Update by JudyG and the divers own story with lessons learned.
Ken's Story of Survival in the Galapagos (Darwin's Arch)
Background: Ken is owner of Ultimate Dive Travel who booked and joined a
group of D2D divers on an 11 day trip to the Galapagos in September 2005,
He is a very experienced diver.
On a morning dive at Darwin's Arch in the remote northern islands, Ken did
not reappear after the dive, and no one remembered seeing him since the
early part of the dive. Both Aggressor dive boats and their 4 dingies
undertook an extensive search of the area, including one boat
circumnavigating Darwin island looking for Ken on the shore or in the
shallows, while the other boat searched farther out to sea in the event
that he had been caught in the very strong current and swept out. It was
very tense for all as a very long time elapsed with no sight of Ken, and
none of us knew that he had removed the folding dive flag from his rig
when tweaking his config and had forgotten to replace it. His flag would
have been visible from great distance, and not seeing it had us all very
worried. Finally, a signal was detected from his epirb (electronic
signalling device), and one of the dingies was able to locate him, in high
waves, close to rocky shore. He had been on the surface, alone, for over
an hour and a half. His story of beating off inquisitive sharks and
avoiding drowning is sobering, but there are good lessons for survival.
Ken's story:
"While I did stay pretty much to the dive plan, Mother Nature in Galapagos
has her mind, and a strong mind it is. It seemed to start out as just
another wonderful dive in Galapagos, then like sometimes before, I was
alone. In Galapagos the currents are ripping most of the time, it is NOT
for the new diver, or a person that panics easily, but it is the Best
Diving Destination on Earth for Big Animals!
People have been asking why I was alone.....
Well I didn't try to end up alone first..
) The group took off after a
whaleshark into the blue, I came back to the dive site, and finished my
dive, taking pictures of a bunch of Galapagos sharks. But, everyone else
drifted together in the blue water. So when it was time to go up, I
looked up and saw the surf just crashing above me... no big deal I just
swam away from the surf, just like a diver normally would, then did my
safety stop.
When I surfaced I was at about 300PSI... no problem at all, then
the current brought me into an area of the pounding surf, but far enough
from the rocks I had no concerns.
The surf was about 6ft high pounding on me hard, so I kept my reg in mouth
until there was no more air. That's about the time my little silky
buddies (sharks) all showed up. So for about 35 minutes straight I was
beating the hell out of them with my camera and a weight pouch, and they
can take some good shots I'll tell you that. I had 6lbs in that weight
pouch, and I hit most every silky that came near, they just kept coming
back, and coming back, pesky little bastards they are..LOL They never in
my personal feelings tried to bite me, just bump and test is more like it.
Then I had to take my tank off during all this because the epirb
(signaling device) was strapped of all places to my tank strap. Once
I got that out and set the signal off then the booby birds decided they
wanted the epirb, it was quite a sequence of events that happened.
The end result, I stayed calm and used my head, I was Thanking God it was
me out there and not a less experienced diver, because they would have
been dead most likely. Total surface time waiting, approximately 1 hour
and 40 minutes! That's a long time when no one can see you. When I saw
the dingy heading my way finally, with Nelson on the bow, I was the
happiest guy on Earth at that moment!
Lessons learned:
Try harder to stay with the dive group, even when everyone is heading to
the blue water.
If wearing a electronic signaling device, make sure you
can get at it, without having to take your tank and BC off to get it.
Stay calm, and keep thinking about your next attempt at having someone see
you or were you may swim to, keeping your mind busy, helps to keep from
panicking.
Don't forget your Dive Flag!!! (Aggressor issues folding 6 ft high dive
flags to every diver in the Galapagos for signalling at the surface).
In places like Galapagos, dive with the BEST Dive operator, NOT the
cheapest, the cheapest, could be your last dive trip!
Dive with a group of divers who are fantastic, the group that was together
on this trip was fantastic!"
Ken
I, Latitude Adjustment (insert log in name), do hereby swear, (politely), that I shall not hold SingleDivers, (SD), nor any SD poster, (real or imagined), liable, nor shall I seek legal restitution, (real or imagined), for any perceived, (real or imagined), offenses I may incur, (or Incurrrrrrrrrr on talk like a pirate day), that may or may not be posted on this or any SCUBA related board, (real or imagined), by anyone, (real or imagined), anywhere, (real or imagined). Further, I void any right to privacy, (real or imagined), as it may, or may not relate to any posting, (real or imagined), about me, to me, for me, because of me, all about me, my dog, my cat, my bird, my monkey, my family, (real or imagined), my friends, (real or imagined), or my world, (real or imagined).
By all that is wet, I do hereby swear, (politely), and attest, upon pain of never diving again, (real or imagined), that I understand and affirm, that I agree to the above.
_________________________________________(log in name signature)
Signed and Dated
