Rest In Peace
Cyber The Attack Dog
199? – December 5, 2009

Cyber the Life Guard

Cyber the Divemaster

Cyber the Rocker!

Rest In Peace, Our Eternal Friend!

To view this video on YouTube, click here.

It was a very sad day today for the regular divers here; we were informed that a long time icon in the diving area died yesterday.

Cyber The Attack Dog is no longer with us.

As for the diving, whether I can use the weather, the fact I had no air, or my mental state as an excuse, I stayed dry.

Most divers decided to dive off The Point; it was a little rough, but everyone made an expert entry, so I didn’t get any entertaining video.

That is okay by me!

I finally met Halibug and his dive buddy…

Never take a picture into the Sun on a cloudy day, otherwise it will look like this.

Nice meeting you guys – you are always welcome to debrief with us!

I sat in The Cove; TwinDuct and Professional Debriefer Paul joined me later.

The water was fairly flat outside the surf zone; divers reported that the water was warmer than the air and that the vis was as good as 20 feet.

Traditional debriefing continued.

There’s a set of storms coming into the area, so I have to see where we are on the lobster liberating and weekend dives – there might be a slight delay.

Thank you, Crazy Ivan for bringing this to my attention.

This seems, or at least initially appears to be, a shear case of panic, followed by a mad dash to the surface.

There also seems to be some speculation on the thread at Scubaboard.com, that the student’s ascent was initially slowed by the instructor, but the student fought him off.

As ScubaBoard user Merxlin speculates, “Based on the symptoms (frothing, etc.), it was probably a barotrauma caused by rapid ascent due to panic. From my conversation with them, the rapid ascent occurred in the final 15 to 20 ft.”

Not becoming an instructor is getting to be a better and better idea, at least for me.

My condolences to the family.

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November 1, 2009 – AVALON, Calif. A Redlands woman died after suddenly surfacing during her deep-sea certification test on Catalina Island Sunday, deputies said.

Mona Towle, 56, died while being rushed from Avalon to Two Harbors, where she was to be treated for apparent decompression sickness, L.A. sheriff’s deputy Robert Domin said.

Emergency personnel worked to revive Towle after she suddenly surfaced from more than 65 feet below the water at a marine sanctuary just north of Avalon’s casino, another deputy said.

Towle was reportedly experiencing problems with her scuba equipment while ascending to the water’s surface. Divers must ascend at a rate slow enough to avoid “the bends,” a painful physical condition caused by an excessive concentration of nitrogen in the bloodstream.

The diver was being transported by boat for treatment at a hyperbaric chamber when her heart stopped, deputies said.

The original article is here.