CAYMAN ISLANDS — An American tourist who vanished while scuba diving with Divers Down off Grand Cayman Island is presumed dead. Police in the Cayman Islands have officially called off the search for Charles Lynn Titus, 60, a Las Vegas resident who was visiting the Cayman Islands with his wife. Authorities told CDNN Divers Down alerted authorities of a missing diver emergency yesterday morning at about 9:00 am after they failed to find Titus. Witnesses said Titus was among a group of five scuba divers and two dive guides employed by Divers Down who apparently lost contact at depth with the scuba diving accident victim at Eagle Ray Pass, North Wall, just outside the Main Channel. According to one local media report, Austin Harris, a talk show host for Rooster 101.9 FM, received calls and emails critical of the Cayman Islands dive industry from concerned residents. "Dive operators need to be more vigilant and know where their divers are at all times. Divemasters leading the dive are responsible and perhaps we should consider further investigation into the number of diving related deaths (in the Caymans)," said one local resident. Dive industry coverup Predictably, local dive industry insiders have already started blaming the victim, which has become standard operating procedure after fatal scuba diving accidents in the Cayman Islands. Operations Manager Rod McDowell of Red Sails Sports, where two divers have died so far in 2009, said he thinks most diver deaths result from "pre-exising medical conditions". "There are different reasons why accidents like this occurs (sic) and it is usually very difficult to understand the full set of circumstances. In my experience the vast majority of incidents of this nature have been related to medical reasons," McDowell said. In fact, it is not clear to what extent stress factors unique to the use of underwater life support equipment (SCUBA) affect pre-existing medical conditions such as heart disease and obesity (see "Scuba Diving and Pre-existing Medical Conditions" below). While the dive industry urges dive operators to blame scuba diving fatalities on pre-existing medical conditions when the victim is over 50, at the same time it also falsely advertises scuba diving as "safer than bowling" and urges dive company owners to "target over-50 boomers because they have more disposable income". Recent fatalities at Divers Down In April Brendan Joseph Neilson, 58, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, who was visiting the Caymans with his fiancee, also died while scuba diving with Divers Down. In the aftermath of that accident, Steve Surrey, owner and operator Divers Down, declined to comment on the diver's death, and explain why the company failed to notify authorities of a missing diver emergency until after the crew of a sport fishing boat called 911 to report they had found Neilson floating unconscious in the sea off Dolphin Pointe, West Bay. In December 2008 David Guy Stuart, 57, a tourist from Oklahoma also died while scuba diving with Divers Down. WARNING: Scuba Diving and
Pre-existing Medical Conditions | It is not clear to what extent stress factors unique to the use of underwater life support equipment (SCUBA) affect pre-existing medical conditions such as heart disease and obesity. Cyber Diver recommends that all certified and uncertified divers including tourists involved in "Discover Scuba" resort courses pass a physical examination within six months of diving. People with pre-existing medical conditions such as heart disease and obesity are advised not to participate in scuba diving activities. |
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| | Another scuba diving accident involving Divers Down left a customer missing and presumed dead in the Cayman Islands. Dive operators ignoring safety regulations According to liquor store owner Steve Broadbelt, a strident local developer who also owns the Ocean Frontiers dive shop and heads CITA's Watersports Committee, dive operators in the Cayman Islands typically ignore government regulations aimed at enhancing diver safety. One of the government safety regulations they ignore requires dive boat operators to keep at least one crew onboard, a safety precaution that is common at many popular dive destinations around the world. The regulation under the Port Authority Law states: "At least one person shall remain on board and act as lookout on any dive–boat or other vessel whilst divers therefrom are down." Broadbelt said he and other local dive operators refuse to comply with the regulation because they don't want the government telling them how to run their businesses and because such regulations have the potential to make their dive shops unprofitable. Unsustainable tourism Once considered the best scuba diving holiday destination in the Caribbean, the Cayman Islands have steadily declined in popularity over the past decade due to overpricing, overdevelopment, eco-unfriendly cruise ship tourism, marine wildlife harassment (Stingray City), coral reef degradation and increasing concerns that diving-related fatalities are linked to the failure of dive boat operators to comply with commonly accepted dive safety procedures. Hoping to lure divers back to the Caymans, local tourism promoters announced last October that the government would adopt Florida's scheme to replace dying coral reefs with "value-added scuba diving product" comprised of scuttled U.S. Navy warships. Promoters said they hope to sink the 77-meter, 2,290 tonne USS Kittiwake later this year. |
