That is exactly my point if you throw out the ones that don't count the numbers are not rising at the alarming rate that Mr.Bozanic asserts.
While I agree that the numbers are inflated, the fact that trained cave divers are dying is alarming in itself. For a long time, we could claim that there weren't any deaths of trained cave divers. Unfortunately, I think with the rise in popularity of cave diving, we also get a certain number or participants that shouldn't be in the sport.

I can't say I have any solutions, and thinking about the recent accidents, how do you prevent or train someone to NOT ignore an exit marker and swim 1000 feet the wrong way? How do you train or prevent divers with a history of poor decisions and unsafe practices from making that fatal dive? How do you train or prevent divers from ignoring all the recommendations and scootering into an unfamiliar and unforgiving passage in a cave?

Maybe the best we can do is openly discuss these accidents in training and in the publications so we can hopefully learn from them. Maybe they should be incorporated in the training programs along with the classic lessons we learned from "Blueprint.."


the rise in Trained cave diver Fatalities is because 1. Instructors are out to make money so they train anyone with payment. 2. People are cheap so they will only take the minimum level of training that allows them access to systems.
I don't think there is any evidence that fatalities are linked to this. The recent fatalities involved full cave trained and experienced divers and I can't recall any where this was a factor in the death. I think this may have a lot to do with conservation, or the lack thereof. How many hand, fin, face plants in Peacock are due to lack of training and/or experience? Most maybe? When was the last time you accidentally sank up to your elbow in the clay?