The scuba diver who died in Dorothea Quarry in north-west Wales at the end of May was named as 60-year-old Tim Waples when an inquest was opened into his death in Caernarfon yesterday (11 June).
Waples’ body was discovered at a depth of 85m in the flooded quarry near Talysarn, an inland site long popular with technical divers for training because it plunges to depths beyond 100m.
Waples lived and worked as an IT engineer in Hertfordshire and was an experienced technical diver.
Senior coroner Kate Robertson heard that North Wales Police had logged a call at 1.37pm on Saturday, 31 May reporting that a diver had gone missing at the quarry, and the death was confirmed two hours later by a paramedic at the scene.
“It seems that Tim Waples had been diving using equipment when he was found deceased at approximately 85m depth within the water,” said the coroner. “He was confirmed as having passed away a short time later.”
Post mortem
After the incident, which was reported on Divernet, the police had stated that the death was not being treated as suspicious, but Robertson said that a post-mortem examination had been ordered because there was reason to suspect it of being unnatural.
In diving this generally means that a death is thought not to be related to factors such as illness or age but to external factors – for example an accident, equipment malfunction, environmental hazard or human error.
The inquest was adjourned to allow time for further investigation.
Diving was for many years officially banned at Dorothea Quarry because of the high diver fatality rate there, but in more recent years the site has been run by North Wales Technical Divers (NWTD), a branch of the British Sub-Aqua Club, operating a controlled diving programme under licence from the landowner.
Admission is restricted to divers qualified to carry out mixed-gas decompression dives.
Also on Divernet: DIVER DEATHS IN WALES AND CURAÇAO, EXPLORE 16 REMARKABLE UK INLAND DIVING SITES: COLDWATER ADVENTURES
