David Shaw (diver)

David Shaw (diver)

David Shaw was an Australian scuba diver, a technical diver and an airline pilot for Cathay Pacific, who flew the A330-300, A340-300 and A340-600.[1] He is one of only nine people who have dived below a depth of 240 metres (800 ft) on self-contained underwater breathing apparatus.[2]

Contents

Dive equipment

Shaw's first rebreather was an Inspiration CCR, which he eventually dived to depths greater than the unit was supposedly capable of. That prompted him to purchase a Mk15.5. He modified this unit by removing the analogue electronics and replaced them with the Juergensen Marine Hammerhead digital electronics in a specially modified POD designed to handle extreme pressures. The Mk15.5 was his rebreather of choice for dives deeper than 150 metres (500 ft). Shaw also owned a Cis-Lunar Mk5P that he used on extended dives in caves that are shallower than 150 m. He believed that the Cis-Lunar has greater redundancy capabilities for such dives, but could not cope with extreme depths.

Diving records

On 28 October 2004 Shaw broke the following records at Bushman's Hole, South Africa

  • Depth on a rebreather
  • Depth in a cave on a rebreather
  • Depth at altitude on a rebreather
  • Depth running a line

He used a Mk15.5 with Juergensen Marine Hammerhead electronics and the following gas mixtures: trimix 4/80, 10/70, 15/55, 17/40, 26/25, air, nitrox50, 100% oxygen. The cave elevation was 1,550 metres (5,090 ft) and the dive duration was 9 hours 40 minutes.[3]

Last dive

David Shaw died on 8 January 2005 while seeking to recover the body of Deon Dreyer, a South African diver who had himself died 10 years previously, and whose body Shaw had discovered at a depth of 270 metres (890 ft) of fresh water in Bushman's Hole, South Africa in October 2004.[2][4]

Shaw recorded his dive with an underwater camera and this recording relayed valuable information that allowed researchers to determine that he suffered from an effort-independent expiratory flow which resulted in an inability to match ventilation to the demands of physical work at that great depth.[5][6] Shaw ran into difficulties when he cut loose Dreyer's harness and the body unexpectedly began to float (Shaw had been advised by various experts that the body would remain negatively buoyant because the visible parts were reduced to the skeleton - however, within his wetsuit, Dreyer's corpse had turned into a soap-like substance called adipocere, which floats). Shaw had been working with both hands, and so had been resting his can light on the cave floor. The powerful underwater lights that cave divers use are connected by wires to heavy battery canisters, normally worn on the cave diver's waist, or sometimes attached to their tanks. Normally he would have wrapped the wire behind his neck, but was unable to do so. The lines from the body bag appear to have become entangled with the light head, and the physical effort of trying to free himself led to his death. The next day, both of the bodies floated up to near the surface as the dive team was retrieving their equipment.

The dive on which David Shaw died was the 333rd of his career. At the time of his world record setting dive, he had been diving for just over 5 years.[7]

References

  1. ^ http://www.deepcave.com/pages/3/index.htm
  2. ^ a b Zimmermann, T (2005). "Raising the Dead". Outside Magazine. http://outsideonline.com/outside/features/200508/dave-shaw-1.html. Retrieved 2008-08-26. 
  3. ^ http://www.scubarecords.com/
  4. ^ Shaw, D. "Deepcave.com". http://www.deepcave.com/pages/3/index.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-26. 
  5. ^ Mitchell SJ, Cronjé FJ, Meintjes WA, Britz HC (February 2007). "Fatal respiratory failure during a "technical" rebreather dive at extreme pressure". Aviat Space Environ Med 78 (2): 81–6. PMID 17310877. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/asma/asem/2007/00000078/00000002/art00001. Retrieved 2008-06-15. 
  6. ^ David Shaw. "The Last Dive of David Shaw". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF4iFJ-G74o. Retrieved 2011-05-10. 
  7. ^ Finch, Phillip (2008). Diving into Darkness - a true story of death and survival. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 295. ISBN 0-312-38394-0. 

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • David Shaw — David or Davie Shaw is the name of: David E. Shaw (born 1951), American entrepreneur; is the founder of D. E. Shaw Co. David Evans Shaw, American entrepreneur; managing partner of Black Point Group; spouse of actress Glenn Close David Shaw… …   Wikipedia

  • Don Shirley (diver) — Don Shirley (born 1957) is a world renowned English cave diver and Instructor Trainer and who currently resides in South Africa. He holds the license to International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers (IANTD) Southern Africa Region.… …   Wikipedia

  • David Bellamy — OBE David Bellamy OBE Born January 18, 1933 (1933 01 18) (age 78) London, England, UK Education Sutton County Gr …   Wikipedia

  • David Leonard (musician) — David Leonard (born 24 May 1955, New York City) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter,[1] probably best known as a member of Richard Lloyd s touring and recording band. In addition to a solo career, as a guitarist and vocalist he has… …   Wikipedia

  • Rebreather — A fully closed circuit electronic rebreather (Ambient Pressure Diving Inspiration) Acronym CCUBA (Closed Circuit Underwater Breathing Apparatus); CCR (Closed circuit rebreather), SCR (Semi closed rebreather) Uses Breathing set …   Wikipedia

  • Decompression sickness — Caisson disease [decompression sickness] Classification and external resources Two United States Navy sailors prepare for training inside a decompression chamber …   Wikipedia

  • Deep diving — The meaning of the term deep diving is a form of technical diving.[1] It is defined by the level of the diver s diver training, diving equipment, breathing gas, and surface support: in recreational diving, PADI define anything from 18 metres / 60 …   Wikipedia

  • Deon Dreyer — (August 7, 1974 – December 17, 1994) was a South African recreational scuba diver who lost his life in Bushman s Hole in South Africa. Contents 1 Death 2 Recovery of Dreyer s body 3 See also 4 Source …   Wikipedia

  • 1965 in Canada — See also: 1964 in Canada, other events of 1965, 1966 in Canada and the Timeline of Canadian history. Incumbents * Monarch: Queen Elizabeth II * Governor General: Georges Vanier * Prime Minister: Lester B. Pearson * Premier of Alberta: Ernest… …   Wikipedia

  • List of sportspeople who died during their careers — This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries. This is a list of sports people who have died either during their respective careers …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”