A 60-year-old scuba diver has died in west Florida after becoming unresponsive following the third morning dive of a charter-boat trip. He had surfaced alone waving for help, but his recovery was delayed while the other five submerged divers were brought back onboard the boat.
Guy Charles Kerby from Goodlettsville, Tennessee, a Master Diver, was recovered from the sea about 1.5km out from Venice on the Gulf of Mexico coast on 17 June. According to police, he had still been alive while being brought ashore.
The boat captain, John Kreatsoulas, told Venice Police Department that he had dropped anchor for the initial dive of the morning at 8.50. The third dive had started about four hours later in choppy sea conditions with easterly winds. Underwater visibility had been limited to 2-3m.
The captain had seen Kerby surface alone before the other divers, about 150m from the boat. His SMB was inflated and his waving arms were taken as an indication that he wanted to be picked up as quickly as possible in what were worsening surface conditions.
Alerted the other divers
Kreatsoulas had responded to the diver’s signalling by revving the engine briefly to alert the other five submerged divers to return to the boat. He had picked them all up before he was able to get over to Kerby, he later told police.
By the time the boat had reached the diver he was found to be face-down in the water and unresponsive.
Brought onboard, Kerby was given CPR while a passenger called the emergency services. Paramedics from Venice Fire Rescue came aboard at a Venice marina and took over treatment as Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office’s marine patrol unit escorted the dive-boat to its dock.
A later funeral announcement suggests that Kerby had not been pronounced dead until two days later. A retired US Army veteran with 22 years of service and subsequent government contract work, he left behind a wife and five children.
Kreatsoulas and his wife Carrie operate a charter company called Fossil Junkies, using the 8m boat Sea Fox with capacity for six divers to hunt for shark and megalodon teeth and Ice Age fossils in the Venice area.
Also on Divernet: Florida scuba death follows 4 snorkelling fatalities
Seems pretty wreck less to not go pick up a diver in distress. I wouldn’t be mad at all if I had to float for a little bit because the Captain went to pick up a diver in distress.
The diver was 450′ from the dive boat. That’s wreck-less.
I was thinking the same thing. Sometimes the guy waving isn’t actually in distress though, but an entitled sort who popped up far away through their own incompetence and is simply impatient. However in every case the boat captain should assume the distress is real.
The Captain is going to say “I dIdNt KnOw ThEy WeRe ReAlLy In DiStReSs” to cover themselves.
Frantically waving for help, Captain sees that and tries to recall other divers.
Then he stops calling for help, and stops moving. That should tell any normal person that he really really needs help.
And when they get there he’s face down in the water for who knows how long.
Nothing in the article states that the diver was in distress. “The captain had seen Kerby surface alone before the other divers, about 150m from the boat. His SMB was inflated and his waving arms were taken as an indication that he wanted to be picked up as quickly as possible in what were worsening surface conditions.” The captain had an obligation to the other five divers who were “submerged” in the water. Full disclosure: I was a professional 100 ton master for 27 years and a professional SCUBA diver with 3000 dives under my belt.
perhaps there should be a dedicated signal to mean “severe medical distress” verses “discomfort”
There is -waving your arms over your head.
captcwew you have way more experience than I do diving as well as being a master, so I admit I’m ignorant that the obligation to the submerged divers with no reason to think they were in distress in any way would override the potential issues of anyone waving their arms on the surface. When I surface, I give the ok signal and wait to be picked up so the waving would have been in indicator to me and I would not have been concerned about the submerged divers at that point. Since I don’t have your training or experience, I defer to you, but it just seems odd.
Bang on there Tim. I’ve had to float for 30 minutes while a bent diver was brought on board and tended to. No problem plenty of air in our jackets could of been orally inflated if need be or even drop your weights if desperate.
It’s not reckless divers do this all the time. He should’ve had a whistle to signal a emergency. Not to mention 3 dives in the same trip unless in excellent physical condition is not advisable.
A whistle is useful if you are lost in the fog or something, not if you’re having a heart attack or medical emergency..
No one can know what happened besides the Captain, because it sounds like he was the only one on the boat when the diver surfaced. But I bet he was waving and trying to get help like he was about to die
And 3 dives a day is standard in Venice and it’s all 25 – 32 feet
That is why you should always have a dive buddy at all times close to you. They can help a buddy in distress.
Two DSMB with orange and yellow colors must become official safety rule for all divers!
Yellow one, cloud send help quicker and all guessing will be off the charts…
He should’ve had a whistle for distress, I don’t think the captain is at fault from these details but I’m sure Morgan and Morgan will argue differently. Unfortunately this is why nobody can afford to run a business anymore because nobody is accountable for their own actions. Diving is very physically demanding just sayin.