WEEKI WACHEE – An investigation is underway into another drowning that occurred at the Eagles Nest Cave Diving area located in the Chassahowitzka Wildlife Refuge.
Officials have confirmed one fatality but have not released the identity of the victim at this time.
Deputies have established a crime scene at the entrance to the refuge on Cortez Blvd west of Commercial Way.
Since 2013 there have been four diving related fatalities, including one child. Today’s incident will be the fifth fatality in 4-years if investigators determine that the victim died while cave diving.
We will bring more on this story as it develops.
RELATED ARTICLES:
FATHER AND SON IDENTIFIED IN TRAGIC DIVING ACCIDENT
BODIES OF LOST DIVERS RECOVERED FROM EAGLES NEST SINK, BOTH EXPERIENCED DIVERS
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ™2013 – 2017 Real News Real Fast, Inc.
Why On Earth Do They Allow People To Dive There???
It Should Be Closed Down where People can’t dive there..
How many more people do we have to lose before somethings done!!
CLOSE IT DOWN HERNANDO COUNTY!!!
And how many EXPERIENCED trained diver successfully dive that hole every week without incident? This is not an area for novice divers.
No, it is good for culling the morons.
Experciended drivers die there to oops divers
Experienced divers that make mistakes. Accident analysis shows multiple mistakes that led to fatalities in the deaths of 2 trained rebreather and cave divers. This cave is deep and takes so much prep, planning and experience. Once mistakes are made, it doesn’t matter what cave you’re in, you’ve got problems. This cave is just more compound since it is so deep.
AGREED!!!
How many people die in their beds? Ban the beds, close them down…
haha nice. how many people die enjoying life? ban life shut it down. its too dangerous
Yep …
People die on the highways. When will they shut the highways down?
The site doesn’t suck people in and kill them like a horror movie. Be real.
There is no reason to shut down any spring. Time and time again, its uncertified divers that venture past their experience level, training, and equipment constraints who drown. Very few actual cave divers ever drown. Why punish those who safely dive these springs? Why not just respect the very clear signs warning of the dangers of cave diving to uncertified individuals? People die driving cars, are we going to stop people from driving cars? No. There are hundreds of caves in florida, are we going to close them all?
Reading the report on ScubaBoard this had more to do with a diver using the wrong gas mix at 200 feet than a cave diving incident. They had a bad dive plan and even allowed one of the 4 to return to surface by himself, a major breach of basic diving training, halfway thru the dive. You never leave your dive buddy if he has to surface then you go with him.
Eagles Nest is certainly a -very- dangerous place to dive, but this death doesn’t seem to have much to do with the location. The 200 ft depth is what appears to have killed him on the wrong gas mix for his CCR, but the medical examiner’s report has not been made public so far. There are very large signs at the location warning YOU COULD DIE HERE.
Correct! !
Yes and over 30,000 people die every year driving cars. We just can’t ban everything or we might as well live in a padded room
state owned not county
Why should all be restricted, because others made mistakes?
Correct
This is not the answer. Proper training and obeying posted notices and the basic rules of diving and cave diving say these people are endangering themselves. Cave’s don’t kill people, people get themselves killed.
Just because someone dies skydiving doesn’t mean we should close down the sky.
Narrow minded idiot. People die in traffic accidents far more frequently, do you want road transport ‘closed down’ too? Open your eyes before opening your mouth.
Correct. .
So please tell me, where is this Hill Billy Hole any way?
MICHAEL
San jose
Shut it down…Why, what’s your reason…it is always been there.. it has been used to dive, train, do research. For years….it is part of the underwater realm…the problem is those that disregard proper training. .. disrespect the reasonably prudent rules of overheard environment. ..only one fatality that can be accused as reckless and that is the poor son who idolized his father..and was taken into the system because of the fathers total disregard and bravado…no training. WHY DIDN’T YOU POST THAT CHILD NEGLIGENCE CHARGES against the family..of course because of the deaths of both .. shut it down…nice logic. . And coffee is hot..don’t use the blow dryer in the tub..hey put a bigger waring label on a sign…oh wait there is one…obviously not big enough…ALL B.S…. it is widely accepted that you can’t breath water… so if YOU partake in a dangerous activity the possibility of things going wrong are YOUR responsibility. .. no one else … what are you cold so I should put on a sweater. Yeah it’s people driving cars that kills people but wait take the cars shut them down… oh my gosh skydiving accident no no no no no stop stop stop shut it down… go be someone’s mother but you’re not mine… typical need jerk reaction yeah we know who you are and what philosophy do you follow
You don’t close down a sport because of a few who take chances. Granted it is very dangerous for those who don’t fully understand the risks.
My thoughts exactly.
Make it illegal and post no tresspassing signs.
Cops run us out of whitehurst when we’re havin fun four wheeling when they should be patrolling this place and stopping people from going diving
We have enough law enforcement that’s for sure between Fish n game sheriff office fhp and all the other vehicles that I see with law enforcement on them.
You’re a moron. How is riding your quad on private land, destroying it the same as diving on public land? inbred hillbilly.
You took the words out of my mouth!!! Four wheelers are DESTRUCTIVE to native vegetation. Divers don’t destroy. Enough of Florida has been destroyed by unplanned growth explosion - houses, apartments, shopping malls. If you wish to destroy go to your yard.
Dude, two different things that you can’t even compare. Whitehurst Pond is owned by a private citizen. It is not open to public.
The property owners don’t want you there.
Which is why cops kick ya out of there.
Eagles Nest on the other hand is on state land, and open to the pubic. Unless you have advance cave diving experience you shouldnt be diving there. Its there choice to dive there and take a chance with not returning.
Maybe before making stupid comments do a little research and learn about the area you live in.
REALLY…HA HA sounds like sour grapes
Oh boo hoo…SOUNDS LIKE A BABY CRYING …. amazing how you even think you can compare an activity that does tear up the environment does cause air pollution noise pollution more unfriendly to the environment..
Diving is legal, that system has been there long before an ATV was even conceived so take your complaint to the proper authorities shut up about I can’t play outside nobody can play outside…. baby crying boo hoo… REALLY. ..duh
Why would you close such a beautiful place to explore? Rather, why don’t we make sure divers are educated enough to avoid such disasters. Place responsibility back on the divers. Don’t penalize everyone else!
Maybe we need to know the circumstances before yelling shut it down
People wanting for this to close down are nuts. Divers dive at their own risk. I don’t know any diver who doesn’t know this. Why take my pleasure away because someone died? These people drive cars and cars have killed people. I could go on and on, but won’t.
Prayers for the family of the deceased.
Better close all the roads too and stop
Selling cars!!! My god do you know how many people died in car accidents today alone!?
Leave it open and close the rest of hernando county..
Shut it down! Damn
Eagles Nest should be dove with respect. People who are not trained to do so should stay clear. If you are not qualified, dont become a statistic to force a shutdown. I believe in Darwin; as such if you die diving what you shouldnt be be diving…too bad. Dont blame the site, blame the divers. There is no amount of safety bumpers to save the dumb
What they need to do have a spot check for the people . Check to see if they are
Register for cave diving if you catch them give them a 500 dollar fine and take
Their license for diving .
All they have to do is check put a sign up . Don’t close it down just do like the hunters do there have to sign in before they go out to hunt at that time they can check their license to cave dive.
Well said Shallene, there is no point closing the dive site down, a check might be the solution even this might still not guarantee that there wont be any accident. The biggest problem is that as soon as there is a diving accident it’s over dramatized and most people not knowing this type of activity just say close the place down…., how many roads have been closed after a deadly accident? None…. But for sure the solution would be to check if the divers are qualified for such type of diving and if they hold insurance and medicals.
if you are diving, you know the risks. Im a certified diver. I know I can have all sorts of issues. I can have equipment failure or other emergency problems. Theres a nice sign down there that lets you know death is possible and nothing in there is worth your life. Its a dangerous activity. Thats a fact. You take precautions, you train for events, you hope for the best prepare for the worst. Its terrible and unfortunate when some one dies. It happens and it will continue to happen. We know the risks going in to a dive. Some of us just cant sit home and wait to die. We explore, we have a passion for adventure, we know inevitably we all will meet a fate one way or another in time. No reason to close anything down, or pass more laws..
I liked this county before we had more fences, restrictions, traffic, more laws, more you cant go here or do this.. It was peaceful and fun. Calm down and relax. We dont need more regulations. Worry about yourselves. Some of us accept life as short and you only live once. I feel awful for this person and their family but dont demand the few of us that want to explore being subjected to being forced to live your life in constant fear we might get injured so we stay inside our secure padded safety zones and if we dont we need to be disciplined. No thanks. My deepest sympathy to this persons family and thank you tom for reporting this and it reminds us how precious life is as at any moment it can end…. Hug a loved one today.
I find it ironic. You dive at Eagle’s Nest, you leave as buzzard bait.
Sending prayers of comfort to family and friends of this person.. May he/she rest in peace.
50+ dives at Eagles Nest and Im still here…dive within your limits.
I have been diving there for 30 years. Please don’t recommend its closure. If you have ever been there and seen what I have seen you would agree. If the place scares you then don’t go. Leave it alone for the rest of us. It isn’t hurting you any to ignore what you don’t understand.
Typical lefty morons wanting to ban everything under the sun , I suppose these folks would like to ban carrying legal firearms in checked baggage now too… ban this , ban that ban ban ban … we need to ban you!! Now go polish your colored safety pins and STHU! Geez, wake up folks why not place the blame on the divers that dive there and know the risks and are not skilled enough to be diving there? People need to be responsible for themselves….stop trying to take away freedoms from everyone else because of the actions of a few…….
Perhaps we could attach a tether to the dock there to help people find their way back through the intricate rooms. Check it out on Youtube. There are several areas you swim through and this would help them make it out faster if they were having difficulties and/or their tanks were low. Is there any word on this person? Prayers for his or her family & friends.
Just know your limits, check your equipment and be as safe as possible. Nobody knows how life will play out. Deepest sympathy to his family and friends.
Makes me sad. I am sorry this happened.
I wore a dead mans gear when I started diving 50 years ago, to remind me to be safe. I never forgot while down that I could die doing this. Someone did in the gear I had on. Nothing less that 100% is ever good enough, even 50 years later.
Plan your dive and dive your plan kept me alive. Still does. Thank you Hal Watts.
And yes, we all mess up. We all test our limits. And we all die, eventually. Wisdom is accepting our limitations.
You are right about the beauty of diving caves, sinkholes, wrecks, springs, oceans, and rivers.
Play safe. Look out for each other. Teach survival.