Missing Russian Diver Found Dead In Phuket

[webfact]

Missing Russian diver found dead in Phuket
Nattha Thepbamrung

PHUKET: -- The body of a Russian tourist who went missing while diving on Friday (March 22) was found floating this morning off Kata beach at about 8am, apparently drowned.

Oleg Udaloi, 44, who was spending his holidays in Karon, went spearfishing with his wife at Koh Poo, the island off Kata Beach.

“It appears from his scuba suit and equipment that he was an experienced diver. We know that he had dived in the area before,” said Pol Lt Col Pachai Mattayan of Karon Police.

“It looks as though he dived deep, because some of the fish he brought back up to the boat before he disappeared live at least 10 metres below the surface.”

Lt Col Pachai noted that there is a cave behind Koh Poo, deep under the surface, where there are many fish. He theorised that Mr Udaloi might have got into trouble in the cave and run out of air.

Pol Lt Sathaporn Seenun, Karon Police duty officer when the body was found, said that there were no bruises or wounds on the body, which was taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital.

“We have contacted his wife to let her know that we have found his body,” Lt Sathaporn added.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/missing-russian-diver-found-dead-in-phuket-38134.php


-- Phuket News 2013-03-25

[Locationthailand]

I thought everyone knows you must dive with a buddy? Experienced or not, things happen and often when you least expect it. Sad way to end one's life but probably ding something he enjoyed anyway.

[cycloneJ]

^ second line suggests he was not alone:

went spearfishing with his wife

Edited March 25, 2013 by cycloneJ

[Shurup]

...he dived deep, because some of the fish he brought back up to the boat before he disappeared live at least 10 metres below the surface...

10m - deep... - that's some detective work right here!

[ikbenhet]

10m isn't that deep. I would say it's about average.

40m is deep dive.

[fxe1200]

Was he in possession of a spear-fishing license???

[iluvbeaches]

10m isn't that deep. I would say it's about average.

40m is deep dive.

Such a sad thing. 10m is nothing I am a beginner/intermediate and I do 15m no problem.

Unless something happened underwater it sounds like defective equipment or he didn't check his equipment well. I can imagine some, not all, dive shops might have shoddy equipment.

[Halion]

The report is banal at best. 10 meters spearfishing is a free dive and does not require a scuba set however from this typical reporting standard all you can deduce is some poor bugger got drowned. RIP

[Jimi007]

Was he in possession of a spear-fishing license???

I thought it was illegal to spear fish with scuba in Phuket and most of Thailand.

[paulbrun]

As with so many from that part of the world, they have a blase attitude towards safety, so it is no surprise when they wash up on the beach, having got into trouble. The buddy system is designed to prevent accidents. It sounds as though his wife was in the boat receiving the fish he was illegally spearing. And the last catch was himself..! Sad, but inevitable..

[fxe1200]

Was he in possession of a spear-fishing license???

I thought it was illegal to spear fish with scuba in Phuket and most of Thailand.

I just read it: Thailand Spearfishing is freediving only with spearguns, slings, and pole spears.

It is allowed but not in Marine parks, and not for all species of fish.

[Jimi007]

Was he in possession of a spear-fishing license???

I thought it was illegal to spear fish with scuba in Phuket and most of Thailand.

I just read it: Thailand Spearfishing is freediving only with spearguns, slings, and pole spears.

It is allowed but not in Marine parks, and not for all species of fish.

That was my understanding as well.

[NamKangMan]

It doesn't mention anything about the boat and crew.

I'm not a diver, but surely they could have sent another diver down when they knew he would be low on air.

[julemanden]

Was he in possession of a spear-fishing license???

I thought it was illegal to spear fish with scuba in Phuket and most of Thailand.

Let us give him a fine then RIP to the poor guy.

[Jimi007]

Was he in possession of a spear-fishing license???

I thought it was illegal to spear fish with scuba in Phuket and most of Thailand.

Let us give him a fine then RIP to the poor guy.

Brilliant. Like any law is ever enforced here? Maybe after the fact. Yes, may he RIP...

[stevenl]

Was he in possession of a spear-fishing license???

I thought it was illegal to spear fish with scuba in Phuket and most of Thailand.

Let us give him a fine then RIP to the poor guy.

Since he was not using scuba equipment a fine is not appropriate.

Looking at the thread, as usual lots of people weighing in without knowing any of the details, or even having a general understanding of diving.

RIP.

[Phronesis]

Hmm...here is my 2 cents worth...

If he was an scuba OR free diver he would have been wearing a weight belt.

So why did his body float into Kata beach...

And where is his weight belt?

[NamKangMan]

Was he in possession of a spear-fishing license???

I thought it was illegal to spear fish with scuba in Phuket and most of Thailand.

Let us give him a fine then RIP to the poor guy.

Since he was not using scuba equipment a fine is not appropriate.

Looking at the thread, as usual lots of people weighing in without knowing any of the details, or even having a general understanding of diving.

RIP.

“It appears from his scuba suit and equipment that he was an experienced diver. We know that he had dived in the area before, said Pol Lt Col Pachai Mattayan of Karon Police."

I'm not a diver, but I can read. I read this to be he was wearing his wetsuit and scuba gear - at the time of the dive. What makes you think he wasn't? Why take it on the boat if you are not going to use it?

Granted, it's a bit hard to be "found floating of Kata Beach" with scuba gear on, but at some desperate stage, I'm sure he would have taken his weight belt off.

Anyway, my orginal question still stands - whether it was a scuba or free dive - what about the boat and crew?

I know you are diver - wouldn't they know something is wrong when he hasn't surfaced within a certain timeframe, and that timeframe is within certain air-use tollerances. That means, he would still have some minutes of air left, and therefore still would be alive. Wouldn't you then send down some sort of makeshift "rescue/search" divers at that point?

As for a free dive - obviously, way less time to render assistance, but also less risk.

I'm freely admitting my ignorance of the sport, but happy to learn about it.

Edited March 26, 2013 by NamKangMan

[stevenl]

Was he in possession of a spear-fishing license???

I thought it was illegal to spear fish with scuba in Phuket and most of Thailand.

Let us give him a fine then RIP to the poor guy.

Since he was not using scuba equipment a fine is not appropriate.

Looking at the thread, as usual lots of people weighing in without knowing any of the details, or even having a general understanding of diving.

RIP.

“It appears from his scuba suit and equipment that he was an experienced diver. We know that he had dived in the area before, said Pol Lt Col Pachai Mattayan of Karon Police."

I'm not a diver, but I can read. I read this to be he was wearing his wetsuit and scuba gear - at the time of the dive. What makes you think he wasn't? Why take it on the boat if you are not going to use it?

Granted, it's a bit hard to be "found floating of Kata Beach" with scuba gear on, but at some desperate stage, I'm sure he would have taken his weight belt off.

Anyway, my orginal question still stands - whether it was a scuba or free dive - what about the boat and crew?

I know you are diver - wouldn't they know something is wrong when he hasn't surfaced within a certain timeframe, and that timeframe is within certain air-use tollerances. That means, he would still have some minutes of air left, and therefore still would be alive. Wouldn't you then send down some sort of makeshift "rescue/search" divers at that point?

As for a free dive - obviously, way less time to render assistance, but also less risk.

I'm freely admitting my ignorance of the sport, but happy to learn about it.

Apparently he was freediving, spearfishing, alone from a longtail. His wife and longtail captain were on the boat, when he did not surface they sounded the alarm, but without proper equipment your options are very limited at that point.

[Soupdragon]

Reports from other sources state he was free diving wearing a wetsuit, no scuba gear.

He apparently made several consecutive dives and on the final one failed to surface. This has all the indications of what is known as a 'shallow water blackout'.

[stevenl]

Hmm...here is my 2 cents worth...

If he was an scuba OR free diver he would have been wearing a weight belt.

So why did his body float into Kata beach...

And where is his weight belt?

Not necessarily.

And in case of problems ditching a weightbelt is one thing that can be done to assist with the problem.

So yes, should be looked in to, but there is a good chance he was not wearing one in the first place.

[Soupdragon]

Hmm...here is my 2 cents worth...

If he was an scuba OR free diver he would have been wearing a weight belt.

So why did his body float into Kata beach...

And where is his weight belt?

Not necessarily.

And in case of problems ditching a weightbelt is one thing that can be done to assist with the problem.

So yes, should be looked in to, but there is a good chance he was not wearing one in the first place.

Google 'shallow water blackout'. You would not have the chance to ditch a weightbelt, you blackout without warning.

A dead body will start to produce gas which causes the body to bloat so increasing it's bouyancy, so yes he could sink initially and float up later.

[stevenl]

Hmm...here is my 2 cents worth...

If he was an scuba OR free diver he would have been wearing a weight belt.

So why did his body float into Kata beach...

And where is his weight belt?

Not necessarily.

And in case of problems ditching a weightbelt is one thing that can be done to assist with the problem.

So yes, should be looked in to, but there is a good chance he was not wearing one in the first place.

Google 'shallow water blackout'. You would not have the chance to ditch a weightbelt, you blackout without warning.

A dead body will start to produce gas which causes the body to bloat so increasing it's bouyancy, so yes he could sink initially and float up later.

I know about shallow water blackout, thank you. Yes, could have happened here, and he could have been wearing a weightbelt, but he could also not have been wearing a weightbelt and there could have been another cause. Even with weightbelt the body could have been brought in by the tide.

We don't know,so speculating here is simply pointless.

Edited March 26, 2013 by stevenl

[NamKangMan]

Reports from other sources state he was free diving wearing a wetsuit, no scuba gear.

He apparently made several consecutive dives and on the final one failed to surface. This has all the indications of what is known as a 'shallow water blackout'.

It also "has all the indications of what is known as a heart attack" and a "brain aneurysm" and a "stroke" etc etc etc etc - only a proper autopsy will reveal the true cause of death.

[Soupdragon]

Reports from other sources state he was free diving wearing a wetsuit, no scuba gear.

He apparently made several consecutive dives and on the final one failed to surface. This has all the indications of what is known as a 'shallow water blackout'.

It also "has all the indications of what is known as a heart attack" and a "brain aneurysm" and a "stroke" etc etc etc etc - only a proper autopsy will reveal the true cause of death.

You would make a fantastic detective

[skippybangkok]

Reports from other sources state he was free diving wearing a wetsuit, no scuba gear.

He apparently made several consecutive dives and on the final one failed to surface. This has all the indications of what is known as a 'shallow water blackout'.

Some one knows his stuff.

10m on a lung of air is easy with fins. I am not a physician, but I believe on ascent as the lungs expand, they can draw out too much oxygen inn the blood causing the aforesaid black out.

Snorkelling where u dive holding ur breath should not be done alone

[stevenl]

Reports from other sources state he was free diving wearing a wetsuit, no scuba gear.

He apparently made several consecutive dives and on the final one failed to surface. This has all the indications of what is known as a 'shallow water blackout'.

Some one knows his stuff.

10m on a lung of air is easy with fins. I am not a physician, but I believe on ascent as the lungs expand, they can draw out too much oxygen inn the blood causing the aforesaid black out.

Snorkelling where u dive holding ur breath should not be done alone

Very basic explanation: after inhalation at the surface you have oxygen in your body, which is used during the dive. On descent and at depth that is no problem, since the partial pressure if high enough. On ascent the partial pressure reduces, and with the reduced amount of oxygen the oxygen pressure can get too little for your brains, causing a black out, which can be deadly in the water.

[Halion]

Highly doubtfull that he was not wearing a weight belt as one thing we do know for sure is that he was wearing a wet suit which will provide positive bouyancy which requires a weight belt to be worn in order to attain neutral or negative bouyancy. Most free diving spear fishers use negative bouyancy in order to gain rapid decent and as such it is highly unlikely that intestinal gasses would overcome this excess weight in such a short time frame. Had he got into trouble in free water and ditched his belt he would have had come to the surface regardless an most probably in sight of the boat. There is so littlre substantive data in this article (as usaul) that it is almost impossible to determine the prevailing circumstances.

[smotherb]

Was he in possession of a spear-fishing license???

I thought it was illegal to spear fish with scuba in Phuket and most of Thailand.

Let us give him a fine then RIP to the poor guy.

Since he was not using scuba equipment a fine is not appropriate.

Looking at the thread, as usual lots of people weighing in without knowing any of the details, or even having a general understanding of diving.

RIP.

the article states, “It appears from his scuba suit and equipment that he was an experienced diver . . ."

as you so eloquently put it, " . . . . as usual lots of people weighing in without knowing any of the details . . ."

[stevenl]

Was he in possession of a spear-fishing license???

I thought it was illegal to spear fish with scuba in Phuket and most of Thailand.

Let us give him a fine then RIP to the poor guy.

Since he was not using scuba equipment a fine is not appropriate.

Looking at the thread, as usual lots of people weighing in without knowing any of the details, or even having a general understanding of diving.

RIP.

the article states, “It appears from his scuba suit and equipment that he was an experienced diver . . ."

as you so eloquently put it, " . . . . as usual lots of people weighing in without knowing any of the details . . ."

Look at other news sources and you'll find that he was not wearing scuba equipment but was freediving. And no speculating at all from me in this thread.

Edited March 26, 2013 by stevenl