Sad day for cave divers - Wes Skiles

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Re: Sad day for cave divers - Wes Skiles

Postby FW » Jul 23, 2010 9:04 am

From the Skiles Family
Wes Skiles died while diving off West Palm Beach on Wednesday, July 21.

He was conducting a routine filming dive when the accident occurred. No one else was injured.

There are no further details regarding the accident at this time. The exact cause has not yet been determined and we are awaiting official reports.

Wes has been a tireless advocate for springs, springsheds and the conservation and protection of Florida’s water resources.

At the time of his death, he was excited about the upcoming issue of National Geographic Magazine, which features his photographs and the cover shot. We appreciate all of the concern and outpouring of support.

We celebrate his extraordinary life and ask you to do the same.

The family requests that you respect their privacy at this time.

Memorial arrangements will be announced in the near future.
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Re: Sad day for cave divers - Wes Skiles

Postby Cheryl Jones » Jul 23, 2010 11:57 am

NPR tribute, with snips from his interview earlier in the year.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/20 ... 761/skiles
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Re: Sad day for cave divers - Wes Skiles

Postby FW » Jul 23, 2010 4:47 pm

From the Skiles Family - Memorial Service

In Memory of WESLEY C. SKILES

Memorial Celebration and Service
Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at Ginnie Springs

The memorial service will begin at 6:00 pm
followed by a celebration of Wes’s life.

Ginnie Springs will be open to our guests
all afternoon. The celebration will last
into the evening. You may want to bring the
beverage of your choice and a picnic
supper or food to share.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers
donations be made in Wes’s name to:
the Alachua Conservation Trust.
alachuaconservationtrust.org
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Re: Sad day for cave divers - Wes Skiles

Postby George Dasher » Jul 26, 2010 10:25 am

Is there any news about what happened?
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Re: Sad day for cave divers - Wes Skiles

Postby Squirrel Girl » Jul 26, 2010 7:37 pm

George Dasher wrote:Is there any news about what happened?

I'm paraphrasing.

Wes was on a rebreather in the ocean. He signaled his buddies to surface. He needed batteries/media card changed for his camera. Sometime afterward, his buddies surfaced, and Wes wasn't there. They went back down and Wes was motionless on the bottom.

There are no results yet from an autopsy. (Don't know if it's happened yet, but the toxicology tests could take a month).

I believe there are technical experts examining the rebreather.

Very, very, very sad.
:sadbanana:
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Re: Sad day for cave divers - Wes Skiles

Postby KENTO » Jul 27, 2010 10:38 pm

One of my best memories from Kerrville last year was getting to watch the " Ice Island " the incredible documentary of Wes's expedition to the largest Iceberg ever known by Mankind to have broke off Antarctica. He was a careful innovative user of the most advanced rebreathers and a strong advocate for his friends who developed them. My heart goes out to his family and his caving pals who knew him best , I can't agree more , he was a great man. What a loss !
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Re: Sad day for cave divers - Wes Skiles

Postby George Dasher » Jul 28, 2010 9:39 am

This is a very sad day, not only for the caving community, but for the groundwater and conservation communities, as well as for the FL springs community. I never, to the best of my knowledge, had even met Wes, but I can feel his loss. And then there is still the photographic, diving, and cave diving communities... He is a person who will be missed.

Speaking as an ex-paramedic, single-car driving accidents on perfect-weather days often equaled a medical problem (such as a heart accident) that caused the problem. So Wes' death could well be the result of something medical, rather than a problem with the dive.
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Re: Sad day for cave divers - Wes Skiles

Postby wendy » Jul 29, 2010 8:44 am

There is a nice article in the orlando sentinel today about wes along with a video of him and some photos.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/loc ... 2994.story
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Re: Sad day for cave divers - Wes Skiles

Postby Squirrel Girl » Jul 31, 2010 5:50 am

Someone in the NSS put up this tribute page.
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Re: Sad day for cave divers - Wes Skiles

Postby Cheryl Jones » Aug 16, 2010 10:48 pm

Squirrel Girl wrote:Someone in the NSS put up this tribute page.

Alex Sproul, NSS Video Salon chairman.

Here's a nice tribute page Alex placed on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/13736780 . The film was shown at the NSS Photo Salon at Convention as part of a tribute to Wes.

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