Left At Sea: The Story Of A Diver On His Own

If you’re like most divers, you have occasionally wondered what it would be like to try to survive in open water on your own. What if you were shore diving, and a current carried you away? What if you became distracted while exploring a reef or wreck and managed to get way off course trying to find your way back? What if the dive boat forgot you? Daniel Carlock is one diver who knows what it’s like to be alone, scared, cold, and exhausted. In 2004, he was abandoned by a dive charter. Here’s what happened.

Hours Alone

When Dan Carlock set out to enjoy a day of diving about 12 miles off California’s Long Beach, he expected to experience an enjoyable excursion. Instead, a nightmare unfolded – and it lasted for about five hours. 

The Sundiver, a charter based out of Long Beach, was carrying a group of 20 divers and was staged near the oil rig Eureka. Carlock experienced difficulty equalizing, and was suffering from ear pain when he surfaced about 400 feet from the dive boat. Though he attempted to swim back to the boat, his legs cramped, so he waved a yellow safety sausage and blew his whistle. No one on the vessel noticed. 

A dive master working for Venice-based Ocean Adventures marked Dan Carlock present on the dive roster, even though he was absent when the remainder of the divers returned. As strong currents were picking up, the crew decided to move to a second dive site about seven miles away. When the divers left the boat for their second dive, Carlock was once again marked on the roster, even though he was on his own, several miles away from the boat. 

Three hours after leaving Carlock behind, the crew finally realized he was missing. The Sundiver’s captain called the Coast Guard to the second dive site – miles from Carlock’s actual position. In the meantime, strong currents were pushing Dan Carlock toward Newport Beach, and he thought for sure he was going to die.  Surrounded by heavy fog, he prayed for deliverance. “I had this feeling my spirit was getting ready to vacate my body,” he recalled in an interview. 

The Coast Guard never found Daniel. Instead, he was spotted by a fifteen-year-old boy scout on board a tallship called the Argus. The ship was taking the scouts on an excursion, and had veered off course to avoid a freighter. If not for the ship’s change in direction, no one knows whether Carlock would have been found alive. 

After battling exposure that led to skin cancer, Carlock filed suit against Ocean Adventures and the Sundiver. The trial lasted 23 days, and the jury deliberated for 2 ½ days, ultimately awarding Carlock $1.68 million in damages. Besides receiving monetary compensation for the post-traumatic stress syndrome and physical ailments he suffered as a result of his ordeal, Carlock managed to effect an important change in the dive industry; today, dive operators must visually verify that all divers are present, and dive boat captains as well as DMs are held responsible for count accuracy.