Damsels and dying

[tahoe61]

I tought of this when someone asked if Domino Damsel were aggressive

1. In Hawaii at 80ft down, backside Molokini, hard current and last in line.
2. My BC malfunctions, the clips break and my tank begins to float above my head.
3. No one can see what is going on, becase I am behind them.
4. So I decide to grabs some rocks and put them in my BC, so I do not blow away.
5. I then grab a rock to hold on to until someone notices I am no longer there.
6. Well out from the rock that I grab comes a huge Domino Damsel that proceeds to bite my hand as many time as he can, and drawing blood too.
7. Next come the black tip reef sharks.
8. Next comes my dive buddy and a scuba instructor, they hold me to the bottom and tie my BC back together.
9. The sharks decided we out numbered them, but I did get a small case of the bends.
10. Yes I am an experienced diver, but there was no controlled way to ascend in the current with a BC falling apart.
11. Never ever panic and the sharks were cool, at last.

Damsel are Evil.

[Mounda]

Sorry to hear that, thank god you are ok and that it was just a life threatening experience with no harm done.

Was it just one clip ? Most BCDs have numerous clips and waist belts to prevent such an accident.

Diving is a dangerous sport and that's why you should stick to the rules, the PADI buddy system states that you should have a dive buddy that is next to you and not in front of you and that you and your buddy should always stick together. Another item you could use are those underwater bells to signal attention. Being the seasoned diver you are you already know that the damsel attacked you because you threatened it's home and it got defensive, you definitely don't look like food to it.

Let's not forget that we risk our lives diving and we should pay more attention.

[tahoe61]

Oh yea I know the damsel was just defending his home. But it was the last thing I needed, I was fighting for my life.

The current was too strong to swim side by side, big guy I am a little girl, but what seemed like 10 minutes was probably just 3-5.

Yes for some reason two clips failed, the one around my chest and the one that held the canister.

The current was almost unbearable coming around that corner and it probably contributed to clips failing.

Never stopped me from diving, I would rather take a chance in the ocean than driving the HWY of CA, anyday.

[yousmellsfishy]

I have a tank with a damsel (clownfish) and every time I have to put my hand in the tank he nips at it relentlessly. I try to shoo him away but he only wants to attack. Damsels are evil.

[Mounda]

Oh yea I know the damsel was just defending his home. But it was the last thing I needed, I was fighting for my life.

The current was too strong to swim side by side, big guy I am a little girl, but what seemed like 10 minutes was probably just 3-5.

Yes for some reason two clips failed, the one around my chest and the one that held the canister.

The current was almost unbearable coming around that corner and it probably contributed to clips failing.

Never stopped me from diving, I would rather take a chance in the ocean than driving the HWY of CA, anyday.

The clips were probably already faulty and the current just added the force, was this BCD a rental ?

[tahoe61]

No my trusty BC and my regulator as well as my computer all quality equipment. The only thing I did not like about the BC, was you had to pull a cord to dump your weights. I think it was just a freak accident. The belt on the BC could have not have been as tight secondary to multiple dives and needed adjustment, but the tie on the tank was caused by really stronge currents. When you come around that corner of Molokini to the deep side the current can literially stop you. It was along time ago, and when everyone tried to get back to the boat the seas were so high a couple people had to be rescued.

[Mounda]

Ah, a BCD with incorporated weights. I go old school style with a weight belt, as far as all in one solutions if one goes they all go.

[tahoe61]

Yea hated that feature, would never get another just for that reason. Otherwise the BC was great, but I can see where you could accidently pull the cord while looking for your computer or other things, that would be a bad thing at deep deapths.

[Mounda]

I use a buckled weight belt with teeth and right hand release, wrist computer when I use one and my gauges are all tucked in my BCD and visible by tilting my head when my chin touches my chest. When you use a buckled belt the weights are mainly in the kidney/lower back area so when you're swimming horizontally which is about 99% of the time unless you're descending or ascending if the belt comes loose it will not fall.

[Mounda]

Ever seen one of these before ?

http://www.101-scuba-diving-equipment.com/images/diving_weight_belt.jpg

[tahoe61]

Oh I have been doing this since before there were computers. I got very used to that style and still prefer it to intergrated weight systems. Will probably be looking for a new rig this year and I plan of shopping carefully.

[Mounda]

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[Mounda]

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[Mounda]

Thought about diving the Red sea before ? You will not regret it.

[gregmoeck]

this is why i dont dive anymore. I did dive in Maui 2 years ago though but it was shallow. I went to the cayman islands a few years back and did around 15 dives but I stayed shallow, 30 feet or less while the group went deeper. I just played in their bubbles.

anyways.. Roatan. Cocoview Resort. Night shore dive with 6 people. I was leding the team, we were about 60 Feet and all of a sudden I get dizzy. It goes away and comes back so I turn and tell this other person I'm sick or make motions that I dont feel good and I am going back. She motions "want me to come with you" I say no I'm ok. Now... How did we have that conversation underwater at night... Damn good question. So, Off I go, around the bend and heading back to shore but believe me, its a long way. I get out of sight, still in about 40Feet of water, I make the mistake of looking around. I cant see their dive lights anymore and I just get an scary feeling. Like, oh boy. I'm all alone and this is a strange feeling. It was like being on the moon, all alone. isolation, etc. Now I'm experienced enough to get out of this situation even if I run out of air, its no big deal but thats why scuba is sooo dangerous. The simple dives, the shallow dives can turn deadly in a second.

ok. So I start to freak a bit. I start breathing heavier which is causing me to rise up a bit so i start to reach for my BC inflator to release so air in my BC. I cant find it, and im reaching around and i just feel all of a sudden like I am all tangled up. I'm freaking at this point and I can feel my heart pounding in my chest. After what seems like an eternity I finally get my crap together and decend to the sand bottom and just lay on my stomach and chill for a few minutes. I end up making it back but to this day I know in my heart that I was very close to death during that dive.

I totally love scuba and have done probably 25 dives since that incident but all more shallow dives. I just respect scuba and the ocean a little more and I am very careful.

Dont leave your group although some may say that group diving is just as dangerous as solo diving. Always have a tank banger when diving in a group :)

[Mounda]

The ABCs of diving are not to dive alone, I'm surprised your diving buddy even asked if you wanted her to surface with you and it was a night dive! That is what happens when you break the rules, you risk losing your life which seems to happen more than it should. You can not master the ocean, we are not fish and we can not pretend to be either. There's a popular dive site in Dahab, Egypt called the blue hole; it's as the name suggests a hole and it's blue. There is a cavern at the depth of 150 feet and most of those that try to tackle it end up perishing underneath the water, you can find many tombstones next to the dive site because people do not abide by the rules.

http://img2.photographersdirect.com/img/28044/wm/pd2440945.jpg

[tahoe61]

I would love to dive the Red Sea, never been but my imagination runs wild.

There is also a blue hole in Belize, around 400 ft I think, I dove 200 ft and got a great case of nitrous going and really had to relize I was not thinking clearly, but it was awsome. It was a fresh water cave at one time so there are all kinds of formations around the circumference. And when you look up all you see are bull sharks swimming in circles. One of the best dives ever.

gregmoeck: Man who ever let you go back alone would not be my dive buddy again. It only takes a minutes, glad you made it.

One day I will share the lobster night diving off Catalina story.

Safe and happy diving.

[billsreef]

Got to watch those pesky damsels. A Domino on a reef off Maui is the only fish to every attack me and draw blood while diving :D On reef in view of Molokini in fact.