News
Cave divers defend sport after deaths at Eagle’s Nest Sink
Darrin Spivey, 35, and his son Dillon Sanchez, 15, died while cave diving at Eagle’s Nest Sink in Citrus County on Christmas Day. Since then, questions have been raised about whether to close the dive site and cave diving in general.
The dive equipment found on the father and son showed a dive depth of 233 feet, well below the maximum 60 feet permitted by Spivey’s open-water certification.
Sanchez was not certified.
Chester Spivey Jr., Darrin’s father and Dillon’s grandfather, wrote a letter at the end of December to the state asking the park be closed. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said they have no plans to close the site.
Many cave divers believe it’s a safe sport and dive to experience an alternate reality.
“I go cave diving, believe it or not, to relax,” said Rod O’Connor, who travelled from Tampa to dive at Blue Grotto Dive Resort in Williston. “There’s a misconception that it’s for adrenaline seekers, and that’s not the case.”
Jeff Cary has been on more than 1,000 dives, many of them into Florida’s unexplored underwater caves, with nothing but a dive light, his equipment and sometimes a friend.
“Everybody has had dreams of flying, and that’s what it is,” said Cary, after a dive at Blue Grotto Dive Resort in Williston on a recent Saturday morning. “It’s a chance to let your mind clear and experience your body in a totally different environment,”
International Training Director for the National Association of Cave Divers, Rob Neto, believes all diver deaths are due to faulty equipment or divers going beyond the limits of their certifications.
“With the proper training, it’s an extremely safe sport,” he said.
He said the two men experienced the phenomenon Jacques Cousteau called “the martini effect”.
“Every 50 feet is equivalent to one martini, and they were almost five martinis deep,” he explained. “That’s how debilitated they were.”
About 50 percent of diver deaths happen at less than 50 feet from the water’s surface, according to DAN’s Annual Diving Report. Since 1970, reported deaths in the U.S. and Canada have ranged between 40-160 annually.
O’Connor does not believe the dive site should be closed.
“That’s equivalent of somebody going to Dick’s Sporting Goods, buying a pair of skis, taking off down the black diamond of a ski slope and then wanting to shut down the mountain after they smack into a tree,” O’Connor said. “You know, you don’t blame the mountain.”
Source: www.wuft.org
Photo: Jeff Cary
Over the next 12 months, specialist scuba holiday company Dive Worldwide will be supporting Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation with donations collected from client bookings to any one of its stunning dive destinations around the world. The independently-owned operator expects to raise £3000 for the UK charity.
Manager at Dive Worldwide, Phil North, said: “We’re especially excited to work with Bite-Back and support its intelligent, creative and results-driven campaigns to end the UK trade in shark products and prompt a change in attitudes to the ocean’s most maligned inhabitant.”
Bite-Back is running campaigns to hold the media to account on the way it reports shark news along with a brand new nationwide education programme. Last year the charity was credited for spearheading a UK ban on the import and export of shark fins.
Campaign director at Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “We’re enormously grateful to Dive Worldwide for choosing to support Bite-Back. The company’s commitment to conservation helps set it apart from other tour operators and we’re certain its clients admire and respect that policy. For us, the affiliation is huge and helps us look to the future with confidence we can deliver against key conservation programmes.”
To launch the fundraising initiative, Phil North presented Graham Buckingham with a cheque for £1,000.
Visit Dive Worldwide to discover its diverse range of international scuba adventures and visit Bite-Back to learn more about the charity’s campaigns.
MORE INFORMATION
Call Graham Buckingham on 07810 454 266 or email graham@bite-back.com
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