During the efforts to recover the bodies of the four divers whose bodies still haven’t been found, one of the military divers has died of decompression illness. As a result of this latest fatality, the Maldives government is suspending body recovery operations until experts in deep and cave diving can arrive on the scene, perhaps tomorrow.
The woman who was the defacto leader of the group is being called an “expert with over 5,000 dives.”
Ms Montefalcone’s husband, Carlo Sommacal, told Italian outlet La Repubblica that his wife was an “expert” and had done 5,000 dives.
I can’t stress how difficult and dangerous this dive is. As I said in the other post, my experience and certifications are remarkably similar to hers, and I am telling you now that I am not, and she is not, in any way qualified to do that dive, nor was she equipped to perform that dive. I know I am not trained or equipped for it. In addition to being NAUI and PADI certified as a divemaster, rescue diver, nitrox, public safety diver, and cavern certified, I am also SSI certified for extended range diving and extended range nitrox. (the first two classes in this list.)
The reports I am seeing is that her group of 5 divers were diving ordinary open circuit with single aluminum 80 cubic foot tanks. That is not the way to do this, and she should know better. It is my belief that Dunning-Krueger is in full effect here- she was making the assumption that all diving is the same, so diving to double the recreational limit is no big deal, and basing that on her training and experience in shallower depths- perhaps thinking her professorship and TV fame made her smarter than everyone else.
The issue with this latest death, is that the Maldives military is no better. It’s being reported in SCUBA circles that the military diver was in recreational gear with single tank and an extra slung aluminum 80. That is nowhere near good enough. The entrance to that underwater cave is at 160 feet. The caverns that are being searched are at 200+ feet.
- There is no safe limit for diving to that depth that doesn’t require decompression.
- Nitrogen is intoxicating at that depth. This compounds the danger, and requires mixed gases, especially as you approach 180 feet or deeper.
- Oxygen in normal air becomes toxic when breathed at depths greater than 185 feet.
For the reasons above, dives to that depth require what’s called hypoxic trimix, a mix of 10-16% oxygen, 50% helium, and the remainder nitrogen. That mixture avoids the risks of OXTOX, narcosis, and lessens the issues with decompression sickness. The issue is that hypoxic trimix can’t be breathed on the surface or at shallower depths. This means a diver has to have what’s called a transit gas, usually trimix with 21% oxygen, to get from the surface to about 150 feet or so. Then there are decompression gases needed, which can include 50% nitrox or other gases. The exact depth for each gas and when to switch depends on the chosen mix, target oxygen pressure (1.2–1.4 atmospheres), Equivalent Narcotic Depth (END), and the decompression plan. The people who do this always use gas and dive planning software. This isn’t the sort of dive where you just dive in and go for it.
In all, a dive like this could require every single diver to enter the water with 4 or more tanks, and still be required to use a surface supplied decompression gas. In many cases with a dive like this, divers will go in ahead of the search team and bring in full tanks of trimix that are left in staging areas within the cave. It’s a very complex and dangerous operation.
Now multiply that by the number of divers you need- this will include the search team, support divers who don’t enter the cave but assist the search team in managing the dive at depths from 150 feet up to the surface, the divers who penetrate the cave to set up staging tanks, then there is a medical team, and other members.
Each diver who enters that cave will have about 25 minutes to conduct the search, then will spend the next two hours working their way to the surface as they decompress at progressively shallower depths. Total run times of 3+ hours are common, with significant stops on 50% nitrox and pure O₂ required to decompress.
In all, an operation like this will take a dozen or more people and cost over a million dollars.
Or you could just cancel the entire useless exercise and leave the dead where they lie. Why risk creating more bodies? My opinion is leave them where they are. They are already dead, and any potential benefit in recovering the bodies isn’t worth losing yet another life. If the Italian government or the family isn’t happy with that, they can mount the expedition, with the understanding that any other death will result in the supervisor of that dive being charged with negligent homicide.
The ocean is an unforgiving bitch if you don’t show her proper respect.
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