@@tehmassy why not encourage him/her to LEARN how to swim rather than discouraging it completely. Cant save yourself from drowning if you can’t swim. Just sayin... lol
A sad fact is he went to local dive experts in this area, and he was told several times they would not take him down to the arch. They all told him he did not have enough experience or the correct equipment for this dive. They offered to help him get the training he needed, but he was too impatient to wait. It's sad and needless, he would have survived and taken the advice of the dive experts in the area.
That's correct. But this is standard behavior on the Dive industry and more specifically Dive Pros...most dive pros think they know everything and they can do anything, this is why so many deaths are avoidable but instructors will continue to die needlessly unfortunately.
He didn't have time for the course as he was leaving in 2 days and wanted to do it. I wonder who the guys diving with him were. hy have they not spoken out and why didn't they warn him?
@@DIVETALK true, i work in a dive equipment store in Bali and so many instructor here dont really do their job or not educated properly. for example i had an instructor, a licensed instructor asked what the advantages of nitrox or whats the use of deco stop that hes been doing all the time. he just been told to do it by his instructor and not had been properly educated why.
@@DIVETALK A combination of things, DAN put out some stats indicating instructors and up are the highest accident demographic in the dive industry because of the TARZAN mentality. The next issue is that there was a time (not the OLD SCHOOL was great nonsense) where a instructor candidate could actually fail his instructor course. Today the registration is completed even before the final adjudication to enable an awards ceremony at the end of the course. The level across agencies has slowly become weaker and weaker. WEAK instructors training the next round of weak instructors.( Too long a discussion to have on this platform)
For anyone new to diving or who doesn't know, Yuri dove to 115+ meters (375 feet). Narcosis on regular air really starts to set in at about 30 meters (98 feet) and starts to significantly impede cognitive and motor function at about 40 meters (130 feet). This dude dove nearly 3 times the max depth for regular air.
I almost wonder if this guy had a death wish. He was definitely experiencing nitrogen narcosis but you would think his survival instincts would have kicked in sooner and told him, “Go back. Go. Back.”
@@bizmonkey007 unless he had a balloon or something to propel him up, at that depth with the weight of that gear he pretty much can't go back. When he realized his depth, he realized his death.
@@bizmonkey007 why do drunk people do stupid shit? because they are impaired and aren't thinking straight. they compare nitrogen narcosis to a drunken state so obviously he's not going to be thinking properly. and the lower the depth the harder it is to come up. The video also doesn't account for knowledge of whether his gear was malfunctioning or not and if his boyancy device isn't working it won't matter whether he wants to come up or not. It's not that simple hence why professional divers only get taught depths of 40m. anything below that is extra certification. not to mention the lack of gear this guy had. he was reaching depths that shouldn't be made on a singe cylinder kit. you need a rebreather at lower depths.
yeah, definitely a bummer but didnt have to happen. noone is above safety, especially when it comes to diving. im just curious, the bends aren't always fatal, i feel like if youre going to drown/die anyway, maybe should have a rapid inflation balloon you can trigger to rocket up to the surface & detach weights? I mean its definitely risky and you might still be screwed but id say your odds are still better than being stuck at the bottom..since hes using regular air and not a mixture, wouldnt there not even be a risk? idk im not well versed
The strangest aspect of this video has always been the fact that there's no obvious breaking point where you can see things transition from 'normal' to 'dangerous.' Everything seems perfectly fine, there are divers around him one minute... then before you even realize what's happening, he's all alone struggling to breathe while sinking deeper into the black abyss. I think most people expect to see the point where the diver notices something is wrong... and it just isn't there. Quite eerie to watch.
If You watch the entire video, there is a point where he is behind other divers, and suddenly starts decending very quickly. As if his BCD failed suddenly.
Around the 3 minute mark of yuri's video, its been determined you can hear him try to inflate his neck bouy, but it malfunctions or something. This is while other divers are still in the frame so the last 4 minutes of the video he already knows it's all gone wrong.
Yeah, it's almost would be like watching a frog being slowly boiled a live in water. It's so gradually, by the time danger set in. It's too late. "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
Listening to him struggle and whimper while trying to breathe and then hitting the bottom, looking at his wrist and realizing that he wasn't going to make it out made me cry. I can only imagine how his mother felt watching this video. Regardless of his choice to go against professional advice and severe warnings against doing the dive, I still have sympathy for the fact that a mother lost her son and this is the last glimpse of him she ever got. Sometimes people make choices that lead to their death, but I don't think that lessens the sorrow and empathy we should have for others' losses.
It seems to me that narcosis would have eased his death, he would have been completely out of touch with reality. The squeeks we could hear would have been from such high pressures combined with the little air he had left. At some point he might have enough clarity to recognize the peril he was in; that wouldn't have lasted very long though. The movements/thrashing that we heard at the end would have been seizures, Yuri very likely was unconscious at the end. He wouldn't have felt anything, I nearly drowned once and my experience was that my chest burned from holding my breath. That actually didn't last very long, and after that was such calm *peace* ---- the kind people meditate or turn to drugs to find. I really think that his last video is harder on us (and absolutely on his family!!) than on him. Whatever the truth of Yuri's last moments, it was mercifully brief.
@@Stephanie-we5ep Is that true? i heard drowning is one of the most painful things only until your lungs are filled with water than it is less painful..
@@michaeldeww I'm not sure what science has to say about drowning, I'm sharing my experience is all. To this day I remember the calm that came over me.
I went here as a teenager with my family to just snorkel. Absolutely stunning, went out in a jeep with three German men all in their late 20s wanting to dive. We were told over and over that you could see the arch but it's much deeper than you think and there's no way in hell you'd reach it without proper equiptment. They have a signs all over saying that it's deadly and you should just stick to depth unless you're very well trained. I remember clear as day that the three men went out just before lunch, deciding to do the dive first and then relax and swim after. They all went down and its probably barely 7 or 8 minutes later when one of the guys come up effing and blinding that one of his mates decided to go further. Everyone got this look, it was just chilling. The other guy stayed in the water at his max depth. There were guys in the full equipment ready to go in and hopefully get him when the other two men popped up out of the water, the friend holding the idiot by the back of his tank. Immediately people were screaming at him, and the dude was clearly off, crying and panicking and his face was grey. The guy dumped all of his weights and luckily got back to his mate before he got too incoherent, and that saved him. He was close. No one went in the water after that. I rarely dive but seeing that made me terrified of deep and blank ocean and I couldn't ever go back.
@@TheGreatSpl00ge Amen, we know more about and have conducted more research on outer space than the ocean for a reason. I've seen some divers refer to the ocean as "inner space" and it's a fitting name.
What’s really sad is the fact that he was told by several instructors that he’d need two weeks of training and the right equipment and he still did it anyway 🤦🏼♀️
@@Caninecancersucksrocks did what? Lots of open water divers dive part of that site very safely. I might be wrong, but it doesn't appear he tried to dive the arch (which catches a lot out) and I doubt very much he was planning to bounce to 115m. Something has gone wrong and he's been unable to maintain buoyancy but I doubt it's as simple as being overweighted as most BCDs can provide quite a bit of lift and it's hard to overweight that much (although I'm sure that could have been a contributing factor)... That said, at 115m his only chance was to ditch the weight (which he didn't do). But I suspect he's had some sort of BCD failure and lost control of his buoyancy and couldn't regain it.
The Blue Hole is no joke. As an Egyptian, I have been to the Blue Hole 3 times at least when in Dahab. Every time I see the plaques with the names of divers who died there, it is very chilling for me. May they rest in peace.
21 years later and this still haunts me. I will always ask myself what happened at the beginning. 2min in , he’s still at the surface. Then a bewildering uncontrollable descent. Such a tragedy. I’d never hit that site as a rescue diver. I know my limits.
From what I've read, it seems that his buoyancy compensator (kind of like a vest that can inflate more or less, which helps in controlling how you float) failed after a certain depth, meaning there was nothing keeping him afloat or nothing that could help him ascend again. He just was a person with a lot of weight that was pulling him down without any control. He also was unaware of all this happening because of nitrogen narcosis, which was made worse by the fact that he was probably using a mix in his tank that wasn't the proper for this kind of dives. His fate was already sealed, and he only noticed this when he hit rock bottom and checked his monitor. Truly terrifying.
@Álvaro Terrasa Wow! So he couldn’t go up even if he wanted to because he was a big guy? Is that what happened? It’s so confusing. He just keeps going and going. Terrifying!
@@riann7707 why wouldn’t he just drop the camera and extra shit tho. Material things are easily replaceable. Ur life isn’t, so when he realized he couldn’t go back up I don’t get why he didn’t just start removing items
you have to equalize your ears, before it starts to hurt, pinch your nose and blow through it. headache solved, this is basic diving know-how for pressure, kind of how you do in airplanes.
@@PAC2k00 Serious question! Is it supposed to be painful when you "pop" your ears to equalize the pressure?! I feel like I could never dive because if I need to do this constantly to do so, I would be in too much pain. I never asked anyone before, but I wonder if you feel the pain!
@@PAC2k00 my doctor told me never to do that? He said to only swallow or chew. I have the same problem as the original commenter. I always felt like my ears were going to explode every time a plane landed or took off. It hurts so bad. I never grew out of it that much, but I found these special earplugs that equalize the pressure somehow!
Tbh at that depth, with the knowledge that you’re going to drown shortly and staring down into the bottomless drop below.. it’s better that he was narced out of his mind. I couldn’t imagine being fully lucid in that moment. Much better to be confused and not fully knowing what’s happening then to go through that cognitive and aware. Rest In Peace Yuri.
Is it though? When you're doomed, you're doomed. When you're in terror, you're probably still shitting your pants, narced or not. At least, fully lucid, you having a fighting chance of saving yourself. At any point in that rapid descent, dropping his weights / camera / attempting to use his regulator to inflate his bcd should have been undertaken, at least until the absolute point of no chance of self-rescue had been reached.
@@NeilMalthus You don't understand, there was literally 0 chance for him. Rapid ascent and he'd have died of the Bends or barotrauma, he didn't have enough lift to ascend, he had literally zero chance of returning to the surface alive. It would have been so much worse to sit at the bottom, completely aware you're dying and there isn't anything you can do about it. Being Narced was a gift.
I agree with that. I would not want to be aware that I was dying, witnessing it as well as feeling it and being helpless in my own survival.@@crabmansteve6844
The fact that his mom has the video of his death makes me terribly sad. Regardless of people saying he was arrogant and reckless he was still a human being and someone’s son. Terribly tragedy made even worse by the fact it was captured on video for his mom to see. RIP Yuri.
I completely agree and I feel so bad for his mom because she has to live with the evidence and fact that not only her son is dead but that she watched him die
As a counterpoint, it also means they were able to recover the body / know how he died. I think the pain would be alot worse if they never found his body and he was just listed as "missing", and his poor mother (family / friends) not knowing if he was kidnapped, or ran away or committed suicide. Regardless it is very tragic.
@@chronicawareness9986 I was thinking about that, and based on what I know from public knowledge, I believe the mother had to be the one who posted it. Seems wrong though.Why would she post it?
if you listen carefully, you hear that he is breathing normally, inhaling and exhaling. i think, that sound comes from (trying) equalizing the ears holding his hose and pressing. just a guess.....
Rec instructor and Tech DIR diver here... On minute 13:00 exactly, a thin piece of string, twisted around its own axis, fly for a second in front of the camera (use slow motion). Considering it maintains its shape constant, it is not cordino, bungee, or some kind of fabric but metal. The only piece of metal with that shape, used in a recreational equipment set up, is the spring within the "overpressure relief valves". Every model of BCD jacket may differ about quantity and position for this valves, but there is always one on the top left shoulder and another one on your lower back next to your kidney, either left or right. This valves are screwd to the BCD as plastic soda bottle caps are. That spring lets the valve open when there is too much gas in your BCD so it dosent explode, as a balloon would, if you blow too much air in it. I'm not going to go into detail on the possible reasons this valves malfunction or even pop out, but the fact is that if a critical malfunction happends to the one on your left shoulder you loose all the air you poor in your BCD as it is next to the intake flow. The position for this valve is on the back part of the shoulder and for some people it might not be easily accesible, hence the design includes a little string to manually open it in a more confortable way. But trust me, you are either flexible, or you are going to have a hard time reaching it to try to screw that in if it came out. Needless to say, that fixing this as falling to the deepest and darkest of abysms, narc out of your mind, is beyond anything you can expect of a recreational diver. But the fact is that when he gets to the bottom, and start trying to desperately fix whatever got him there, he reaps off this valve as i could only think you would if you consider it the source of the problem. Another interesting fact is the descent. What is the squeaky sound? lungs or second stage membrane? why he doesnt seem to strugle and panicking? he doesnt release the camera and help himself to swim up as is the most basic human reaction? Narcosis works in strange ways... it would make you do stupid things as with a lot of alcohol but without speech and movement disabilities to warn you. Nonetheless at 100m still seems to be aware enough of the camera and try to film his computer. Who knows what he was trying to leave behind for us to witness and what where his thoughts. Rest in peace brother. May your suffering be of reflection for all those who every day decide to go under water beyond their knowledge and capabilities.
It’s interesting that near the end of the video, I can hear the attempt at BCD inflation but there was none during the entire decent. Also, as a caver, a CCR diver, and a former dive shop owner, I do not have any desire to dive The Arch. It seems like such a random and arbitrary thing to. All the dangers and for what? If it’s an arch you want to see, there are lots that are much shallower. As someone who has the skills to dive deep, I rather dive shallow and then go drink beer with my friends.
I watched a documentary talking about that arch. They said that once you’re underwater, it looks close. And when divers get “narc”-ed, they opt to go deeper into that arch also because of the light, it looks closer but it’s not.
@@grecco4037 That would compound the problem for a less qualified diver who is target fixated on the Arch, versus watching their gauges. So many reasons that would make this "innocent" dive, not so innocent.
I made a point of getting technical training even though I stayed within recreational limits. The ability to switch to a redundant air source, double bladders and the knowledge to carry out decompression stops if necessary adds another layer of safety.
I used to teach there. The arch starts around 60m. He's just gone straight to the bottom. There's a whole grave site there now as a lot of free divers use the area.
Losing air is one of my biggest fears. I’ve both nearly drowned and nearly strangled to death before and it was absolutely horrific. I can’t imagine the feeling of losing air combined with the confusion and panic of being isolated in the ocean. Truly tragic.
drowning is the worst thing that i have ever experienced in my life, your judgement etc is completely lost as you panic and you just lose all ability to do something so simple that can prevent it but you can't think straight, it sucks.
Tarek Omar was the man who retrieved Yuri's body and sadly enough was one of the instructors that told Yuri he needed 2 weeks training because he wasn't ready or equipped for the dive and not to do it. And the next day has to go and get him. As of 2012 he'd received more than 20 bodies from the hole but he said he stopped counting so doesn't know the real number. I'm sure it's in the comments somewhere but haven't seen it yet.
When I took my very first dive certification class years ago, one of the first things my instructor said, and repeated throughout my training was "know your limits and respect your limits" The saddest part of this for me is that it could have soooo easily been avoided.
I nearly filmed my own death back in august with a mask mounted GoPro. Me and a buddy were doing a fast paced long distance drift dive. With a bottom made up of rocks that’s pretty much featureless we often navigate by time drifting. The current was faster than usual and so we ended up drifting into an extremely hazardous wreck. I KNEW I was in trouble as soon as I saw the wreck in the distance. My partner wasnt phased and asked my air. I informed him I was past the agreed return point but he gave the order to stay “for just a little”. Well we go up and over the wreck and duck in behind it. This wreck normally provides cover but it’s recently broken up. So instead of relative “safety” I ended up stationary against the current. Desperately low on air at this point I start looking for my exit and at the point I made my attempt to escape. During the attempt my head mounted GoPro was ripped off my head blinding me, and then the currently forced its way into my regulator causing me to take in water. After taking in a little air and BARELY keeping control and not drowning. I went into panic mode. I lost control and made a run for it. But luckily I knew exactly which way to run and I made a mad dash to shore. I never regained control, I never got my mask clear again (I made my return pretty much blind and off memory) I surfaced with virtually no air after my safety stop. As crazy as it sounds in the moment when I felt this was the end I thought of this video and was horrified at the prospect I just filmed my own death like Yuri. For reference I had 12 years of diving experience at this site and my dive partner 40+. Bad things can happen on even “normal” dives. I couldn’t imagine the outcome of that dive if he or I were unfamiliar with the site
@@Belowbluewaterdiver so were is the video brother? Hope you are doing OK and I understand if you don't want it out there . But I would like to also get a little education on how quick things can go wrong .
Seeing him sinking to the bottom like a stone, hearing him breathe, seeing him struggle and then - nothing... This gave me such anxiety, as this must have been horrible for him. Perhaps he was not fully aware of what was going to happen, because he was so narced, but at some point in the beginning he must have noticed that something was very wrong...
Yeah that's what's strange. I normally test my BCD at the surface and/or at a low depth before commencing my dive. Did he try to inflate his when he was already pretty deep and it was too late - too last as in even with a full BCD there wasn't enough buoyancy to take him to the surface.
I’ve been narced once. Thankfully I recognized it immediately and went up about 20 feet, and it resolved. As a diver, you really need to be in tune with your body and listen to it when it lets you know something is off!
@@jaimie072 Woody skipped over it, but when Yuri was still near the surface, you hear a really weird squealing noise. Everyone I've seen discuss this case had ignored that noise, and I think his BCD failed near the surface which was *why* he started sinking
How terrifying. I could feel a lump building in my throat as I watched him walk around on the floor of the arc in the darkness. Imagining that feeling of not being able to escape, being so deep down away from everyone else, that's horrible. Please rest in peace Yuri
Im a diver, and I watched his video at least 20x. And every time I feel the pain and fear like I knew him. So so sorry for what happened. May he rest in peace
I watched this video a few times, i still can't remove of my mind the "HELP !" 3:19 that he was yelling, certainly adressed to the other divers on top of him very early in this video before he goes into a fast descent. For me something goes wrong from the start, and not due to narcosis as a lot of people are arguing for.
As a noob diver with only two short dives behind me, I watch these videos to learn that it's not all fun and games and if I want to continue (and I really do) I need to educate myself as much as possible. Thank you for this channel!
Of course this is the natural progression of watching Mr. Ballen. I seek out the actual footage. Condolences to this man and his family. Kudos on the respectful reaction.
@@WorldsOkayestGuitarPlayer I get 'youtuber' vibes off of Ballen... he's a great storyteller. But he is one of the few (apparently, coz until Shipley clears it, I'm on the fence) Navy SEALS not to do something... that actually does some good in the world, rather than rubbernecking a bunch of irl creepypastas. TH-camrs... always end up being very disappointing people, lets just put it that way. I bet your guitar playing is more than OK!
@@blacktoothfox677 yeah I can't argue there. The stories are what get me reeled in. It's better than an AI voice haha. Thanks for the compliment too BTW 😊
@@blacktoothfox677 He was running a huge non-profit centered around getting veterans transitional help when they retire. The TH-cam/tiktok thing is more recent. He got some seal flak because he was originally coming at tiktok/youtube as a ‘former seal’. That’s why it’s downplayed and not referenced very much on his channel. If I’m remembering correctly, the charity is still going strong with a new CEO.
Yea, but you gotta imagine the price, his mother watching it over and over again. I think I would have considered smashing it right there in front of her, even if it made me seem evil at that very moment, even if it was not my right. It's just cruel that she has to keep that.
@@ChrisCoombes harsh as it is, if that video saved even one life it is worth whatever sorrow the mother went through. it would be more cruel to trade a life for someones sense of comfort. It is the mothers right to have that if she wants, not someone elses right to take that from her.
Btw toward the end when he was moving around a bunch, he was holding on to the floor resisting the drag, since he was being dragged out of the bottom of the arch into a 3000 feet drop off
@@SalveRegina8 oh I don’t know much about cave diving either, I was just really interested in this case so I did a bunch of research, but I’m guessing that the reason he was being pulled deeper is because of his weight, and at that depth he was like no buoyancy so it’s be like impossible swims back up. Anyways I’m not a professional diver at all I just did research
How does that make sense? They found the body where the video ends. If he had to fight the current dragging to a drop off, it would’ve got him when he died.
This is quite possibly the most distressing event I've ever researched. Somethig about the fact that he was simply trying to have a bit of fun and died in the dark, alone, and extremely intoxicated with no way out really gets to me. Rest in peace, Yuri.
Diving is a lot like flying. You would never attempt to fly a quad engine passenger jet when you've only ever been trained on gliders. The dive Yuri tried to do is not inherently deadly if he had the right equipment and training.
We dove it recreationally just a few weeks ago. The guides are great but you have to be a good diver. We did not exceed limits, which is key. We had a guide, a plan, and watched out for one another. It is a beautiful site. It was a beautiful dive. Our visibility was not the best that day, but it was a wonderful experience. Be smart and stay within your limits.
When I first saw this video it legitimately traumatised me. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I am glad that his tragedy is being used as a warning and opportunity for education. I agree, it is a dangerous dive site that is far too easy to access.
I had the same issue, it really affected me afterwards and couldn't stop thinking of him. I mean really it's a very benign video, but knowing what was happening just makes it terrifying
There’s tons of ways to kill yourself with easy access, it wouldn’t change too much besides make things difficult for people who do things properly. People like him would go there illegally etc, too many cases of that.
The malfunction was that he tried to use the BC for lift before releasing his weights, so it was counterproductive. He couldn’t lift because his weights were holding him down. So I would definitely say he was either very confused, very panicked, or both.
@@persom017 from the sounds of dive talk he was too narked to properly think clearly. He probably thought he did or try to ditch the weights but his mind was too cloudy that he couldn’t think straight. I think he tried to but was too confused and didn’t realize he was narked
I'm not a diver myself, but I am glad this video is respectfully being used as a way to educate and warn other divers from meeting the same painful death. My condolence to Yuri, his mother, and his family.
I still feel bad for Yuri, despite him ignoring the many warnings he was given. He probably knew he was dead when he touched the bottom and saw his depth. I mean the speed at which he sank to his death so quickly after beginning his dive is chilling. It almost looks like he went into a trance, enjoying the calm of the water to suddenly wake up in the dark alone under the pressure of the deep, dying. RIP Yuri ❤️
That's the narcosis talking ..I think most divers who aren't trained professionally don't recognize the effects of narcosis until its way too late. I've heard it give you certain euphoria in an altered state, then it can turn very scary 😢
@@claretheworm I have had narcosis as a kid, it is nothing like being drunk at all. It's very much like floating in the sky, so it probably can feel very good and relaxing on some divers that experience it. And every professional divers might not notice until it's too late. If you have ever take psychedelics you will know how the feeling is. You feel fine, then you are like: Am I getting high? no its normal, then without knowing it you are tripping balls. There is no clear transition. It just happens kinda.
When he asked the dive expert to take him, and the expert refused, Yuri should have really thought twice. I can't believe Yuri was an instructor and didn't understand that he was literally diving to his death.
It's shocking how similar diving deep and climbing high are. Pushing limits, getting to the bottom/top with nothing left to get back, narcosis/hypoxia and the confusion and poor decision making it brings. So many sad stories from the depths and the peaks.
im just an open water (padi) diver and the deepest I've ever gone was 30m for a wreck. The way the colors fade, its hard imagining even wanting to be that far down, but I really appreciated how you talked about this. This was hard but I think helpful to watch
yeah, im open water thru padi too. i prefer snorkling tbh, but if i dive, i usually dont go more than 6-7 meters. i enjoy the videos and much respect to those that go beyond
Had a mates neighbour who was a dive master, and it was so interesting to talk 2 him. He was in charge of the gasses and the divers in the bell. To hear him speak about the training, experience and skills needed to dive those depths was insane. I'm srry this man died but, never go against professional advice ever.
lol thats not a dive master. thats a saturation LST. life support technician. two very different things my friend. ones a professional and the other one is a kid who knows next to nothing.
Don’t trust water, respect it. A single tank?! That was a death sentence from the very beginning. There is a reason that sunlight does not reach that far, it’s not meant for human life. I feel like my mom would have done the same. At least to figure out how here baby, that she brought into this world, left this world.
Yup it’s all about respect. People die in the ocean because of disrespecting how unforgiving it can be. Why would he deny proper training and do this dive anyways. That’s an accident waiting to happen
All the insights really added perspective - about the labored breathing, the speed you could see he was descending at, the possible halocline and therefore the improper weighting… wow.
The pressure you feel in a pool is because with your head above the water you're breathing in air which has surface level pressure, while your chest is underwater, experiencing a higher pressure. The water is pressing against your chest forcing the air back out which makes it harder to breath and causes the feeling of a weight sitting on your chest. If you're diving you're breathing in air at the pressure of the depth you're at and that's why you don't feel a difference.
I have a habit of putting myself in other people's shoes a lot of the time, which isn't a bad thing until I watch things such as this. I can only imagine the absolute terror this man experienced as he sank toward the ocean floor and it makes me want to shed a tear. I just hope that after all the pain he felt that his last moments were painless and was able to come to terms with his fate. Rest in peace Yuri.
If it's any use, or even closure, most people who drown tend to be unconscious after 2 mouthfuls of water. So his suffering would be around 30 seconds maximum, and hopefully the nitrogen narcosis made him so delirious that it somewhat numbed an aspect of his suffering.
I dove the Blue Hole to 180 ft once on regular air. What I still don't understand is he had to have known immediately that he was in a full descent. Normally when in descent, you'd add additional air to your BCD to create neutral buoyancy. He never did this...unless there was a malfunction with his BCD. When that happens you have to drop your weight, camera gear, etc. but I think full panic set in on this guy and sadly he lost his life. Terrible tragedy.
Found this in my recommendations and I am now subscribed. My parents always recount with horror their recreational diving experience in Thailand with a group and an instructor, how they were guided into some cave systems and the current threw them all against the walls and dragged them along... thank God they are still here today and no one died that day.
I wouldn't feel bad at all to discover the video. His mother not only wanted it but knows exactly how her son died. There is some closure in that believe it or not. She knows exactly what happened and how. There is no guess work, there is no worrying about what happened. She is now somewhat at peace about this death. RIP Yuri.
Yeah instead the last thing you have is a video of watching your son frantically try to do anything to save himself as he loses consciousness and drowns. That's the last experience of his life and the last record of him you have. I would never get closure if I lose someone this way.
Thank you for taking the time to explain what was happening as it was happening... This was so sad and hard to watch. Feel bad for the guy who told him twice, it's too dangerous, then had to retrieve this body. Just stupid on the part of anyone who tries to do this ill equipt and without all the proper training...rest in peace.
I’m a dive instructor, recreational only, and the deepest I’ve ever gone is 110’. At that depth, even on nitrox, I only stayed around 5 min. because (although all dives are decompression dives) I don’t want to have to make a deco stop on my ascent. Also, I think a lot of divers don’t know the difference between a decompression stop and a safety stop. Anyway, Other than cave diving, I don’t understand why people want to go deeper? There’s absolutely nothing to see at that depth. Were on a wreck and that’s the only reason we dove that deep. I say all that, to say even if he could have began to ascend, he wouldn’t have enough air to make one deco stop, much less the 5 or 6 or maybe even more that would be required at that depth. His body was sucking nitrogen in like crazy at that depth and to rid the body of that, he would need several deco stops. His only option (if he could ascend) would be to go straight up and that would have killed him also! I just don’t understand people! I’ve been diving since 1990 and I still, to this day am very careful and have a dive plan the night before. I probably miss a lot of wildlife when diving because I’m constantly checking my computer to ensure I’m keeping within the limits of my dive. I believe a lot of divers feel after they’re certified in open water, the danger isn’t as bad/real. Diving is the most awesome/incredible thing I’ve ever done and I absolutely love it, but you have to keep how dangerous it can be in the back of your mind at all times. At least that’s my opinion…
Sounds like diving is a lot like owning a firearm. It is more then perfectly safe and will never hurt you. So long as you follow the rules. I make this compression because it seems you really have to respect the water, and EVERY FOOT you descend. I’m a land lubber, so this is the only way I can relate :/
@@billbrooke4355 that’s definitely (other than cave diving) a great reason to dive deep. I can’t imagine the skill level required to dive that deep! Also, I can’t imagine the level of trust you need to take others that deep with you! I imagine is was very exciting to see those two huge bits of history!
I’m an open water diver, although I haven’t dove in 25 years. I was told that N2 narcosis happens at a specific depth for each person. My dive master used to get narced at 80’. When we were doing our advanced open water and had to go to 120’ she, our diver master, would quickly swim through 80’ to get to a deeper depth avoiding the narcosis. You mention that he was narced at his depth, which makes sense to me. Being at 330+ feet is just nuts for a rec diver on air. Hell with mixed gas I would not even attempt that depth. He had no business being anywhere below 60’. Very sad story.
The blue hole is actually a safe diving site, relatively, according to most experienced divers like Tarek Omar. It's just that a lot of people visit it with hopes of crossing the Arch, and they have limited time in the country, so they rush it, and as in Yuri's case, being a diving instructor or having enough dives under your belt gives you a dose of overconfidence that can be lethal. He actually had a diving partner, I think when you said 'there are still divers within sight' or something like that while fast forwarding, there was one diver, and that was his partner, who by the way was definitely an irresponsible diver from around who agreed to partner up with him under the circumstances. He lost sight of him, and started dropping. I think one divemaster from an agency(H2O, I believe) there harshly named the top reason for death in the Blue Hole as 'stupidity', and as harsh as that sounds, as a new diver myself, I think it will keep ringing with me as I learn, to never be overconfident, never be stupid. The first time I watched this and read the story, it broke my heart that his mother would have that footage of him, and I'm certain she'll watch it again, she won't be able to help it. And empathizing with how it would feel to be at the bottom, all alone just gets you, though I hope being so narked made it painless for him.
what if his death was planned to bring attention and money to this small arabic place in the middle of nowehere. Knowing it would go viral after they simply fetch the video after letting him sink. Purposely misguiding him. I dunno, this whole thing seems fishy
@@Mallemusen1000 dude stfu accusing people he was advised not to dive there because he got no background the people didnt help him it was his own decision. stop being an idiot and do some research.
if I was her I wouldn't be able to do anything but watch it religiously, just imagining myself in her shoes is just a thought that makes me cry instantly... it's so sad to think about it... the struggle at the end is someone who desperately needs someone else, and a proper mother always wants to be there for her child... I feel so horrible for her, not many people have footage of their child dying, for good reason. I'd never be able to get through it, I hope she's okay.
I dove for a few years and the deepest I ever reached was 135 feet. What I noticed most was how loud the air was when inhaling. Down that deep (4.5 atm), the air is four times denser (and using it four times as fast). Hearing the loud hiss in this video told me he was getting pretty deep... and it's dark. I kept a close watch on both my air and depth, and only was there for maybe a minute. For me, all the interesting stuff to see is less than 50 feet (where there's better color), but I'm no pro.
Correct me if I’m wrong here I’m not entirely sure but I am pretty sure that the reason why the air was so loud was because your regulator works extremely hard to take in that air
I’m a rec diver and I agree; I’ve been as deep as 137 ft. at the Blue Hole in Belize and I was definitely narced. I began to feel it and then got the giggles, so I immediately turned and headed back up. I know my thinking was impaired by that short time at depth because I almost swam into the propellers of the boat just below the surface without even realizing it. Thankfully my dive guide saw me, grabbed me and prevented a tragedy.
This is the second time I’ve watched this video. The first time I didn’t understand a lot of your comments. Since then I’ve watched a lot of your videos and because of all the technical information you provide, I understand everything you’re talking about this time. I appreciate you sharing the wealth. Non-diver from Aus.
My brother is a diver. Certified for sea and fresh water. But I know, if something happened, he would want his dive partner to bring him to the surface for his family. But he knows his limits. He would never dive beyond what he knows he can do. Thank you for sharing this video. Dive Safe. From a former Paramedic in Ontario, Canada, Jenn. 💖 🇨🇦
If you look into his death, Mr ballen explains it very well, he wanted to dive the blue hole and the arch b4 he went back home but wasn't experienced enough and and the class to do it was going take to long and he asked many many instructors to help him and teach him but no one would in one day so he went alone, and had massive weight problems and was on regular air and missed the arch opening and just sank
Yeah it's very sad. Unfortunately the man who recovered his body was the one that warned him not to do it multiple times. Omar has recovered 20+ bodies from people missing the arch, very sad. The spot is a deadly mix of circumstances, nowhere close to being one of the toughest spots in the world but that makes people think its attainable without the proper training.
@@kingyonis5182 It isn’t a difficult dive if you know what you’re doing. The arch and blue hole have decent visibility, it’s impossible to get lost like in underwater caves, and so long as you have the proper equipment and training swimming down through the arch and back up is fairly easy. What kills people isn’t that it’s a complicated tough dive, it’s that they are inexperienced with equally inexperienced fellow divers accompanying them, not trained, wrong equipment, too cocky, and ultimately just gross negligence with a false sense of confidence in their ability as divers. On top of all that the arch is deceptive in the sense that it seems a lot closer than it appears, and is a lot wider than it seems. It’s 30 meters long to swim through it, on top of having to first swim down to it and then back up after going through. With the equipment a lot of those lost divers are using they aren’t even supposed to be going deep enough to reach the arch, let alone go through it.
if you go deep enough into under water caves, eventually there is no more oxygen. At that depth everything stays preserved. So if you drown at that depth your body will stay preserved. Its the reason divers dive so deep, to find things from history or old civilizations in the nonoxygenated zone, fully preserved for thousands of years,
there are multiple bodies where this video took place. They just lie there, many too decomposed to be bothered to take out. At least they might serve as a warning. There is a video of someone finding 3 bodies here on youtube.
I've never ever watched a diving video I know absolutely nothing about it but I swear I could listen to you talk about it all day long! 😂 You just have a very calm tone!
I am so glad I have found this channel, the last couple days I have randomly become obsessed with free diving videos and scuba videos. It's very reassuring to hear an experienced diver give their take on these videos, as it stops me speculating. Keep up the good work and for goodness sake don't get yourself killed!
I really hope when he was "narc" that he was not aware he was going to die and had found some kind of euphoria. I'm not a diver so I don't know the different gases involved in diving. Sad but very interesting.
Judging by the amount of silt thrown around, and his reaction once he was on the bottom, not really. He was full panic, and during a dive, panic is your worst enemy. Sorry, but that’s just my observation.
@@JohnJones-iq7uj your right, I just thought that being 'narc' would feel like being drunk or stoned but I'm sure there's not enough beers or weed in the world is going to distort the horror of drowning. Until I developed gills I'll not be diving anytime soon!. 👾🏴
I am no diver! I live in Wyoming the absolute furthest from any water I could be. But I do believe that he already knew he was screwed when he seen the slope (floor)at the bottom.
From what I've read about it, he was attempting a "bounce dive" in which you see how quick you can descend and make it back up... Yuri and some of his diving circle would always try and one up each other.
Reminds me of this guy from China who used to go on top of large buildings and do stunts withought a harness or any safety measures. Until he went to one but wasn't allowed on top of roof of the building so had to climb and when he did his trick where he hold on to the edge didn't have enough energy to climb himself back so fell to his death.
@@Ilovegrunge123 also a big part was the structure was super slippery, his legs could do nothing. He did it because of a contest in order to win money, and as far as I can tell they enjoyed his risky content so he kept on doing it...
@@Ilovegrunge123 Wait, are we talking about the same guy? The video I saw was on a 100+ meter skyscraper or something. The guy must have just turned into a pulp on impact… I mean there are many videos of people doing stupid shit like this so.
I really appreciate the way you handle difficult topics like this sad story. You educate and help people understand how easy it is to make fatal mistakes when going past their limit. You seem like a kind soul and I love watching your videos. I am not a diver and never want to dive outside of aquariums (I love fish) but I still find your content informative and inspiring
Thank you for the commentary- every time I have seen this video, I see people commenting the his breathing is NORMAL and the sounds are his equipment- Even as a person who is too scared to dive, i can inherently tell that this is the sound of someone dying-
This was the first video i ever found from you guys after it was linked on a tumblr post. So glad i watched it and checked out your other videos, theyre all incredibly informative and have helped me get over my fear of diving to a degree. The podcast has also been great for commuting to and from work, and its given me something new to bond with my brother over. Thank you guys so much for putting all this amazing content out there!
Dude I love how your comments feel genuine. Not like comments your just trying to say to add more air time. The facts you stop to point out I feel are needed. Normal behavior vs normal behavior. What anomalies you find odd. It all feels imperative to the narrative the way you portray the facts or your opinions. It's very old school and it's a breath of fresh air on TH-cam. Your also a super pure hearted person from the couple videos I've seen. You really seem to respect the fact your watching videos of someone's loved one who had died. It seems so genuine that your not just reacting to these shocking videos just because they are shocking. It really does seem these videos could save lives. So these videos can stop other from making the same mistakes. Not only is it respectful but the video is informative
See…as a mother I was there when my son came into this world. I would need to see how he went out. I get how people would want that but I would need it for closure.
LIKE THE TITANIC 1912 - The BIBLE says: "It is appointed once for men to die ... BUT after this is the judgement" Hebrews 9:27. We have an appoinment with DEATH. How and when is unknown. The wise person will trust, accept and believe that Jesus is the Son of GOD who died oiin the cross to give you eteranl life. Trust Him before it is too late and death takes you to the depths of the abyss - hell. The center of the earth. Eternal life ==-->>>>> John 3:16
@@JohnPiperBoots do you read Greek & Aramaic? I do. Did you know the letters that were grafted together & condensed to make the Bible are in shreds? That translators guessed at the missing parts? That the Bible has been edited hundreds of times by everyone from governments to kings to clergy to suit their needs? That none of the dozens of versions of the Bible we have today even remotely resemble the original papers and CANT bc they are in SHREDS. lost to the ages? No? Well the do so studying before you preach to me asshole.
This was a sad, but very educational video. I hope that good can come out of this by educating future divers of this location, thus saving many other lives in the process through avoidance and adequate precautions taken
Today i have dived to 40m (131ft) for the first time and experiened "light" (from my perspective) narcosis with eupheria and slow reactions, i had enough brain left to notice how dangerous in a situation i was even though i was with 4 instructors, diving deep is not worth it to me, i'd very much be much happier diving at shallower depths and enjoying myself, i won't ever accept to myself to dive any deeper than that ever without trimix, even though i today i have became a CMAS 3 star diver and wanting to become i trimix CCR deep diver, i have a long road to go. Stay safe know your limits and respect them.
What always terrified me about this video are the panicked looks at his computer. The helpless feeling of dread and fear when he saw those numbers was something no one should ever experience.
Does anyone else notice his heart pulsing out his chest as he’s hearing Yuriy struggle to breathe.. I can only imagine the flashbacks or discomfort this man was experiencing watching this, my respects to you both
I’m glad I found Dive Talk had reacted to this- I watched this video in its entirety, & had NO IDEA what anything was, or WHAT was happening!!! I’m very glad Woody didn’t edit out the fatality at the end like we are children.
I disagree with the recovery diver. I believe his mother wanted to see her son’s final moments to have a sense of conclusion and to feel that she was with him in the end.
I agree with you. It was not his decision or business to destroy the video and I'm glad he didn't. Everyone is different some people need detailed knowledge of the tragedy of a loved one to help them process and cope. If it were me, the "not knowing" would have gnawed at me and i would've driven me crazy. I think his mother needed that information so that she could grieve, process her emotions and the incident and help attain closure down the road.
Back when I was diving and doing my technical training my instructor let me get narcd to feel it. I had to keep telling myself to keep the reg in my mouth, it was a spooky feeling. I decided after that, that deep tech was not for me and went back to my airplanes.
@@Coltensreefing my instructor told me about a dive where he realised that an experienced diver had suddenly and unexpectedly gone into narcosis - he saw him pull his reg out and was trying to offer it to some passing fish. He had to swim over and put his reg back in and pull him up a couple of meters, at which point the narcosis subsided. Scary stuff.
I know my limits ...water to the knee and then I turn around and come out
I went and did scuba a couple times, I went to 10m and it freaked me out. Kinda cool tho
I aloso know my limits.... Shower
@@crazybongo5684 stop trying to swim ?
@@tehmassy why not encourage him/her to LEARN how to swim rather than discouraging it completely. Cant save yourself from drowning if you can’t swim. Just sayin... lol
@@Stephaniemickle no one was being serious Mrs.Mickle as you can see he replied
A sad fact is he went to local dive experts in this area, and he was told several times they would not take him down to the arch. They all told him he did not have enough experience or the correct equipment for this dive. They offered to help him get the training he needed, but he was too impatient to wait. It's sad and needless, he would have survived and taken the advice of the dive experts in the area.
That's correct. But this is standard behavior on the Dive industry and more specifically Dive Pros...most dive pros think they know everything and they can do anything, this is why so many deaths are avoidable but instructors will continue to die needlessly unfortunately.
He didn't have time for the course as he was leaving in 2 days and wanted to do it. I wonder who the guys diving with him were. hy have they not spoken out and why didn't they warn him?
@@DIVETALK true, i work in a dive equipment store in Bali and so many instructor here dont really do their job or not educated properly. for example i had an instructor, a licensed instructor asked what the advantages of nitrox or whats the use of deco stop that hes been doing all the time. he just been told to do it by his instructor and not had been properly educated why.
@@DIVETALK A combination of things, DAN put out some stats indicating instructors and up are the highest accident demographic in the dive industry because of the TARZAN mentality. The next issue is that there was a time (not the OLD SCHOOL was great nonsense) where a instructor candidate could actually fail his instructor course. Today the registration is completed even before the final adjudication to enable an awards ceremony at the end of the course. The level across agencies has slowly become weaker and weaker. WEAK instructors training the next round of weak instructors.( Too long a discussion to have on this platform)
@Gal De Som How do you know he dived alone?
For anyone new to diving or who doesn't know, Yuri dove to 115+ meters (375 feet). Narcosis on regular air really starts to set in at about 30 meters (98 feet) and starts to significantly impede cognitive and motor function at about 40 meters (130 feet). This dude dove nearly 3 times the max depth for regular air.
@SteveQ That's really scary. Glad you made it out safely!
I almost wonder if this guy had a death wish. He was definitely experiencing nitrogen narcosis but you would think his survival instincts would have kicked in sooner and told him, “Go back. Go. Back.”
@@bizmonkey007 unless he had a balloon or something to propel him up, at that depth with the weight of that gear he pretty much can't go back. When he realized his depth, he realized his death.
@@bizmonkey007 why do drunk people do stupid shit? because they are impaired and aren't thinking straight. they compare nitrogen narcosis to a drunken state so obviously he's not going to be thinking properly. and the lower the depth the harder it is to come up. The video also doesn't account for knowledge of whether his gear was malfunctioning or not and if his boyancy device isn't working it won't matter whether he wants to come up or not. It's not that simple hence why professional divers only get taught depths of 40m. anything below that is extra certification. not to mention the lack of gear this guy had. he was reaching depths that shouldn't be made on a singe cylinder kit. you need a rebreather at lower depths.
Did he not have anything to tell him he was going too far?
bottom line: don’t dive if multiple (certified!) people tell you NO. yuri’s death was 100% preventable. rest in peace
True
Sounds like this was a self harm mission, no? There were so many things he did that crossed the boundaries of "abort", "surface"
Sounds more like someone confident pushing their limits.
@@3_up_moon Have you watched the source video? He screams "help" approx. 3 minutes in when he was still at a safe depth.
yeah, definitely a bummer but didnt have to happen. noone is above safety, especially when it comes to diving.
im just curious, the bends aren't always fatal, i feel like if youre going to drown/die anyway, maybe should have a rapid inflation balloon you can trigger to rocket up to the surface & detach weights? I mean its definitely risky and you might still be screwed but id say your odds are still better than being stuck at the bottom..since hes using regular air and not a mixture, wouldnt there not even be a risk? idk im not well versed
The strangest aspect of this video has always been the fact that there's no obvious breaking point where you can see things transition from 'normal' to 'dangerous.' Everything seems perfectly fine, there are divers around him one minute... then before you even realize what's happening, he's all alone struggling to breathe while sinking deeper into the black abyss. I think most people expect to see the point where the diver notices something is wrong... and it just isn't there. Quite eerie to watch.
He fast forwarded it
That just shows how fast shit can hit the fan Underwater.
If You watch the entire video, there is a point where he is behind other divers, and suddenly starts decending very quickly. As if his BCD failed suddenly.
Around the 3 minute mark of yuri's video, its been determined you can hear him try to inflate his neck bouy, but it malfunctions or something. This is while other divers are still in the frame so the last 4 minutes of the video he already knows it's all gone wrong.
Yeah, it's almost would be like watching a frog being slowly boiled a live in water. It's so gradually, by the time danger set in. It's too late. "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
Listening to him struggle and whimper while trying to breathe and then hitting the bottom, looking at his wrist and realizing that he wasn't going to make it out made me cry. I can only imagine how his mother felt watching this video. Regardless of his choice to go against professional advice and severe warnings against doing the dive, I still have sympathy for the fact that a mother lost her son and this is the last glimpse of him she ever got. Sometimes people make choices that lead to their death, but I don't think that lessens the sorrow and empathy we should have for others' losses.
EPIC COMMENT
It seems to me that narcosis would have eased his death, he would have been completely out of touch with reality. The squeeks we could hear would have been from such high pressures combined with the little air he had left. At some point he might have enough clarity to recognize the peril he was in; that wouldn't have lasted very long though. The movements/thrashing that we heard at the end would have been seizures, Yuri very likely was unconscious at the end. He wouldn't have felt anything, I nearly drowned once and my experience was that my chest burned from holding my breath. That actually didn't last very long, and after that was such calm *peace* ---- the kind people meditate or turn to drugs to find. I really think that his last video is harder on us (and absolutely on his family!!) than on him.
Whatever the truth of Yuri's last moments, it was mercifully brief.
This might be the most nuanced response to this incident I’ve seen, 1000% agreed
@@Stephanie-we5ep Is that true? i heard drowning is one of the most painful things only until your lungs are filled with water than it is less painful..
@@michaeldeww I'm not sure what science has to say about drowning, I'm sharing my experience is all. To this day I remember the calm that came over me.
I went here as a teenager with my family to just snorkel. Absolutely stunning, went out in a jeep with three German men all in their late 20s wanting to dive. We were told over and over that you could see the arch but it's much deeper than you think and there's no way in hell you'd reach it without proper equiptment. They have a signs all over saying that it's deadly and you should just stick to depth unless you're very well trained.
I remember clear as day that the three men went out just before lunch, deciding to do the dive first and then relax and swim after. They all went down and its probably barely 7 or 8 minutes later when one of the guys come up effing and blinding that one of his mates decided to go further. Everyone got this look, it was just chilling. The other guy stayed in the water at his max depth. There were guys in the full equipment ready to go in and hopefully get him when the other two men popped up out of the water, the friend holding the idiot by the back of his tank. Immediately people were screaming at him, and the dude was clearly off, crying and panicking and his face was grey. The guy dumped all of his weights and luckily got back to his mate before he got too incoherent, and that saved him. He was close. No one went in the water after that. I rarely dive but seeing that made me terrified of deep and blank ocean and I couldn't ever go back.
Holy shit talk about trauma
god that's hell of a story. amazing and so lucky his friend managed to save his life. but bloody terrifying
That's called respect of the ocean. Everyone should feel this, especially anyone deciding to dive in it.
@@TheGreatSpl00ge Amen, we know more about and have conducted more research on outer space than the ocean for a reason. I've seen some divers refer to the ocean as "inner space" and it's a fitting name.
@@JohnDoeWasntTaken Agreed seeing as how we've only explored 20% of the ocean.
What’s really sad is the fact that he was told by several instructors that he’d need two weeks of training and the right equipment and he still did it anyway 🤦🏼♀️
Really stupid is more like it.
Sadly, you sometimes just can’t fix stupid. Such a waste of a life.
His poor family. 😢🥺
@@Caninecancersucksrocks did what? Lots of open water divers dive part of that site very safely. I might be wrong, but it doesn't appear he tried to dive the arch (which catches a lot out) and I doubt very much he was planning to bounce to 115m. Something has gone wrong and he's been unable to maintain buoyancy but I doubt it's as simple as being overweighted as most BCDs can provide quite a bit of lift and it's hard to overweight that much (although I'm sure that could have been a contributing factor)... That said, at 115m his only chance was to ditch the weight (which he didn't do). But I suspect he's had some sort of BCD failure and lost control of his buoyancy and couldn't regain it.
Fucking idiot
You watched @MrBallen didn't you lol
The Blue Hole is no joke. As an Egyptian, I have been to the Blue Hole 3 times at least when in Dahab. Every time I see the plaques with the names of divers who died there, it is very chilling for me. May they rest in peace.
21 years later and this still haunts me. I will always ask myself what happened at the beginning. 2min in , he’s still at the surface. Then a bewildering uncontrollable descent. Such a tragedy. I’d never hit that site as a rescue diver. I know my limits.
From what I've read, it seems that his buoyancy compensator (kind of like a vest that can inflate more or less, which helps in controlling how you float) failed after a certain depth, meaning there was nothing keeping him afloat or nothing that could help him ascend again. He just was a person with a lot of weight that was pulling him down without any control. He also was unaware of all this happening because of nitrogen narcosis, which was made worse by the fact that he was probably using a mix in his tank that wasn't the proper for this kind of dives. His fate was already sealed, and he only noticed this when he hit rock bottom and checked his monitor. Truly terrifying.
@Álvaro Terrasa Wow! So he couldn’t go up even if he wanted to because he was a big guy? Is that what happened? It’s so confusing. He just keeps going and going. Terrifying!
@@BS-dq1kz it wasn’t he’s weight it was the weight of his equipment. He had oxygen tanks, he’s camera, and battery’s.
@@itssweet2125 He only had 1 oxygen tank but he also had other weights and huge camera that most likely brought him down.
@@riann7707 why wouldn’t he just drop the camera and extra shit tho. Material things are easily replaceable. Ur life isn’t, so when he realized he couldn’t go back up I don’t get why he didn’t just start removing items
I get a headache when i dive all the way down to the bottom of a 9ft pool, I can’t even imagine how horrific this would be.
Yes it continues to blow my mind when I think of this tragedy.
you have to equalize your ears, before it starts to hurt, pinch your nose and blow through it. headache solved, this is basic diving know-how for pressure, kind of how you do in airplanes.
@@PAC2k00 Serious question! Is it supposed to be painful when you "pop" your ears to equalize the pressure?! I feel like I could never dive because if I need to do this constantly to do so, I would be in too much pain. I never asked anyone before, but I wonder if you feel the pain!
@Sailing Too Short thank you for your answer!
@@PAC2k00 my doctor told me never to do that? He said to only swallow or chew. I have the same problem as the original commenter. I always felt like my ears were going to explode every time a plane landed or took off. It hurts so bad. I never grew out of it that much, but I found these special earplugs that equalize the pressure somehow!
Tbh at that depth, with the knowledge that you’re going to drown shortly and staring down into the bottomless drop below.. it’s better that he was narced out of his mind. I couldn’t imagine being fully lucid in that moment. Much better to be confused and not fully knowing what’s happening then to go through that cognitive and aware. Rest In Peace Yuri.
Is it though? When you're doomed, you're doomed. When you're in terror, you're probably still shitting your pants, narced or not. At least, fully lucid, you having a fighting chance of saving yourself. At any point in that rapid descent, dropping his weights / camera / attempting to use his regulator to inflate his bcd should have been undertaken, at least until the absolute point of no chance of self-rescue had been reached.
@@NeilMalthus You don't understand, there was literally 0 chance for him.
Rapid ascent and he'd have died of the Bends or barotrauma, he didn't have enough lift to ascend, he had literally zero chance of returning to the surface alive.
It would have been so much worse to sit at the bottom, completely aware you're dying and there isn't anything you can do about it. Being Narced was a gift.
I agree with that. I would not want to be aware that I was dying, witnessing it as well as feeling it and being helpless in my own survival.@@crabmansteve6844
@@crabmansteve6844 how do you know? it can make you hallucinate aswell, you could see horrible things down there.
@@NeilMalthus He was already gone to far at that point.
The fact that his mom has the video of his death makes me terribly sad. Regardless of people saying he was arrogant and reckless he was still a human being and someone’s son. Terribly tragedy made even worse by the fact it was captured on video for his mom to see. RIP Yuri.
I completely agree and I feel so bad for his mom because she has to live with the evidence and fact that not only her son is dead but that she watched him die
As a counterpoint, it also means they were able to recover the body / know how he died. I think the pain would be alot worse if they never found his body and he was just listed as "missing", and his poor mother (family / friends) not knowing if he was kidnapped, or ran away or committed suicide. Regardless it is very tragic.
the mom must have posted it online too
@@WilliamStormXBlade88 That's true as well. Closure is a big step towards recovering and healing from the death of a loved one.
@@chronicawareness9986 I was thinking about that, and based on what I know from public knowledge, I believe the mother had to be the one who posted it. Seems wrong though.Why would she post it?
God the sound of his breathing gives me goosebumps.
Agreed. It was awful.
Horrific, absolutely horrific
Makes my chest hurt
if you listen carefully, you hear that he is breathing normally, inhaling and exhaling. i think, that sound comes from (trying) equalizing the ears holding his hose and pressing. just a guess.....
Sometimes the regulator does make These sounds.
Rec instructor and Tech DIR diver here... On minute 13:00 exactly, a thin piece of string, twisted around its own axis, fly for a second in front of the camera (use slow motion). Considering it maintains its shape constant, it is not cordino, bungee, or some kind of fabric but metal. The only piece of metal with that shape, used in a recreational equipment set up, is the spring within the "overpressure relief valves".
Every model of BCD jacket may differ about quantity and position for this valves, but there is always one on the top left shoulder and another one on your lower back next to your kidney, either left or right. This valves are screwd to the BCD as plastic soda bottle caps are. That spring lets the valve open when there is too much gas in your BCD so it dosent explode, as a balloon would, if you blow too much air in it.
I'm not going to go into detail on the possible reasons this valves malfunction or even pop out, but the fact is that if a critical malfunction happends to the one on your left shoulder you loose all the air you poor in your BCD as it is next to the intake flow. The position for this valve is on the back part of the shoulder and for some people it might not be easily accesible, hence the design includes a little string to manually open it in a more confortable way. But trust me, you are either flexible, or you are going to have a hard time reaching it to try to screw that in if it came out. Needless to say, that fixing this as falling to the deepest and darkest of abysms, narc out of your mind, is beyond anything you can expect of a recreational diver. But the fact is that when he gets to the bottom, and start trying to desperately fix whatever got him there, he reaps off this valve as i could only think you would if you consider it the source of the problem.
Another interesting fact is the descent. What is the squeaky sound? lungs or second stage membrane? why he doesnt seem to strugle and panicking? he doesnt release the camera and help himself to swim up as is the most basic human reaction? Narcosis works in strange ways... it would make you do stupid things as with a lot of alcohol but without speech and movement disabilities to warn you. Nonetheless at 100m still seems to be aware enough of the camera and try to film his computer. Who knows what he was trying to leave behind for us to witness and what where his thoughts.
Rest in peace brother. May your suffering be of reflection for all those who every day decide to go under water beyond their knowledge and capabilities.
maybe he is using the camera as light source when he looking at his computer.
Ok😂
Ok😂
It’s interesting that near the end of the video, I can hear the attempt at BCD inflation but there was none during the entire decent. Also, as a caver, a CCR diver, and a former dive shop owner, I do not have any desire to dive The Arch. It seems like such a random and arbitrary thing to. All the dangers and for what? If it’s an arch you want to see, there are lots that are much shallower. As someone who has the skills to dive deep, I rather dive shallow and then go drink beer with my friends.
I watched a documentary talking about that arch. They said that once you’re underwater, it looks close. And when divers get “narc”-ed, they opt to go deeper into that arch also because of the light, it looks closer but it’s not.
@@grecco4037 That would compound the problem for a less qualified diver who is target fixated on the Arch, versus watching their gauges. So many reasons that would make this "innocent" dive, not so innocent.
I made a point of getting technical training even though I stayed within recreational limits. The ability to switch to a redundant air source, double bladders and the knowledge to carry out decompression stops if necessary adds another layer of safety.
@@Maritime007 nice work.
I used to teach there. The arch starts around 60m. He's just gone straight to the bottom. There's a whole grave site there now as a lot of free divers use the area.
Losing air is one of my biggest fears. I’ve both nearly drowned and nearly strangled to death before and it was absolutely horrific. I can’t imagine the feeling of losing air combined with the confusion and panic of being isolated in the ocean. Truly tragic.
Get the fuck out the water and dont play with nature
drowning is the worst thing that i have ever experienced in my life, your judgement etc is completely lost as you panic and you just lose all ability to do something so simple that can prevent it but you can't think straight, it sucks.
Same here, by swimming across a river and then nearly choking to death on a bite of food. It was terrifying.
Having more air wouldnt have helped him because his heart was going to stop from the nitrogen
strangled?????? the fuck?
Tarek Omar was the man who retrieved Yuri's body and sadly enough was one of the instructors that told Yuri he needed 2 weeks training because he wasn't ready or equipped for the dive and not to do it. And the next day has to go and get him. As of 2012 he'd received more than 20 bodies from the hole but he said he stopped counting so doesn't know the real number.
I'm sure it's in the comments somewhere but haven't seen it yet.
I do feel like that some of these divers are overrestimating themselfes.
When I took my very first dive certification class years ago, one of the first things my instructor said, and repeated throughout my training was "know your limits and respect your limits" The saddest part of this for me is that it could have soooo easily been avoided.
Those are sage words to apply to your life not just diving
Don’t cave dive. It’s not worth the risk. I’m a caver and I used to dive. Know too many dead cave divers
Yuri like all zionist think the world is theirs
I nearly filmed my own death back in august with a mask mounted GoPro. Me and a buddy were doing a fast paced long distance drift dive. With a bottom made up of rocks that’s pretty much featureless we often navigate by time drifting. The current was faster than usual and so we ended up drifting into an extremely hazardous wreck. I KNEW I was in trouble as soon as I saw the wreck in the distance. My partner wasnt phased and asked my air. I informed him I was past the agreed return point but he gave the order to stay “for just a little”. Well we go up and over the wreck and duck in behind it. This wreck normally provides cover but it’s recently broken up. So instead of relative “safety” I ended up stationary against the current. Desperately low on air at this point I start looking for my exit and at the point I made my attempt to escape. During the attempt my head mounted GoPro was ripped off my head blinding me, and then the currently forced its way into my regulator causing me to take in water. After taking in a little air and BARELY keeping control and not drowning. I went into panic mode. I lost control and made a run for it. But luckily I knew exactly which way to run and I made a mad dash to shore. I never regained control, I never got my mask clear again (I made my return pretty much blind and off memory) I surfaced with virtually no air after my safety stop.
As crazy as it sounds in the moment when I felt this was the end I thought of this video and was horrified at the prospect I just filmed my own death like Yuri.
For reference I had 12 years of diving experience at this site and my dive partner 40+. Bad things can happen on even “normal” dives. I couldn’t imagine the outcome of that dive if he or I were unfamiliar with the site
Thanks for sharing your story and I'm glad you are both okay.
@@DIVETALK I’ll have to post the video, you can see the exact moment the entire dive unravels
@@Belowbluewaterdiver I'd like to see the footage. I subscribed to your channel and am looking forward to seeing it.
@@Belowbluewaterdiver so were is the video brother? Hope you are doing OK and I understand if you don't want it out there . But I would like to also get a little education on how quick things can go wrong .
@@bltn7469 seems like it was another TH-cam comment looking for clout...
Seeing him sinking to the bottom like a stone, hearing him breathe, seeing him struggle and then - nothing... This gave me such anxiety, as this must have been horrible for him. Perhaps he was not fully aware of what was going to happen, because he was so narced, but at some point in the beginning he must have noticed that something was very wrong...
Yeah that's what's strange. I normally test my BCD at the surface and/or at a low depth before commencing my dive. Did he try to inflate his when he was already pretty deep and it was too late - too last as in even with a full BCD there wasn't enough buoyancy to take him to the surface.
I’ve been narced once. Thankfully I recognized it immediately and went up about 20 feet, and it resolved. As a diver, you really need to be in tune with your body and listen to it when it lets you know something is off!
@@jaimie072 Woody skipped over it, but when Yuri was still near the surface, you hear a really weird squealing noise. Everyone I've seen discuss this case had ignored that noise, and I think his BCD failed near the surface which was *why* he started sinking
I’m still anxious…
@@LordSluggoI've seen other people noticing it
How terrifying. I could feel a lump building in my throat as I watched him walk around on the floor of the arc in the darkness. Imagining that feeling of not being able to escape, being so deep down away from everyone else, that's horrible. Please rest in peace Yuri
I rather not imagine that.
Rest In Peace Yuri ❤
Im a diver, and I watched his video at least 20x. And every time I feel the pain and fear like I knew him. So so sorry for what happened. May he rest in peace
Agree. So sad. RIP!
@@DIVETALK it is sad. I feel sorry for him. Dying alone. Poor guy.
I watched this video a few times, i still can't remove of my mind the "HELP !" 3:19 that he was yelling, certainly adressed to the other divers on top of him very early in this video before he goes into a fast descent.
For me something goes wrong from the start, and not due to narcosis as a lot of people are arguing for.
at what point did he have a chance to turn it around in your opinion? like timestamp
@cortex3535 that sound was in reality a malfunction on the buyancy
As a noob diver with only two short dives behind me, I watch these videos to learn that it's not all fun and games and if I want to continue (and I really do) I need to educate myself as much as possible. Thank you for this channel!
Of course this is the natural progression of watching Mr. Ballen. I seek out the actual footage. Condolences to this man and his family. Kudos on the respectful reaction.
So sad
@@DIVETALK I agree. I like how you didn't insult the man yet pointed out the grave errors made. Excellent video.
@@WorldsOkayestGuitarPlayer I get 'youtuber' vibes off of Ballen... he's a great storyteller. But he is one of the few (apparently, coz until Shipley clears it, I'm on the fence) Navy SEALS not to do something... that actually does some good in the world, rather than rubbernecking a bunch of irl creepypastas. TH-camrs... always end up being very disappointing people, lets just put it that way. I bet your guitar playing is more than OK!
@@blacktoothfox677 yeah I can't argue there. The stories are what get me reeled in. It's better than an AI voice haha. Thanks for the compliment too BTW 😊
@@blacktoothfox677 He was running a huge non-profit centered around getting veterans transitional help when they retire. The TH-cam/tiktok thing is more recent. He got some seal flak because he was originally coming at tiktok/youtube as a ‘former seal’. That’s why it’s downplayed and not referenced very much on his channel. If I’m remembering correctly, the charity is still going strong with a new CEO.
My diving skills are limited to the shallow end of the kiddie pool. That has kept me alive for 45 years. Very informative walk thru. Thank you! 👍
No
Terrifying, but seeing you educate people on how to not suffer the same fate is comforting. Thanks for that.
I’m sure by not flooding the camera the guy who recovered it saved lives.
Yea, but you gotta imagine the price, his mother watching it over and over again. I think I would have considered smashing it right there in front of her, even if it made me seem evil at that very moment, even if it was not my right. It's just cruel that she has to keep that.
@@basselsolomon3749 I think your view is maybe more compassionate than mine. Gives me something to think about.
@@basselsolomon3749 ah yes, destroy history because it makes you sad
@@ChrisCoombes harsh as it is, if that video saved even one life it is worth whatever sorrow the mother went through. it would be more cruel to trade a life for someones sense of comfort. It is the mothers right to have that if she wants, not someone elses right to take that from her.
@@basselsolomon3749 Coincidentally the guy who recovered Yuri's camera considered doing the same and regretted showing it to her.
Btw toward the end when he was moving around a bunch, he was holding on to the floor resisting the drag, since he was being dragged out of the bottom of the arch into a 3000 feet drop off
Wow thanks for the info.
For someone like me who knows absolutely nothing about cave diving, does drag mean the current?
@@SalveRegina8 oh I don’t know much about cave diving either, I was just really interested in this case so I did a bunch of research, but I’m guessing that the reason he was being pulled deeper is because of his weight, and at that depth he was like no buoyancy so it’s be like impossible swims back up. Anyways I’m not a professional diver at all I just did research
Wow a 3000 foot drop off. That’s horrifying.
How does that make sense? They found the body where the video ends. If he had to fight the current dragging to a drop off, it would’ve got him when he died.
This is quite possibly the most distressing event I've ever researched. Somethig about the fact that he was simply trying to have a bit of fun and died in the dark, alone, and extremely intoxicated with no way out really gets to me. Rest in peace, Yuri.
Diving is a lot like flying. You would never attempt to fly a quad engine passenger jet when you've only ever been trained on gliders. The dive Yuri tried to do is not inherently deadly if he had the right equipment and training.
It looks as if even the other divers r like what’s this idiot doing?
Everything this guy saying is true n I’m no diver or even snorkler only swimming for me I’m a land creature
We dove it recreationally just a few weeks ago. The guides are great but you have to be a good diver. We did not exceed limits, which is key. We had a guide, a plan, and watched out for one another. It is a beautiful site. It was a beautiful dive. Our visibility was not the best that day, but it was a wonderful experience. Be smart and stay within your limits.
What's down there that's so interesting? I'm just curious.
@@mrsx7944 an Arch. There is a very good documentary about the dangers of the Arch by Monty Hall. You can find it on YT
th-cam.com/video/hYuMN206Jzo/w-d-xo.html
@@mrsx7944 it is a nice shore dive with reef and fish. Going deeper is always an allure for divers.
@@mrsx7944 people are just obsessed with the idea of seeing this arch.
When I first saw this video it legitimately traumatised me. I couldn't stop thinking about it. I am glad that his tragedy is being used as a warning and opportunity for education. I agree, it is a dangerous dive site that is far too easy to access.
I had the same issue, it really affected me afterwards and couldn't stop thinking of him. I mean really it's a very benign video, but knowing what was happening just makes it terrifying
There’s tons of ways to kill yourself with easy access, it wouldn’t change too much besides make things difficult for people who do things properly. People like him would go there illegally etc, too many cases of that.
When You mimicked struggling to breathe,your dog came over to make sure you were ok, that was so cute😌
Two things I will not do “recreationally” without training
1. Spelunking
2. Spelunking underwater
Anything with water or snow should be treated that way
Those are nope, nope, nope, super nope!
The malfunction was that he tried to use the BC for lift before releasing his weights, so it was counterproductive. He couldn’t lift because his weights were holding him down. So I would definitely say he was either very confused, very panicked, or both.
I’ll go with both
@@gil658 it appears to be the case
if he did ditch the weights, he didn’t do it soon enough. once he noticed his equipment was malfunctioning, he needed to ditch the weights immediately
@@persom017 agreed
@@persom017 from the sounds of dive talk he was too narked to properly think clearly. He probably thought he did or try to ditch the weights but his mind was too cloudy that he couldn’t think straight. I think he tried to but was too confused and didn’t realize he was narked
I'm not a diver myself, but I am glad this video is respectfully being used as a way to educate and warn other divers from meeting the same painful death. My condolence to Yuri, his mother, and his family.
I still feel bad for Yuri, despite him ignoring the many warnings he was given. He probably knew he was dead when he touched the bottom and saw his depth. I mean the speed at which he sank to his death so quickly after beginning his dive is chilling. It almost looks like he went into a trance, enjoying the calm of the water to suddenly wake up in the dark alone under the pressure of the deep, dying. RIP Yuri ❤️
That's the narcosis talking ..I think most divers who aren't trained professionally don't recognize the effects of narcosis until its way too late. I've heard it give you certain euphoria in an altered state, then it can turn very scary 😢
Your other part, when you talk about trance, is what he went through... before he simply clicked off.
@@claretheworm I have had narcosis as a kid, it is nothing like being drunk at all. It's very much like floating in the sky, so it probably can feel very good and relaxing on some divers that experience it. And every professional divers might not notice until it's too late. If you have ever take psychedelics you will know how the feeling is. You feel fine, then you are like: Am I getting high? no its normal, then without knowing it you are tripping balls. There is no clear transition. It just happens kinda.
Imagine dying alone in pitch black deep sea just horrible my condolences to the family that’s harsh
So sad and horrible for sure.
its not a fun thing to experience
@@the_socompsp : I, too, have died in a pitch black sea. I now roam the Earth undead...
When he asked the dive expert to take him, and the expert refused, Yuri should have really thought twice. I can't believe Yuri was an instructor and didn't understand that he was literally diving to his death.
he was 21. That was when I was the most reckless in my life. It's around that age I think were people are the most reckless
I sometimes get panic attacks just sitting around at my house. Yeah, don’t think I’ll be trying diving.
Good to know your limits.
Same, I suffer from bouts of anxiety and depression.
Same!!
@@LiberatedMind1 What does have to do with depression
@@canofsouls2917 Depression and anxiety affect your ability to do highly involved tasks. I could also have a panic attack underwater.
It's shocking how similar diving deep and climbing high are. Pushing limits, getting to the bottom/top with nothing left to get back, narcosis/hypoxia and the confusion and poor decision making it brings. So many sad stories from the depths and the peaks.
Very similar indeed.
im just an open water (padi) diver and the deepest I've ever gone was 30m for a wreck. The way the colors fade, its hard imagining even wanting to be that far down, but I really appreciated how you talked about this. This was hard but I think helpful to watch
yeah, im open water thru padi too. i prefer snorkling tbh, but if i dive, i usually dont go more than 6-7 meters. i enjoy the videos and much respect to those that go beyond
I just signed up for padi open water! You reckon it’s pretty safe? Also can you see sea life at 30m? Just curious thanks
@@olufemi42 100%, there's life at the deepest depths...
If you're a padi open water diver then you shouldnt have exceeded 18m... and when people go beyond their limits is when things go wrong
@olufemi42 there's plenty at 30m
Had a mates neighbour who was a dive master, and it was so interesting to talk 2 him. He was in charge of the gasses and the divers in the bell. To hear him speak about the training, experience and skills needed to dive those depths was insane. I'm srry this man died but, never go against professional advice ever.
lol thats not a dive master. thats a saturation LST. life support technician. two very different things my friend. ones a professional and the other one is a kid who knows next to nothing.
Don’t trust water, respect it.
A single tank?! That was a death sentence from the very beginning. There is a reason that sunlight does not reach that far, it’s not meant for human life. I feel like my mom would have done the same. At least to figure out how here baby, that she brought into this world, left this world.
Humans weren’t meant to go in the ocean at all. There’s a reason we evolved to land mammals
Yup it’s all about respect. People die in the ocean because of disrespecting how unforgiving it can be. Why would he deny proper training and do this dive anyways. That’s an accident waiting to happen
He would drown twice faster with 2 tanks
I hear oxygen alone at those depths is toxic, and should have been mixed with other gases to avoid intoxication
Well you don't have gills you have lungs. None of it is for humans we've been on land far too long to go back
All the insights really added perspective - about the labored breathing, the speed you could see he was descending at, the possible halocline and therefore the improper weighting… wow.
You can feel the pressure on your chest in a backyard pool, I couldn't imagine the pressure at over 300 feet
You don't feel the pressure when you are breathing underwater...I feel no different in a pool vs. 200 ft in the ocean...it's kind of cool!
@@DIVETALK oh really? That is very interesting indeed haha.
The pressure you feel in a pool is because with your head above the water you're breathing in air which has surface level pressure, while your chest is underwater, experiencing a higher pressure. The water is pressing against your chest forcing the air back out which makes it harder to breath and causes the feeling of a weight sitting on your chest. If you're diving you're breathing in air at the pressure of the depth you're at and that's why you don't feel a difference.
@@marcgeh5465 ah ok man, thanks for fully explaining that
@@marcgeh5465 freedivers breathe at the surface and can go down pretty far so pressure intensifies the further they go I would imagine?
I have a habit of putting myself in other people's shoes a lot of the time, which isn't a bad thing until I watch things such as this. I can only imagine the absolute terror this man experienced as he sank toward the ocean floor and it makes me want to shed a tear. I just hope that after all the pain he felt that his last moments were painless and was able to come to terms with his fate. Rest in peace Yuri.
If it's any use, or even closure, most people who drown tend to be unconscious after 2 mouthfuls of water.
So his suffering would be around 30 seconds maximum, and hopefully the nitrogen narcosis made him so delirious that it somewhat numbed an aspect of his suffering.
I dove the Blue Hole to 180 ft once on regular air.
What I still don't understand is he had to have known immediately that he was in a full descent. Normally when in descent, you'd add additional air to your BCD to create neutral buoyancy. He never did this...unless there was a malfunction with his BCD. When that happens you have to drop your weight, camera gear, etc. but I think full panic set in on this guy and sadly he lost his life. Terrible tragedy.
Found this in my recommendations and I am now subscribed. My parents always recount with horror their recreational diving experience in Thailand with a group and an instructor, how they were guided into some cave systems and the current threw them all against the walls and dragged them along... thank God they are still here today and no one died that day.
What an awful experience. Glad they were okay! Thank you for subscribing.
I wouldn't feel bad at all to discover the video. His mother not only wanted it but knows exactly how her son died. There is some closure in that believe it or not. She knows exactly what happened and how. There is no guess work, there is no worrying about what happened. She is now somewhat at peace about this death. RIP Yuri.
Maybe because she was at his birth 🤔 I couldn't do it, though.
@@PuffKitty I don't think a mom could miss their kid's birth unless they're doofenshmirtz
My mom said hold her beer
You do not want your final memory of a loved one be them struggling and fighting for life. That shit will literally haunt you.
Yeah instead the last thing you have is a video of watching your son frantically try to do anything to save himself as he loses consciousness and drowns. That's the last experience of his life and the last record of him you have.
I would never get closure if I lose someone this way.
Thank you for taking the time to explain what was happening as it was happening... This was so sad and hard to watch. Feel bad for the guy who told him twice, it's too dangerous, then had to retrieve this body. Just stupid on the part of anyone who tries to do this ill equipt and without all the proper training...rest in peace.
Agree with your comment. Tough to watch for sure.
You can see the empathy on Woody's face. Great video dude. Thoughts go out to the family of Yuri
You can see the mannerisms of being high on crack cocaine for sure. Dude is tweeking
I’m a dive instructor, recreational only, and the deepest I’ve ever gone is 110’. At that depth, even on nitrox, I only stayed around 5 min. because (although all dives are decompression dives) I don’t want to have to make a deco stop on my ascent. Also, I think a lot of divers don’t know the difference between a decompression stop and a safety stop. Anyway, Other than cave diving, I don’t understand why people want to go deeper? There’s absolutely nothing to see at that depth. Were on a wreck and that’s the only reason we dove that deep. I say all that, to say even if he could have began to ascend, he wouldn’t have enough air to make one deco stop, much less the 5 or 6 or maybe even more that would be required at that depth. His body was sucking nitrogen in like crazy at that depth and to rid the body of that, he would need several deco stops. His only option (if he could ascend) would be to go straight up and that would have killed him also! I just don’t understand people! I’ve been diving since 1990 and I still, to this day am very careful and have a dive plan the night before. I probably miss a lot of wildlife when diving because I’m constantly checking my computer to ensure I’m keeping within the limits of my dive. I believe a lot of divers feel after they’re certified in open water, the danger isn’t as bad/real. Diving is the most awesome/incredible thing I’ve ever done and I absolutely love it, but you have to keep how dangerous it can be in the back of your mind at all times. At least that’s my opinion…
Sounds like diving is a lot like owning a firearm. It is more then perfectly safe and will never hurt you. So long as you follow the rules. I make this compression because it seems you really have to respect the water, and EVERY FOOT you descend. I’m a land lubber, so this is the only way I can relate :/
@@NotTheBomb I really like this comparison! I'll have to use it more often
@@billbrooke4355 that is a very good point!👍🏻
@@NotTheBomb that’s a really great comparison!👍🏻
@@billbrooke4355 that’s definitely (other than cave diving) a great reason to dive deep. I can’t imagine the skill level required to dive that deep! Also, I can’t imagine the level of trust you need to take others that deep with you! I imagine is was very exciting to see those two huge bits of history!
What was the saddest part was this was entirely preventable. And now this mans mother had to watch him die.
Agree
It gives me chills imagining falling down there, realizing you can't get back up, and slowly realizing you're drowning and there's nothing you can do.
Technically he didn’t fall lol
@@diosantana2659 “lol”
Ah yes, what a funny matter
I’m an open water diver, although I haven’t dove in 25 years. I was told that N2 narcosis happens at a specific depth for each person. My dive master used to get narced at 80’. When we were doing our advanced open water and had to go to 120’ she, our diver master, would quickly swim through 80’ to get to a deeper depth avoiding the narcosis. You mention that he was narced at his depth, which makes sense to me. Being at 330+ feet is just nuts for a rec diver on air. Hell with mixed gas I would not even attempt that depth. He had no business being anywhere below 60’. Very sad story.
The blue hole is actually a safe diving site, relatively, according to most experienced divers like Tarek Omar. It's just that a lot of people visit it with hopes of crossing the Arch, and they have limited time in the country, so they rush it, and as in Yuri's case, being a diving instructor or having enough dives under your belt gives you a dose of overconfidence that can be lethal.
He actually had a diving partner, I think when you said 'there are still divers within sight' or something like that while fast forwarding, there was one diver, and that was his partner, who by the way was definitely an irresponsible diver from around who agreed to partner up with him under the circumstances.
He lost sight of him, and started dropping.
I think one divemaster from an agency(H2O, I believe) there harshly named the top reason for death in the Blue Hole as 'stupidity', and as harsh as that sounds, as a new diver myself, I think it will keep ringing with me as I learn, to never be overconfident, never be stupid.
The first time I watched this and read the story, it broke my heart that his mother would have that footage of him, and I'm certain she'll watch it again, she won't be able to help it. And empathizing with how it would feel to be at the bottom, all alone just gets you, though I hope being so narked made it painless for him.
what if his death was planned to bring attention and money to this small arabic place in the middle of nowehere. Knowing it would go viral after they simply fetch the video after letting him sink. Purposely misguiding him. I dunno, this whole thing seems fishy
@@Mallemusen1000 dude stfu accusing people he was advised not to dive there because he got no background the people didnt help him it was his own decision. stop being an idiot and do some research.
@@Mallemusen1000 it was already well known. Go to hell with this thinly veiled Islamaphobic take.
@@Mallemusen1000 ok.
if I was her I wouldn't be able to do anything but watch it religiously, just imagining myself in her shoes is just a thought that makes me cry instantly... it's so sad to think about it... the struggle at the end is someone who desperately needs someone else, and a proper mother always wants to be there for her child... I feel so horrible for her, not many people have footage of their child dying, for good reason. I'd never be able to get through it, I hope she's okay.
God the sounds he made while descending as it got harder and harder to breathe are disturbing. Condolences to the mom.
My opinion is those sounds are him trying to equalize the pressure in his ears
@@weswoodworth4604 i hope you’re right, otherwise those sounds are haunting
Nothing to do with him trying to equalise he's trying inflate his BCD
He was breathing panicked, but the sounds are him crying because he knew he was in trouble.
I dove for a few years and the deepest I ever reached was 135 feet. What I noticed most was how loud the air was when inhaling. Down that deep (4.5 atm), the air is four times denser (and using it four times as fast). Hearing the loud hiss in this video told me he was getting pretty deep... and it's dark. I kept a close watch on both my air and depth, and only was there for maybe a minute. For me, all the interesting stuff to see is less than 50 feet (where there's better color), but I'm no pro.
Correct me if I’m wrong here I’m not entirely sure but I am pretty sure that the reason why the air was so loud was because your regulator works extremely hard to take in that air
I’m a rec diver and I agree; I’ve been as deep as 137 ft. at the Blue Hole in Belize and I was definitely narced. I began to feel it and then got the giggles, so I immediately turned and headed back up. I know my thinking was impaired by that short time at depth because I almost swam into the propellers of the boat just below the surface without even realizing it. Thankfully my dive guide saw me, grabbed me and prevented a tragedy.
I can understand why his mum wanted the footage. I would too. Not knowing would be even worse.
10:11 Dog appears when dog senses person is feeling intensity and anxiety. Dogs are amazing. Your dog is good.
at 18:09 too just from emulating the breaths like in the video. Doggo for sure thinks something is wrong. I love dogs man..
This is why I love animals ❤
Watching this I can see his jacket pulsing really fast with his heart beats.
it's the most respectful decision to give yuri's mother the closure no matter how painful and no matter how people think she shouldn't be seeing that.
This is the second time I’ve watched this video. The first time I didn’t understand a lot of your comments. Since then I’ve watched a lot of your videos and because of all the technical information you provide, I understand everything you’re talking about this time. I appreciate you sharing the wealth. Non-diver from Aus.
That was so hard to watch, his breathing was scary.
I know. It was hard for me to even comment.
It is good to see footage like this. It grounds our perspective and helps us realize our own mortality when performing dangerous feats like this.
Even to a layman, this was incredibly informative. Thank you for this analysis
Thank you for watching!
This video was terrifying the first time that I saw it, but watching a professional react to it made me completely scared stiff
The sound he lets out after looking at his computer and seeing the depth chills me. It's almost like a muffled "scream"
it’s so fucking hard to just even watch. i couldn’t imagine having to go through this. rip yuri.
Made me very thankful for my couch and free air. Humans don't belong in the ocean. Just like fish don't belong in the open air.
@@mrsx7944 all he had to do to prevent this was make good choices.
@@mrsx7944 This is just like saying humans don't belong in the air when referring to planes. It's just anti progress
He was warned but didn't listen.
I'm shaking bro it's so sad...
My brother is a diver. Certified for sea and fresh water. But I know, if something happened, he would want his dive partner to bring him to the surface for his family. But he knows his limits. He would never dive beyond what he knows he can do. Thank you for sharing this video. Dive Safe. From a former Paramedic in Ontario, Canada, Jenn. 💖 🇨🇦
If you look into his death, Mr ballen explains it very well, he wanted to dive the blue hole and the arch b4 he went back home but wasn't experienced enough and and the class to do it was going take to long and he asked many many instructors to help him and teach him but no one would in one day so he went alone, and had massive weight problems and was on regular air and missed the arch opening and just sank
Yeah it's very sad. Unfortunately the man who recovered his body was the one that warned him not to do it multiple times. Omar has recovered 20+ bodies from people missing the arch, very sad. The spot is a deadly mix of circumstances, nowhere close to being one of the toughest spots in the world but that makes people think its attainable without the proper training.
@@codykeane6107 where is the toughest in the world the blue whole had killed over 100 people
@@kingyonis5182 It isn’t a difficult dive if you know what you’re doing. The arch and blue hole have decent visibility, it’s impossible to get lost like in underwater caves, and so long as you have the proper equipment and training swimming down through the arch and back up is fairly easy. What kills people isn’t that it’s a complicated tough dive, it’s that they are inexperienced with equally inexperienced fellow divers accompanying them, not trained, wrong equipment, too cocky, and ultimately just gross negligence with a false sense of confidence in their ability as divers. On top of all that the arch is deceptive in the sense that it seems a lot closer than it appears, and is a lot wider than it seems. It’s 30 meters long to swim through it, on top of having to first swim down to it and then back up after going through. With the equipment a lot of those lost divers are using they aren’t even supposed to be going deep enough to reach the arch, let alone go through it.
What gives me goosebumps is the fact that there are some divers that have died but never been found.
if you go deep enough into under water caves, eventually there is no more oxygen. At that depth everything stays preserved. So if you drown at that depth your body will stay preserved. Its the reason divers dive so deep, to find things from history or old civilizations in the nonoxygenated zone, fully preserved for thousands of years,
there are multiple bodies where this video took place. They just lie there, many too decomposed to be bothered to take out. At least they might serve as a warning. There is a video of someone finding 3 bodies here on youtube.
I've never ever watched a diving video I know absolutely nothing about it but I swear I could listen to you talk about it all day long! 😂 You just have a very calm tone!
I am so glad I have found this channel, the last couple days I have randomly become obsessed with free diving videos and scuba videos. It's very reassuring to hear an experienced diver give their take on these videos, as it stops me speculating. Keep up the good work and for goodness sake don't get yourself killed!
Thanks for the comment and the encouragement.
I really hope when he was "narc" that he was not aware he was going to die and had found some kind of euphoria. I'm not a diver so I don't know the different gases involved in diving. Sad but very interesting.
Judging by the amount of silt thrown around, and his reaction once he was on the bottom, not really. He was full panic, and during a dive, panic is your worst enemy. Sorry, but that’s just my observation.
@@JohnJones-iq7uj your right, I just thought that being 'narc' would feel like being drunk or stoned but I'm sure there's not enough beers or weed in the world is going to distort the horror of drowning. Until I developed gills I'll not be diving anytime soon!. 👾🏴
Yeah man prolly no.
It's nitrogen poisoning. Must feel something like nitrous oxide at dentist
I am no diver! I live in Wyoming the absolute furthest from any water I could be. But I do believe that he already knew he was screwed when he seen the slope (floor)at the bottom.
From what I've read about it, he was attempting a "bounce dive" in which you see how quick you can descend and make it back up... Yuri and some of his diving circle would always try and one up each other.
Reminds me of this guy from China who used to go on top of large buildings and do stunts withought a harness or any safety measures. Until he went to one but wasn't allowed on top of roof of the building so had to climb and when he did his trick where he hold on to the edge didn't have enough energy to climb himself back so fell to his death.
@@Ilovegrunge123 also a big part was the structure was super slippery, his legs could do nothing. He did it because of a contest in order to win money, and as far as I can tell they enjoyed his risky content so he kept on doing it...
@ I heard that he survived when he fell but no one was around to help him I can’t imagine the pain he was in.
@@Ilovegrunge123 Wait, are we talking about the same guy? The video I saw was on a 100+ meter skyscraper or something. The guy must have just turned into a pulp on impact…
I mean there are many videos of people doing stupid shit like this so.
I'm also glad the film was not destroyed as this video is highly educational for divers especially to that dive. God bless.
Yay thank you so much for fulfilling my request and doing this reaction video! You guys are awesome! :-D
Thank you for making a request!
I really appreciate the way you handle difficult topics like this sad story. You educate and help people understand how easy it is to make fatal mistakes when going past their limit. You seem like a kind soul and I love watching your videos. I am not a diver and never want to dive outside of aquariums (I love fish) but I still find your content informative and inspiring
I am so glad to see actual professional divers react to these sort of videos. Subscribed :)
Thank you!
I’m 18 I wannabe a saturation diver watch has scared me but also makes wants to keep learning and learning everything I need to know
Thank you for the commentary- every time I have seen this video, I see people commenting the his breathing is NORMAL and the sounds are his equipment-
Even as a person who is too scared to dive, i can inherently tell that this is the sound of someone dying-
This was the first video i ever found from you guys after it was linked on a tumblr post. So glad i watched it and checked out your other videos, theyre all incredibly informative and have helped me get over my fear of diving to a degree. The podcast has also been great for commuting to and from work, and its given me something new to bond with my brother over. Thank you guys so much for putting all this amazing content out there!
Dude I love how your comments feel genuine. Not like comments your just trying to say to add more air time. The facts you stop to point out I feel are needed. Normal behavior vs normal behavior. What anomalies you find odd. It all feels imperative to the narrative the way you portray the facts or your opinions. It's very old school and it's a breath of fresh air on TH-cam. Your also a super pure hearted person from the couple videos I've seen. You really seem to respect the fact your watching videos of someone's loved one who had died. It seems so genuine that your not just reacting to these shocking videos just because they are shocking. It really does seem these videos could save lives. So these videos can stop other from making the same mistakes. Not only is it respectful but the video is informative
Thank you for breaking down the video! I appreciate your input!
See…as a mother I was there when my son came into this world. I would need to see how he went out. I get how people would want that but I would need it for closure.
The divers who pulled him out could have said, "Yeah he drowned" You dont need to hear and see it.
LIKE THE TITANIC 1912 - The BIBLE says: "It is appointed once for men to die ... BUT after this is the judgement" Hebrews 9:27. We have an appoinment with DEATH. How and when is unknown. The wise person will trust, accept and believe that Jesus is the Son of GOD who died oiin the cross to give you eteranl life. Trust Him before it is too late and death takes you to the depths of the abyss - hell. The center of the earth. Eternal life ==-->>>>> John 3:16
Personally I think it's easy to say that if you haven't actually lost a child; it's hell on earth, believe me.
@@PuffKitty I have lost a child to kidnapping and a father to suicide. Trust me. Not knowing is 1000x worse. It will make you ABSOLUTELY insane.
@@JohnPiperBoots do you read Greek & Aramaic? I do. Did you know the letters that were grafted together & condensed to make the Bible are in shreds? That translators guessed at the missing parts? That the Bible has been edited hundreds of times by everyone from governments to kings to clergy to suit their needs? That none of the dozens of versions of the Bible we have today even remotely resemble the original papers and CANT bc they are in SHREDS. lost to the ages? No? Well the do so studying before you preach to me asshole.
Best part about having a deathly fear of water is that I won't ever have a chance to die this way. R.I.P Yuri Lipsky!
I would sooner stay on the surface. I have a fear of deep water.
@@jaynekittycat9252 same its a no go for me noooo way I'd be that deep
I'm here because of Mr.Ballen and I LOVE IT! You guys are awesome!
This was a sad, but very educational video. I hope that good can come out of this by educating future divers of this location, thus saving many other lives in the process through avoidance and adequate precautions taken
Thanks for the comment and the encouragement.
Today i have dived to 40m (131ft) for the first time and experiened "light" (from my perspective) narcosis with eupheria and slow reactions, i had enough brain left to notice how dangerous in a situation i was even though i was with 4 instructors, diving deep is not worth it to me, i'd very much be much happier diving at shallower depths and enjoying myself, i won't ever accept to myself to dive any deeper than that ever without trimix, even though i today i have became a CMAS 3 star diver and wanting to become i trimix CCR deep diver, i have a long road to go. Stay safe know your limits and respect them.
Good call
What always terrified me about this video are the panicked looks at his computer. The helpless feeling of dread and fear when he saw those numbers was something no one should ever experience.
I've never been diving but this was very informative and easy to follow. Thank you for posting.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Does anyone else notice his heart pulsing out his chest as he’s hearing Yuriy struggle to breathe.. I can only imagine the flashbacks or discomfort this man was experiencing watching this, my respects to you both
Didn't notice that at first..scary
Yeah
Holy shit
Timestamp please?
@@whostolemyTV at around 10:30
I’m glad I found Dive Talk had reacted to this- I watched this video in its entirety, & had NO IDEA what anything was, or WHAT was happening!!! I’m very glad Woody didn’t edit out the fatality at the end like we are children.
there is no fatality in the video. The camera stops a few seconds/a mere minute before he died probably.
Imagine how terrifying it is sliding down towards the void weighted down and been narcd, truely a terrifying thought!
I disagree with the recovery diver. I believe his mother wanted to see her son’s final moments to have a sense of conclusion and to feel that she was with him in the end.
I agree with you. It was not his decision or business to destroy the video and I'm glad he didn't. Everyone is different some people need detailed knowledge of the tragedy of a loved one to help them process and cope. If it were me, the "not knowing" would have gnawed at me and i would've driven me crazy. I think his mother needed that information so that she could grieve, process her emotions and the incident and help attain closure down the road.
Diving the Red Sea at 17:00 ……sunset….? Speaking as a member of the old Red Sea Muff Divers that’s cocktail hour, not dive time.
Back when I was diving and doing my technical training my instructor let me get narcd to feel it. I had to keep telling myself to keep the reg in my mouth, it was a spooky feeling. I decided after that, that deep tech was not for me and went back to my airplanes.
No way really so you just wanted to take it out naturally?
@@Coltensreefing yes when that happens you take it out to try and breath but you end up just breathing in water and dying
Yes I had this euphoric feeling, it was so very odd. Once we surfaced and my head cleared up you realize how out of it you really were.
@@Coltensreefing my instructor told me about a dive where he realised that an experienced diver had suddenly and unexpectedly gone into narcosis - he saw him pull his reg out and was trying to offer it to some passing fish. He had to swim over and put his reg back in and pull him up a couple of meters, at which point the narcosis subsided. Scary stuff.
Thank you for breaking down this scenario! I love it when you guys analyze videos like this. Your expert insight is so valuable.
Thank you for watching!
7:25 Why is his leather jacket moving? Looks strange! 😳