to us each month for very many years. We passed them out at every meeting. We also regularly sent you copies of our newsletter, the RAPTIDE, for as many years. You have probably read in our RAPTIDE that we have decided to consolidate our club with the Sea Sabres Dive Club. It will make both clubs stronger and more enjoyable. The way I see it, it is a new beginning and not an end.

I want to thank you for your contribution to our Club for so long and the listing you provided in the back of CDN. You have provided us with so many years of really great stories and information. You occasionally published some of the stories in our newsletter and it’s always interesting to see. Both of you visited with our club and presented a number of different subjects to us over the years. It was liked by all.

Thank you so much for all you’ve done for us. We will continue to get your great publication and enjoy your articles.

Keep up the great job and many, many thanks!

Norm Hopkins
President, Golden Reef Divers, Inc.

We'd like to hear from you! Send your comments to EMAIL: mail@saintbrendan.com or P.O. Box 11231, Torrance, CA 90510; Fax (310) 792-2336 (please include include name , city and a way to contact you.)