I worked with both Jennifer and the missing Bahamian man, Mark Gibson, at the field station on Andros Island and was with them up to just a few weeks before they went missing. As they were both my co-workers and my friends, maybe I can offer some information that can clear up a few of the details for you.
Mark and Jenny were both very experienced divers and very familiar with the environment they were diving that day. Mark was a diver master who was native to Andros. He was an exceedingly kind person and excellent teacher. Jenny researched blue holes and was well aware of the conditions there. They both took safety very seriously.
When they didn't return back to the field station as expected, extensive searches took place but the only sign ever found was the boat they had taken out that day.
There are many dangerous things that can happen while diving and blue holes have some unique characteristics that can add extra hazards. That particular spot has a strong current and many cave areas where someone could get stuck. There could have been an equipment malfunction or a health situation like nitrogen narcosis. Neither would have left the other behind without trying everything to save them and most people assume that that is what happened in some manner
The show Expedition X has an episode where they discuss this case, though not by name. Season 5 episode 7 - The Beast of Andros Island. They discuss 2 divers going missing and dive King Kong.
Like many disappearances, there was some wild speculation like them perhaps running off together. They both had families they loved dearly and a purposeful disappearance would have been completely unnecessary. Unfortunately diving accidents happen, and this one left many people missing these 2 great people.
Please let me know if you have any other questions I might be able to help with.
....and were computers recovered?
do you know if their "new diving computers" - are those computers for under water or left on the boat? computers mentioned here:
https://iucrr.org/more/accident-analysis/incident-reports/incident-list/2003-01-02-incident/
Yes — in that IUCRR report, “new diving computers” almost certainly means scuba dive computers the divers wore or carried underwater, not laptop-style computers left on the boat.
The report says they had “just purchased new diving computers” and were “using these to conduct their deep diving activities.” In scuba context, a dive computer is the device that tracks depth, time, and decompression status during the dive itself. PADI describes a dive computer as something that uses depth and time information during a dive, and says independent units are usually worn on the wrist.
The report also links the computers directly to their deep dives, alongside discussion of their lack of technical/cave-diving training and limited backup equipment, which suggests underwater life-support/navigation/planning gear rather than anything topside. The relevant line is the report’s statement that they had “just purchased new diving computers” and were using them for those deep diving activities.
So the most likely meaning is: wrist-mounted or console-mounted dive computers used underwater by the divers.
i wonder if modern tech could try to ping the dive computers, or even check for past existence of their IP continuing on past the missing persons event to see if they were stolen.
Thank you so much for some clarity on this. It is greatly appreciated. I will check out the episode on Expedition X.
I worked with both Jennifer and the missing Bahamian man, Mark Gibson, at the field station on Andros Island and was with them up to just a few weeks before they went missing. As they were both my co-workers and my friends, maybe I can offer some information that can clear up a few of the details for you.
Mark and Jenny were both very experienced divers and very familiar with the environment they were diving that day. Mark was a diver master who was native to Andros. He was an exceedingly kind person and excellent teacher. Jenny researched blue holes and was well aware of the conditions there. They both took safety very seriously.
When they didn't return back to the field station as expected, extensive searches took place but the only sign ever found was the boat they had taken out that day.
There are many dangerous things that can happen while diving and blue holes have some unique characteristics that can add extra hazards. That particular spot has a strong current and many cave areas where someone could get stuck. There could have been an equipment malfunction or a health situation like nitrogen narcosis. Neither would have left the other behind without trying everything to save them and most people assume that that is what happened in some manner
The show Expedition X has an episode where they discuss this case, though not by name. Season 5 episode 7 - The Beast of Andros Island. They discuss 2 divers going missing and dive King Kong.
Like many disappearances, there was some wild speculation like them perhaps running off together. They both had families they loved dearly and a purposeful disappearance would have been completely unnecessary. Unfortunately diving accidents happen, and this one left many people missing these 2 great people.
Please let me know if you have any other questions I might be able to help with.
I worked with both Jennifer and the missing Bahamian man, Mark Gibson, at the field station on Andros Island and was with them up to just a few weeks before they went missing. As they were both my co-workers and my friends, maybe I can offer some information that can clear up a few of the details for you.
Mark and Jenny were both very experienced divers and very familiar with the environment they were diving that day. Mark was a diver master who was native to Andros. He was an exceedingly kind person and excellent teacher. Jenny researched blue holes and was well aware of the conditions there. They both took safety very seriously.
When they didn't return back to the field station as expected, extensive searches took place but the only sign ever found was the boat they had taken out that day.
There are many dangerous things that can happen while diving and blue holes have some unique characteristics that can add extra hazards. That particular spot has a strong current and many cave areas where someone could get stuck. There could have been an equipment malfunction or a health situation like nitrogen narcosis. Neither would have left the other behind without trying everything to save them and most people assume that that is what happened in some manner
The show Expedition X has an episode where they discuss this case, though not by name. Season 5 episode 7 - The Beast of Andros Island. They discuss 2 divers going missing and dive King Kong.
Like many disappearances, there was some wild speculation like them perhaps running off together. They both had families they loved dearly and a purposeful disappearance would have been completely unnecessary. Unfortunately diving accidents happen, and this one left many people missing these 2 great people.
Please let me know if you have any other questions I might be able to help with.