What’s Going on in Chuuk Lagoon?

A popular British former dive guide, Chrissie Bone, died February 21 after falling unconscious when she returned to the liveaboard MV Odyssey after an uneventful dive on the wreck of the Shinkoko Maru in what was once called Truk Lagoon. Those aboard presumed she suffered "undeserved" decompression sickness. She had worked with Blue O Two, Siren Fleet, and Master Liveaboards.

Her fiancé Michael Todd said that the absence of supplies at the medical facilities in the poverty-stricken Chuuk islands and an inoperable hyperbaric chamber meant her situation became hopeless. The actual cause of her death has not been verified.

Last December, Amanda Jacobs, a 37-year-old technical diver from St. Charles, MO, diving with the Dirty Dozen Expeditions dive group from Pacific Master, died in a similar way.

As you can easily discern, Chuuk is not a place to have a diving accident. If you're contemplating a visit, you should be a skilled, experienced, and conservative diver, as these two casualties were. Be warned.