Dangerous Encounter with Marine Life
INCIDENT DETAILS:
Recently, a member company experienced an incident involving a diver getting hit in the leg by a Stingray. The saturation diver was working on a project in the Gulf of Mexico, at a depth of 175 fsw (55 meters), with zero visibility on bottom.
The stingray left a 1 inch barb in the thigh of the leg of the diver, who was wearing a thin wetsuit underneath a very thick hot-water suit. (See attached photo)
A Certified Diver Medical Technician, who was also in the saturation system, removed the barb from the diver’s leg, and irrigated the puncture area. As a precaution, the diver was decompressed out of saturation by the company’s contracted diving physician, despite only requiring minor first aid treatment.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Incidents such as this may be one of those unavoidable incidents, like those with manta rays or lion fish. Stingrays can have substantially larger barbs that are capable causing a fatality.
Contractors are cautioned to always factor in encounters with dangerous marine life in the Job Hazard Analysis and have procedures in place to adequately respond to possible encounters.
Association of Diving Contractors International