Is undertow a possibility? I've been in some pretty wicked riptides, but I've only encountered them at drop-offs, I have no idea if they exist in
the same way in open water. I know there are currents in open water, but I have no idea what speeds they're capable of moving at, or whether they
would be present in that specific location.
It could have been that they were doing some sort of maintenance on a vessel under the surface, but if that was the case I don't see why it would be
so covered up, unless the vessel was classified or experimental. It was billed as a routine training dive, but obviously something happened that was
not routine.
I wondered about this when the incident took place, and now I'm wondering that much more...
Thanks to Quicksilver for bringing this to us.
(Edit to add: they near a large quantity of ice, yes. I know that sea ice develops pits and cavernous holes over times, like swiss cheese. If the
pressure changes, a great quantity of water can be forced through narrow passages, creating a high pressure jet.
Think about that rock in Hawaii that spits water into the sky like a geiser every time a wave comes.
If a wave, or even a wake, or a tidal surge, or
something sent a large quantity of sea water against a hole in the ice, and pushed a whole lot
more water like a missle out through another 'vent', under the water, would it create sufficient motive force to account for the rapid descent?
Or perhaps an icequake displaced a lot of water and they happened to be in the path as it went down?
Just thinking of alternate possibilities here - but of course that doesn't even begin to explain the behavior of the authorities...)
[edit on 23-11-2006 by WyrdeOne]