Diving near-accident today

[Haertig]

My daughter had her first Hawaii diving near-accident today. She was down about 75 feet when some moderately large ocean fish came up and bopped her on the head, grabbed her regulator out of her mouth and took off like a rocket with it. Pulling her along by the hose connected to the regulator. She was just starting to take a breath when this regulator ambush happened. So she took in some saltwater and started coughing. Trying to chase down the fish that had ahold of the regulator. The fish spun or thrashed or something and got the hose caught in its gills. So she's fighting with this fish to get the regulator back, trying not to go into uncontrolled coughing spasms. Coughing underwater at 75 feet would not be safe, and certainly not a fun experience.

Well, eventually is was daughter: 1, fish: 0 and she was able to control her breathing and make the required slow ascent to the surface. She's home now, planning to call her physician to verify no problems might crop up later (she's still coughing some). Most likely very little water entered her lungs because she was conscious, and she was dealing more with upper airway spasms. As I recall from paramedic school, there's not much to be done other than watch for signs of later pulmonary edema and treat those symptoms as they occur. But I highly doubt she got more than a spritz of water actually into her lungs. Your airway clamps closed pretty dang fast to protect itself. It's different if you lose consciousness and your airway relaxes, letting more saltwater into your lungs.

And all along I, as dad, was worried about the tiger sharks she swims with getting her. But it was a glorified piece of sushi that pulled off the regulator assault today.

 

[Terri9630]

That's why you stay on the beach! Fish are the devil!!

So glad she's ok. Hope it stays that way.

 

[phideaux]

Wow, that's a close call.

Good thing she's young and a good diver.

Glad she's ok.

Jim

 

[Meerkat]

My daughter had her first Hawaii diving near-accident today. She was down about 75 feet when some moderately large ocean fish came up and bopped her on the head, grabbed her regulator out of her mouth and took off like a rocket with it. Pulling her along by the hose connected to the regulator. She was just starting to take a breath when this regulator ambush happened. So she took in some saltwater and started coughing. Trying to chase down the fish that had ahold of the regulator. The fish spun or thrashed or something and got the hose caught in its gills. So she's fighting with this fish to get the regulator back, trying not to go into uncontrolled coughing spasms. Coughing underwater at 75 feet would not be safe, and certainly not a fun experience.

Well, eventually is was daughter: 1, fish: 0 and she was able to control her breathing and make the required slow ascent to the surface. She's home now, planning to call her physician to verify no problems might crop up later (she's still coughing some). Most likely very little water entered her lungs because she was conscious, and she was dealing more with upper airway spasms. As I recall from paramedic school, there's not much to be done other than watch for signs of later pulmonary edema and treat those symptoms as they occur. But I highly doubt she got more than a spritz of water actually into her lungs. Your airway clamps closed pretty dang fast to protect itself. It's different if you lose consciousness and your airway relaxes, letting more saltwater into your lungs.

And all along I, as dad, was worried about the tiger sharks she swims with getting her. But it was a glorified piece of sushi that pulled off the regulator assault today.

Glad she is ok, so now the fish are meaner too? Barracoda or shark I can understand but most fish don't attack people was her regulator shiney?I'm sure it happens but not often.

 

[Patchouli]

That's insanity right there underwater.
Never heard of such a thing. No ID on the fish, I guess. Glorified Sushi.
Hope she recovers fine.

 

[Cascadian]

Wow that's scary. My wife and I got scuba verified a few years ago. Breathing under water ain't natural.

 

[Caribou]

I'd keep a lookout for pneumonia. She is probably fine and will recover completely by tomorrow but if she did inhale any water an infection is quite possible.

You know you are having an adventure when you'd rather be home talking about it than what you are doing then.

 

[Haertig]

Good thing she's young and a good diver.

She does have a lot of training and experience. She's certified somewhere above Dive Master (the first professional level) ... at one of the Instructor levels, but I'm not sure which one. At her job she accumulates 4 to 7 dives each day, so she has a ton of dives and experience.

Anyways, she's a very calm and relaxed diver, athletic and strong. She uses about half the air most divers do. That calmness probably helped her keep her cool when that idiot fish pulled his stunt.

 

[havasu]

Wow, thank God she kept a cool head, and glad she is safe!

 

[Supervisor42]

. At her job she accumulates 4 to 7 dives each day, so she has a ton of dives and experience.

Anyways, she's a very calm and relaxed diver, athletic and strong. She uses about half the air most divers do. That calmness probably helped her keep her cool when that idiot fish pulled his stunt.

Their rigs don't have backup regulators?
They are usually bright yellow with a yellow hose:

The rigs we used in Australia a few years ago all had them.
Hard to see, but they are there:

 

[Bacpacker]

Glad shes ok

 

[Meerkat]

Their rigs don't have backup regulators?
They are usually bright yellow with a yellow hose:

The rigs we used in Australia a few years ago all had them.
Hard to see, but they are there:
View attachment 47563

Of course the pros know more tham I do but I wonde why the yellow is that for th diver to be able to see it in murky or deep low light dives?
Seems it would attract unwanted attention

 

[Haertig]

Their rigs don't have backup regulators?

Yes, she has a backup regulator. But she said lack of air was not the problem, controlling the cough reflex was, so she just went for the main regulator instead. She was eventually going to have to untangle the thing from the idiot fish anyway.

She also mentioned that there's not much a fish can do to get you angry at it. Stealing the regulator right out of your mouth is one of those things though. My daughter said that fish got punched (you can't really damage them with an underwater punch). You would think a fish would let go of scuba gear ASAP after realizing it was not something to eat. Most likely the thing got wedged in its mouth somehow. They carry spears if the sharks get feisty (the regulator thief was not a shark however). 99% of they time they just prod them with the blunt end and they back off. One time she had a slightly aggressive one so she turned her spear blade out. The shark promptly bit the blade, but spit that out real quick. That was a galapagos shark and they swim with many of them every day. Usually docile and medium/large-ish (about 10 feet). When the bigger tiger sharks start getting close enough for spear-prodding, the divers usually leave the water. But when a whale shark shows up, all the divers jump off the boats and into the water to swim with it.

I get the impression that fish are dumb. My daughter says the dolphins are smart however, even the wild ones. She used to train dolphins and seals in her previous job, but now she just gets to swim with the wild ones.

BTW, she's 100% fine now. No ill after-effects. I figured she didn't get much saltwater inhaled, and was just dealing with airway spasm and irritation. Still, that would be scary (for me!) underwater.

 

[Weedygarden]

Sounds scary! Good that she is okay.

 

[Supervisor42]

Of course the pros know more tham I do but I wonde why the yellow is that for th diver to be able to see it in murky or deep low light dives?
Seems it would attract unwanted attention

It is yellow to eliminate confusion in a panic situation.
The regulator is fastened to the front of your BC with velcro.
Also connected to the front of the BC is a black hose going to the inflator, and a black hose going to the pressure/depth gauge. If the hose to the backup was black, you'd have 3 black hoses to fumble with.
If you need the backup regulator, you need it in seconds. Grab the yellow hose!

 

[Meerkat]

It is yellow to eliminate confusion in a panic situation.
The regulator is fastened to the front of your BC with velcro.
Also connected to the front of the BC is black hose going to the inflator, and a black hose going to the pressure/depth gauge. If the hose to the backup was black, you'd have 3 black hoses to fumble with.
If you need the backup reculator, you need it in seconds. Grab the yellow hose!

Well ain't that a good idea .I should have known that so thanks.

 

[Cnsper]

That is also the regulator you want your dive buddy to grab if they were to run out of air.

That way you don't have to stab them... lol

Want to have fun with your buddy? We were diving in an old quarry one time and we helped him into his bcd and such. While he was fastening the buckles we put cheese whiz around the tank valve.

He thought the bluegill were attacking him. We got a good laugh out of that one.