Scuba diver abandoned in ocean gets $1.68-million settlement

Daniel Carlock, a Santa Monica aerospace engineer, prayed to God not to let him die after he was abandoned floating in the ocean 12 miles off Long Beach by leaders of a scuba-diving excursion. After nearly five hours, surrounded by thick fog, "I had this feeling my spirit was getting ready to vacate my body," he recalled.

On Friday, a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury awarded Carlock $1.68 million in damages in his five-year legal battle against Venice-based Ocean Adventures Dive Co. and Long Beach-based Sundiver Charters.

The jury heard testimony that Carlock, who was 45 at the time of the 2004 incident, had suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and developed skin cancer from exposure.

"It has been an ordeal," he said as he celebrated at a Newport Beach restaurant with his wife, Anne. "But I wanted to seek changes in the scuba industry. Others will benefit."

Read more: "Engineer wins $1.68 million in scuba diving case."

-- Margot Roosevelt

Photo: Daniel Carlock, shown in Corona del Mar, has been awarded $1.68 million in damages after a five-year legal battle arising from his being abandoned in the ocean on a scuba diving excursion in 2004. His ordeal attracted international attention. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Mike]

What are the dates of his abandonment and rescue? How long was Mr. Carlock in the water? Skin cancer was mentioned as related to his exposure, but how long was his exposure? You're a reporter, Margot--write like one!

[Eric]

Mike, you're a reader - click the link "read more" and find out the answers!

[Ed]

okay slowly it was in 2004.............and he was in the water for almost 5 hours.............read the article.........

[George Bishopric]

Skin cancer from a few hours at sea? Preposterous.

The man was harmed and scared. He did not become shark chow.

The boat crew deserves to lose their jobs.

[Josh]

Additional details such as what time of the day he was left behind, when the captain/crew of the dive boat discovered him missing, et cetera would be nice to know.

I am a dive professional with 34+ years of diving experience. There simply is no excuse for leaving a diver behind in the water. Yes, there are reasons and excuses why it can happen, but safety is always top of the list on these trips and an accurate roll call ensuring that all divers are 'on board' is necessary before the props are turning and the anchors weighed. Diver Safety is the main responsibility of any Divemaster/ Dive Leader, and roll calls or head counts are an important control measure when leading/hosting divers.

Also, assuming this diver had a buddy, the buddy should have noticed right away that the other half of the team was missing and notified the boat crew. Even if he was diving solo, someone should have noticed his 'slot' was empty!
There is usually more than one angle to these stories, but more importantly multiple steps that can be taken to prevent it from happening again in the future!

Unfortunate experience for all, but I am glad to hear the diver survived. $1.68 million sounds a little steep for this suit, but some of the important details aren't mentioned. He was only in the water 5 hours, that's over $300,000 an hour! I might 'volunteer' to be left behind for that kind of money! I didn't realize you could get skin cancer from a single exosure!

[My opinon means nothing]

A friend of mine was telling me about this story this morning and revieled more of the story than what was on line here. Apparently, the print edition had more info than the on-line editon did.

[Mike]

Well gee, Mike and Ed, I'm glad to see you're such experts, but 1.) My comment was originally posted under the long version of the article, because 2.) the sentence, "After nearly five hours, surrounded by thick fog, 'I had this feeling my spirit was getting ready to vacate my body,' he recalled," does NOT indicate that he was rescued after five hours, it just states that it was a moment he felt his spirit was going to leave him. There is NO specific detail in the article about how long Mr. Carlock was in the water, and NO date to indicate the time of year this event occurred, and THAT, dear readers, is bad reporting. So in addition to Ms. Roosevelt needing a brush-up on her journalism skills, perhaps you should practice your reading skills.

[Mike]

5 hours.

[All Hallows Eve]

wow

[pmg]

So Mr. Wealthy pays a lot of money to play in the outdoors, something goes wrong, and he gets a big payday out of his outdoor excursion? Seems fair.

[DERR UF]

weird story eh

[Bird Dog Training]

I think its irresponsible leaving someone 12 miles from shore because it's foggy out there on the ocean. I am surprised the plantiff didn't get more money.

He is a better guy than most because some people would have wanted to fight after they got back to shore.

[Walker Rowe]

It's bad that this fellow was left at sea by the scuba diving company. But it's not at all plausible that he developed skin cancer overnight. This is just another example that the legal profession is just a bunch of shake down artists. All lawyers should be required to read DeToqueville's "Democracy of America" with the hope that some of them might develop some measure of humility.

[BillN]

we were stuck downwind and against the swell just southwest of two Harbors on a pair of Kayaks a few years ago. a local dive boat came by (luckily) to the same spot we were snorkling, we told the captain we were rowing back to harbor and to please swing by on his way back (it was on his way) and check on our progress. thankfully about an hour or so later he did. we were stuck at the most critical junction of the trip back. we weren't making an inch as the boat passed by. he gave us a shout that we were doing well and we were going to do OK. I hollered back , NO we are NOT doing OK, we'd been stuck in the same place for 15 minutes and the wind was picking up. He couldn't help us out and I asked him to call out the Harbor patrol. He questioned my request, I told him definitely yes, please.
30 minutes later harbor patrol showed up to the rescue.
I am glad the captain checked on us but he seemed too cavalier about the near-distress we were experiencing.
I don't know whether these guys go through any sort of training to operate a dive boat or not, but safety and the recognition of distress should be part of it.

[BillN]

we were SouthEast of two harbors, not southwest.

[Charles]

5 hours of sunlight in a scuba suit in thick fog. Skin cancer must be really really easy to get.
They celebrated at an expensive restaurant. The boat operators deserved to be sued, but anything over a half a million dollars is absurd.

[fig]

Diving is an adventure sport and bears a certain amount of risk, if you are not prepared to take that risk, don't go diving - and if you do go diving, choose your operators carefully and take responsibility for your own actions! US$1.68 in damages is ridiculous - "post-traumatic stress disorder"? No trauma councelling is that expensive to justify the amount paid in damages, if you can't deal with it, best to stay in your armchair and watch National Geographic programs instead.
I have spent 24(!)hrs drifting at sea off the cost of East Africa - too bad the legal system over there works differently - I would have been set for life had I taken Dan's approach... If Dan "wanted to seek changes in the scuba industry" there is better ways to go about that than enriching himself for something that at least partially he was responsible for himself. Just like Josh said - sweet hourly rate... and for what exactly?!Mental note to self: book with a U.S. operator next time and your financial needs will be taken care off...

[scuba-doo]

I feel for the guy - but 5 hours in THICK fog - does not cause skin cancers!

These excessive judgements are at the core of America's problems...