Posted on 12/27/2013 7:59:02 AM PST by driftdiver
Edited on 12/27/2013 8:26:03 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
A Christmas Day cave diving excursion ended in tragedy in Weeki Wachee, Hernando County authorities said.
Two divers drowned in the popular Eagles Nest Sink location. Deputies say Darrin Spivey and his 15-year-old son, Dillon Sanchez, were testing diving equipment they received as Christmas presents.
(Excerpt) Read more at myfoxtampabay.com ...
I have been diving since 1994. I am NOT cave certified nor have and desire to get certified, and will not get anywhere NEAR an underwater cave!
Yeah, you string a cord from the entrance and put little plastic arrows on it to point the way out.
Hopefully you tie the cord properly and don’t lose it.
I don’t cave dive, but have talked to a lot of them. Im a rescue diver, adv, and nitrox but dont teach. Dont want to teach either but do help on occasion.
It gets old, always diving with a crowd. It's been many years since I've done it.
Yup, son not certified, Dad not experienced cave diver, etc.
I have no idea how I will die...... but it won’t be by drowning in an underwater cave! That creeps me out just thinking about it!
I live over in Spring Hill a few miles from there. The Darwin Awards should set up a field office at the cave entrance. The father might have figured it was safe to go down their because the underground water levels are low, (one reason, they say that their’s been sinkhole activity in the region.) Well this is a tragic example of why a little knowledge is dangerous
As in all diving where you cannot make a direct ascent special precautions have to be taken. Pony bottle is just one of them. Real cave divers have at least two independent regulators, two lamps, lots of extra gas etc etc. And still a number of divers diving in caves die each year.
What stupidity! I’ve caved for over 30 years but have never cave dived. I don’t even do scuba. All I know, is I get the NSS accident reports every year and the thing is full of cave diving fatalities. Looks like this idiot father with no cave diving certification and his kid will make it in their this year.
Cave diving like wreck diving is done with training and in small steps as the diver gains experience. Even spelunkers (dry cave explorers) get lost and disoriented, add a limited air supply and you increase the danger almost exponentially, especially for the inexperienced.
However, I will rise (gingerly) to the defense of the father! It is not beyond belief that he went in after an all too bold 15-yo! Yes, it was his fault to choose a place where such misadventure was possible, but do not assume he was the instigator. In tragedies like this, take away the lesson but do not speak unnecessary ill of the dead!
Like pilots, divers need to respect their limits and keep well away from them.
There are old divers,
there are bold divers,
there are passingly few (if any) old, bold divers!
I see cave divers at the springs. Many with have three of everything. Depending on how deep they plan to go they will stage tanks along the route.
I guess that’s possible but in m y experience I wouldn’t bet on it. For one the father shouldn’t have taken his son diving until the oid was trained.
Incredible CARELESSNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Except the father was twice as deep as the son.
Lots of last names in that family.
There is essentially no margin for error in cave diving—dabble and die. Even people who know what they’re doing get it from time to time. It has a longstanding reputation for being just about the most dangerous recreational activity. Though tragic, this is Darwin Award material. These guys basically asked for it.
someone inexperienced in diving in underwater caves should never venture a dive into an underwater cave except with an experienced underwater diver and only when that diver has experience in that cave - you need an experienced guide, someone who has previously made it safely in and back out
otherwise, it’s like asking for trouble
‘Cave-diving’ is almost as exhilarating as hydroelectric dam inlet diving. What a rush, Man...../s
Hell I don’t even get near above water caves!!!
How come father and son have different sur names ?
One of the side effects of all the "idiot warnings" on too many things is that some people routinely ignore all warnings.
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