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Telegraph:
Carl Spencer, 37 is believed to have died from decompression sickness - the bends - according to the country's merchant marine ministry.
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OMG! That photo is of a dive guide headed to the bottom to retrieve the dead body of a woman!!!
WTF does this have to do with Natnl. Geo.?????
This was the photo the Telegraph initially published with its article. They have since replaced it with a generic stock photo of recreational scuba divers and some pretty coral (which wouldn't grow at a depth of more than 60 feet because coral needs sunlight). The tech diver in question was stricken at a depth of about 400 feet in open ocean - not around some coral reef.
How sad for all who loved and will miss him. My sincerest condolences to them.
I'm saddened that he died . I thank him and all the people who work on these wonderful shows that we would never see if not for these nice folks.
N. G. and discovery and history channel all do a great job !
Nirek
This guy was a tech(nical) diver, not a recreational diver. (Recreational divers are limited to 130 foot depths, but you can get the bends coming up too quickly from even 40 feet depths.) The ship HMHS Britanic lies in a busy shiping lane at a depth of 120 meters (+/- 400 feet). He was using a rebreather and making repeated deep dives, i.e,. had an extreme dive profile. Symptoms of decompression sickness can take days to evidence themselves, but typically start with rash/joint pain. The fact that he went into convulsion while at depth, indicates to me that he ignored milder symptoms from earlier dives in order to keep diving with this (for him) once in a lifetime expedition.
The Britannic, a sister ship of the Titanic, is a famous shipwreck, that nearly every technical diver wishes to visit. That it lies at 120 meters of depth, in the open sea, on a spot affected by nearly any wind conditions, on a busy shipping lane and under special government protection rules, greatly restricts access.
In 2006, an expedition, funded and filmed by the History Channel, brought together thirteen of the world's best wreck divers to help determine what caused the quick sinking of the Britannic. After days of preparation, the wreck was explored by divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler. However, time was cut short when silt was kicked-up, causing zero visibility conditions, and the two divers narrowly escaped with their lives.
The widow should have the dive equipment tested. Closed circuit rebreathers represent fairly new technology. Breathing gas is recycled around a loop so that exhaled oxygen is available for reuse, so only oxygen required for metabolism is consumed. Carbon dioxide is removed by a soda lime scrubber and metabolized oxygen is replenished into the loop by mechanical, electronic or manual means. A diluent gas is required to maintain volume in the loop on descent, and expanding gas is vented during ascent. All very simple in principle. Control over crucial levels of the 2 important gases in the loop (oxygen and carbon dioxide) must be precise or the diver courts disaster. If partial pressure of oxygen (PO2) stays consistently above 1.4, risk of convulsion and drowning increases. If PO2 in the loop falls to hypoxic levels, unheralded unconsciousness (and drowning) may result. Exhaustion of soda lime or a problem with gas flow through the scrubber will cause a disabling rise in carbon dioxide levels. Any loss of integrity of the unit may cause flooding which will render the unit completely unusable (a situation far less likely to occur on SCUBA).
Without meticulous pre-dive checks and adherence to procedure, these life-threatening occurrences may occur in any CCR unit. Hence, the primary safety feature of all rebreathers is comprehensive checking of equipment before a dive. Most fatalities arise because of a problem in checking or maintenance, rather than some inherent fault of the unit.
Thank you for a very clear explanation. Huff Post should add it below the link to the full story so others can understand the technology used and the risks involved.
Yikes.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25276933/
See? There's a link showing the photo is from the dying wife lying on the bottom that was snapped by fellow tourists after the husband apparently rigged her scuba equipment to fail and has been charged in her murder.
I think that's pretty irresponsible of the Telegraph to run a photo of a murder to accompany a story about a National Geographic diver dying from the bends.
I Agree. BUT, Huffpost, don't YOU check these things either before posting on your great site? If not, naughty naughty!
Agreed!
I thought I was the only one who noticed. That's pretty sick and disgraceful !
The Telegraph didn't do that. This site did; they do it all the time.
At least I think that's the case. If you click on the link, the Telegraph has a different photo.
That is one creepy pic!
What's up with using a photograph of the girl lying on the bottom who was found to have been murdered by her newlywed husband?
That just takes the cake!
The hard core Republicans are angry and mean since they lost the election. They have no
new ideas only idle criticism.
scary stuff.. I thought only novices really mucked dives up :/
No, professional divers get killed as well. Deep water dives put one's body through a lot of stress and while there are extensive precautions that are taken and very careful monitoring of the minutes spent at depth, things can happen.
A very distressing incident which highlights that even experts can get it wrong sometimes.
However, my comment is really about the photo which accompanies this story. This photo is of an American woman who died while on ahoneymoon dive on the Great Barrier Reef. Her husband is currently charged with her murder and is on trial in Australia. This is not an appropriate shot to put with this story.
The killed his wife on their HONEYMOON?? Wouldn't it have been easier just to cancel the wedding?
Beyond creepy.
I was just going to post about the pic they are using for the story. I remember seeing it last year referencing the death of a newly wed killed by her husband while diving. I think HuffPo needs to change the image out of respect to the woman's family.
scary..
Very sad,
Nat Geo does great work, some of it very dangerous.
That's a horrible way to die I am so sorry. My heart goes out to Carl Spencer's family.
People think you have to screw up to get the bends. Come up too quick, etc.
A buddy of mine did everything right and ended up with the bends anyway. Spent two days in a decompression chamber.
Diving is risky business, not all fun and games.
Right.
Decompression sickness masks itself so that you really don't understand what it is immediately, and it isn't like the cure is an over-the-counter pill. It takes specialized equipment to treat it.
Terribly sad and also scary about the Nat Geo diver. I love diving and never know this. Will do some research now and probably stick to shallow dives in the future. Thanks.
Please, Happy, do some research in case the unimaginable were to happen.
One bit of advice: know and educate your diving pals on the nearest hyperbaric chamber is in your area. After a dive if you begin to feel odd get to that place ASAP to save time.
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First Posted: 05-24-09 07:20 PM | Updated: 05-24-09 07:25 PM