[Finless]

In response to the "Death at the Blue Hole post":-

I anticipate some flak for this post so I will start by saying that I am as sorry as any of you to hear of a death of another diver, particularly as it happened whilst diving. And, of course, my sympathies go to the bereaved.

What I don't like is the "shouldn't be allowed" or "must be stopped" type of attitude that is prevalent in todays society in general when something goes wrong when someone is "pushing the limits". Life is dangerous and you will ALL die from it at one time or another.

In this instance, if someone has the qualifications to go Scuba Diving then what they choose to do when they dive is their affair (provided they put no one elses life at risk - beyond what was agreed beforehand or what is normal for diving). Should this diver have persuaded someone to accompany him on this dive? For all we know this person may have been on their 100th such dive to 100 mtrs.

Obviously, one would not be expecting a novice diver to make the decision to do such a dive to 100 mtrs and would hope that they would be persuaded of the error of their judgement.

Whilst I would question the logic behind attempting a bounce dive to 100 mtrs on a single 11 ltr cylinder, I, personally, would not question anyones right to do the dive, on air, should they wish to. When I first learned to dive I recollect my instructor informing me he had done a bounce dive to 100+ mtrs on air off Gozo. Any number of people will have done such dives over the years.

Would I do it? Maybe (but probably not). If I did, I would take more gas and have a drop cylinder (or two) on a down line. If I did it, would I go with a buddy? Unlikely, or, at least, only if they said "I want to do that" without my asking first.

Questions of "what about the family" are very sad BUT not ours to ask. That is down to the individual concerned.

Diving is risky. People die every year from doing it. Does that mean we should ban all diving below a depth of 10 mtrs say, or, even ban it altogether?