Divers carry knives for a reason (?)

J

Josh Feltman

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Feb 12, 2001
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Fish kills spear-fishing diver

Tue Sep 12, 8:40 AM ET

A Florida diver shot a large grouper with a spear gun then apparently drowned when the fish sped into a hole, entangling the man in the line attached to the spear, investigators said Monday.

The 42-year-old man, whose name was withheld, was free-diving in about 25 feet of water off the lower Florida Keys Saturday and speared a Goliath Grouper, Monroe County Sheriff's Detective Mark Coleman said.

"It looks like the fish wrapped the line attached to the spear around the victim's wrist. The fish then went into a hole in a coral rock, effectively pinning the man to the bottom of the ocean," Coleman said in a news release.

Police divers found the speared fish tightly wedged into the hole, with the man's body still tangled in the line, a sheriff's spokeswoman said.

Goliath Grouper are the largest members of the sea bass family and can weigh hundreds of pounds.
 
Did the report say whether he had a knife on him? He may not have had time to use it before he swallowed a mouthful of water, and then it would have been very difficult. Sounds a bit like certain scenes in Moby Dick.

James
 
That's the entire article right there. It may have had him pinned so that he couldn't reach his knife. Not really sure.
 
crazy....I've seen a goliath grouper....they are indeed huge!

Jewfish_opt.jpg
 
jefptw said:
Did the report say whether he had a knife on him? He may not have had time to use it before he swallowed a mouthful of water, and then it would have been very difficult. Sounds a bit like certain scenes in Moby Dick.

James
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'difficult'? Aspirating sea water into the lungs causes instant death.

My wife only mentioned this case tonight. I told her that is why people should always carry a knife all the time.
 
Darwinian herd culling, guy had no business spearing a fish that large while free diving. Chances are, even had he been able to surface, he would have just wound up needing to cut his line anyway. A "little" 40 lb grouper puts up more fight than I'd want with nothing solid to brace against.

Sarge
 
Those grouper are ANCIENT and really should not be shot. It's to bad when these things happen and a person loses their life doing something that should not have been done in the first place, tragic.
 
When I took the certification for SCUBA they told us to always carry a knife for potential problems like this. My instructor suggested cutting pliers, side cutters especially, for fresh water diving. A lot of our man-made lakes have fence wire that you can get tangled.

Also never dive alone, whether SCUBA or snorkling.

Diving is a safe, fun sport, but observe safety procedures or it can kill you fast!
 
Daniel Koster said:
crazy....I've seen a goliath grouper....they are indeed huge!
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I have seen regular groupers when I was snorkling off the beach in Bermuda. I have snorkled for a very long time almost exclusively fresh water at that time. I was mask to face with this grouper and what an experience. I have never approached a fish that didn't back up or flee when I was near him. He didn't. A very unique experience. He was large and I was obviously more impressed then he was about the meeting.

KR
 
I've never spear fished, nor have I dived, but I have cought a grouper, and I wouldn't like getting all tangled up with a big one. Is there any chance he shot it in self defense?
 
I like to free dive from time to time, looking for much less harmful red abalone.


Something that happens fairly often here on the California coast with abalone divers (No scuba allowed) is that the air held in the lungs gets depleted while "on the bottom" and the diver blacks out......strange!

When buddy diving, we practice a 1-up 1-down routine that allows for someone on the surface to help out. The safety guy simply pulls the unconscious diver to the surface and turns him over onto his back. After much sputtering and "WTF"-ing.... the diver USUALLY is unharmed.

Of course, the tangled up groves of seaweed "trees" we have here is enough to know that one of the other unseen dangers requires a sharp knife! besides....you get to carry a knife!!

Blueline
 
That's a definite hazard in free diving and even snorkelling, to a degree. Most divers (myself included) hyperventilate before taking a breath and going under. Doing so supersaturates the blood with oxygen and gives you a bit more time but it also removes most of the carbon dioxide at the same time and effectively disables your breathing reflex.

Result? Without a desire to breath, you think that you're still good to go. Unfortunately the brain knows better. :( Buddying up is the correct answer. That goes for SCUBA as well.

Speaking of SCUBA, the only thing that I ever used a knife for was cutting derelict fishing lines and nets that I got wrapped up in. (Quite common here.) Some also use them for rapping on their air tanks to get someone's attention. Knives and air tanks are quite expensive and thus, I prefer banging rocks together instead -- but the knives certainly do work for this.

This story, while tragic, reminds me of the tales of "serious" noodlers down in the southeast who go after the catfish with one or two buddies in SCUBA gear standing by; the unspoken suggestion is that sometimes the catfish wins.
 
[guy had no business spearing a fish that large while free diving. Chances are, even had he been able to surface, he would have just wound up needing to cut his line anyway/QUOTE]

gotta go with Sarge on this one. I don't think the issue has anything to do with a knife really. He bit off way more than he could have chewed even if he had an entire toolbox at the ready.

Sorry he died though:(
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Andrew Taylor said:
'difficult'? Aspirating sea water into the lungs causes instant death...
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I don't think the body can aspirate a liquid. What happens is that drowning victims die from cardiac arrest. The lungs fill with water post-mortum.
 
Bill Marsh said:
When I took the certification for SCUBA they told us to always carry a knife for potential problems like this. My instructor suggested cutting pliers, side cutters especially, for fresh water diving. A lot of our man-made lakes have fence wire that you can get tangled.

Also never dive alone, whether SCUBA or snorkling.

Diving is a safe, fun sport, but observe safety procedures or it can kill you fast!
Click to expand...

BTTT. This needs to be emphasized.
 
DRM said:
I don't think the body can aspirate a liquid. What happens is that drowning victims die from cardiac arrest. The lungs fill with water post-mortum.
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How would lungs fill post mortem? No breathing going on, how would liquid get in. The lack of air exchange in the lungs because they are filled with water causes the heart to stop beating.

Also people who near drown cough up copius amounts of water.

You definetly can aspriate liquids including one of the worse which is stomach contents. That tears hell out of the lungs and causes no end of problems for the doctors to try to fix.

KR
CT EMT-D
Wilderness EMT
NREMT-B
 
read the article bro....it's all there. :thumbup:
 
Daniel Koster said:
read the article bro....it's all there. :thumbup:
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I assume that was for DRM?

Oh I should mention that there is something called dry drowning. People die when the mamalian dive reflex comes into play, usually in cold water. What happens is when cold water hits the persons face the throat closes off due to the mamalian dive reflex and the person asphyxiates but there in no water in the lungs. I have heard this happens in about 10 to 15 per cent of drowning cases.

KR
 
kr1 said:
How would lungs fill post mortem? No breathing going on, how would liquid get in. The lack of air exchange in the lungs because they are filled with water causes the heart to stop beating.

Also people who near drown cough up copius amounts of water.

You definetly can aspriate liquids including one of the worse which is stomach contents. That tears hell out of the lungs and causes no end of problems for the doctors to try to fix.

KR
CT EMT-D
Wilderness EMT
NREMT-B
Click to expand...

Upon water entering the airways, the body experiences laryngospasm, that is the Larynx or the vocal cords in the throat constrict and seal the air tube. This prevents water from entering the lungs.

Water enters the stomach in the initial phase of drowning. The laryngospasm relaxes after unconsciousness and water can enter the lungs.

My mistake, it's unconsciousness and not post-mortem.
 
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