Update On Whytecliff Scuba Accident

On Monday I posted about a cryptic news story about a diving accident at Whytecliff Park. Yesterday the North Shore News had a write up about the accident with some more info.

Apparently the diver, a 20 year old man from California, was diving at about 40ft when water started seeping into his mask. He then surfaced too quickly trying to ‘reach safety’, but in the process became unconscious because of the rapid decompression (aka the bends). Luckily other people from his group were able to bring him to shore and get him treated promptly, and he was later put in a hyperbaric chamber, and released the same day.

I’m trying not to judge, but there must be more to the story. Water seeping into a diver’s mask is very common, and a problem you are taught to fix on your first day of training. I have a hard imagining someone scrambling to surface simply because water filled their mask. Perhaps while clearing his mask he lost control of his buoyancy and surfaced like a rocket as the air in his suit expanded? Weird stuff, but thankfully the guy is ok.