American cave diver and underwater cinematographer.

Wesley C. Skiles (March 6, 1958 – July 21, 2010) was an American cave diving pioneer, explorer, and underwater cinematographer. Skiles lived in High Springs, Florida.

Contents

• 1 Background
• 2 Career
• 3 Awards
• 4 Death
• 5 References
• 6 External links

Background

Skiles was born on March 6, 1958, in Jacksonville, Florida, and grew up there. He attended Englewood High School where he graduated in 1976. He died on July 21, 2010, while diving near West Palm Beach, Florida.

Skiles started diving when he was eight years old and recalled that he took to water "quite like a fish." A cl*mate recalled the incident that sparked Skiles' interest in scuba diving and caves. During the 1973–74 school year, the Fossil Club took a field trip to Ginnie Springs. Skiles watched several divers emerge from the spring's caves, and excitedly asked them questions about their hobby. On the ride back to Jacksonville, he kept saying, "That is what I want to do." Pioneering cave diver George Benjamin was an early influence on Skiles' photography.

Career

In 1985, Skiles founded Karst Productions and continued his underwater film career. Skiles was a proponent of cave divers using their skills to *ist with scientific diving projects.

Skiles worked at a dive store in Branford, Florida, named Branford Dive Center. He and fellow cave instructor Gene Broome mapped and laid safety line for many of the underwater spring caves.

Skiles conducted film projects for many groups such as the National Geographic Society. The National Geographic Antarctica expedition allowed him to be the first human to set foot on the Iceberg B-15. His expedition to record deepwater sharks had him diving to a depth of 700 FSW for 11 hours in a "Newtsuit".

Skiles created, directed, and was the cinematographer of the PBS series, Water's Journey. The project was an effort by Skiles to increase public awareness of their groundwater and the hydrogeological cycle.

In addition to still photography, Skiles' work includes more than one hundred films for television that he filmed, directed, and produced.

Awards

Beneath The Sea recognized Skiles as their "Diver of the Year" for education in 1996.

In 2004, Skiles was awarded the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Suncoast Regional Emmy Award for his work on the Water's Journey series.

In 2009, he received the annual HDFEST Deffie Awards for best HD do*entary and best cinematography for the Water's Journey series. The awards are given for "accomplishments in High-Definition Indie Filmmaking".

In 2011, Skiles was posthumously awarded National Geographic's "Explorer of the Year" award, jointly with his longtime colleague and friend, Kenny Broad.

Death

Skiles died while on a dive off Boynton Beach, Florida, on July 21, 2010. He signaled to the other divers that he was ascending because his camera was out of memory. His body was found on the reef shortly after that. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful and he was subsequently pronounced dead at a local hospital. An autopsy showed that Skiles had taken Ambien and Hydrocodone.

Skiles is survived by his wife Terri, and their two children Nathan and Tessa Skiles.

On November 16, 2010, the State Parks division of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection renamed Pea* Springs Park in Skiles' honor.

In 2016, Skiles' widow filed a lawsuit claiming that equipment malfunctioned causing his death, even though he was inexperienced on the rebreather he was using and ignored safety features that were functioning properly. The company was cleared of all charges on May 20, 2016 by a Palm Beach County jury.

References

External links

• Wesley C. Skiles at IMDb

Diving
equipment
manufacturers

• AP Diving
• Apeks
• Aqua Lung America
• Aqua Lung/La Spirotechnique
• Beuchat
• René Cavalero
• Cis-Lunar
• Cressi-Sub
• Dacor
• DESCO
• Dive Xtras
• Divex
• Diving Unlimited International
• Drägerwerk
• Fenzy
• Maurice Fernez
• Technisub
• Oscar Gugen
• Heinke
• HeinrichsWeikamp
• Johnson Outdoors
• Mares
• Morse Diving
• Nemrod
• Oceanic Worldwide
• Porpoise
• Sub Sea Systems
• Shearwater Research
• Siebe Gorman
• Submarine Products
• Suunto

Remotely operated
underwater vehicles

• 8A4-cl* ROUV
• ABISMO
• Atlantis ROV Team
• CURV
• Deep Drone
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• Kaşif ROUV
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• ROV KIEL 6000
• ROV PHOCA
• Scorpio ROV
• Sea Dragon-cl* ROV
• Seabed tractor
• Seafox drone
• Seahorse ROUV
• SeaPerch
• SJT-cl* ROUV
• T1200 Trenching Unit
• VideoRay UROVs

Safety equipment

• Diver down flag
• Diving shot
• ENOS Rescue-System
• Hyperbaric lifeboat
• Hyperbaric stretcher
• Jackstay
• Jonline
• Reserve gas supply

General

• Diving spread
  • Air spread
  • Saturation spread
• Hot water system
• Sonar
  • Underwater acoustic positioning system
  • Underwater acoustic communication

Underwater
work

• Commercial offs* diving
• Dive leader
• Diver training
  • Recreational diver training
• Hazmat diving
• Hyperbaric welding
• Media diving
• Nondestructive testing
• Pearl hunting
• Police diving
• Potable water diving
• Public safety diving
• Scientific diving
• Ships husbandry
• Sponge diving
• Submarine pipeline
• Underwater archaeology
  • Archaeology of shipwrecks
• Underwater construction
  • Offs* construction
• Underwater demolition
• Underwater logging
• Underwater photography
• Underwater search and recovery
  • Underwater searches
• Underwater videography

Diving
contractors

• COMEX
• Helix Energy Solutions Group
• International Marine Contractors *ociation

Tools and
equipment

• Abrasive waterjet
• Airlift
• Baited remote underwater video
• In-water surface cleaning
  • Brush cart
  • Cavitation cleaning
  • Pressure washing
  • Pigging
• Lifting bag
• Remotely operated underwater vehicle
• Thermal lance
• Tremie
• Water jetting

Underwater
weapons

• Limpet mine
• Speargun
  • Hawaiian sling
  • Polespear

Diving
procedures

• Ascending and descending
  • Emergency ascent
• Boat diving
  • Canoe and kayak diving
• Buddy diving
  • buddy check
• Decompression
  • Decompression practice
  • Pyle stop
  • Ratio decompression
• Dive briefing
• Dive log
• Dive planning
  • Rule of thirds
  • Scuba gas planning
• Diver communications
  • Diving hand signals
  • Diving line signals
  • Diver voice communications
• Diver rescue
• Diver training
• Doing It Right
• Drift diving
• Gas blending for scuba diving
• Night diving
• Rebreather diving
• Solo diving
• Water safety

Risk
management

• Checklist
• Hazard identification and risk *essment
  • Hazard *ysis
  • Job safety *ysis
  • Risk *essment
• Risk control
  • Hierarchy of hazard controls
• Incident pit
• Lockout–tagout
• Permit To Work
• Redundancy
• Safety data sheet
• Situation awareness

Immersion
related

• Asphyxia
• Drowning
• Hypothermia
• Immersion diuresis
• Instinctive drowning response
• Laryngospasm
• Salt water aspiration syndrome
• Swimming-induced pulmonary edema

Treatment

• Demand valve oxygen therapy
• First aid
• Hyperbaric medicine
• Hyperbaric treatment schedules
• In-water recompression
• Oxygen therapy
• Therapeutic recompression

Personnel

• Diving Medical Examiner
• Diving Medical Prac*ioner
• Diving Medical Technician
• Hyperbaric nursing

Screening

• Atrial septal defect
• Effects of drugs on fitness to dive
• Fitness to dive
• Psychological fitness to dive

ResearchMilitary and
covert operations

• Raid on Alexandria (1941)
• Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior

Scientific projects

• 1992 cageless shark-diving expedition
• Mission 31

IncidentsRecreational
scuba
certification
levelsDiver training
certification
and registration
organisations

• European Underwater Federation (EUF)
• International Diving Regulators and Certifiers Forum (IDRCF)
• International Diving Schools *ociation (IDSA)
• International Marine Contractors *ociation (IMCA)
• List of diver certification organizations
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• Nautical Archaeology Society
• Universal Referral Program
• World Recreational Scuba Training Council (WRSTC)

Military diver
training centres

• Defence Diving School
• Navy Diving Salvage and Training Center
• Underwater Escape Training Unit

Military diver
training courses

• United States Marine Corps Combatant Diver Course

Diving
physiology

• Artificial gills
• Cold shock response
• Diving reflex
• Equivalent narcotic depth
• Lipid
• Maximum operating depth
• Metabolism
• Physiological response to water immersion
• Tissue
• Underwater vision

Diving
environmentSpecial
interest
groups

• Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia
• CMAS Europe
• Coral Reef Alliance
• Diving Equipment and Marketing *ociation
• Divers Alert Network
• Green Fins
• Finger Lakes Underwater Preserve *ociation
• Historical Diving Society
• Karst Underwater Research
• Nautical Archaeology Program
• Nautical Archaeology Society
• Naval Air Command Sub Aqua Club
• Project AWARE
• Reef Check
• Reef Life Survey
• Rubicon Foundation
• Save Ontario Shipwrecks
• SeaKeys
• Sea Research Society
• Society for Underwater Historical Research
• Society for Underwater Technology
• Underwater Archaeology Branch, Naval History & Heritage Command

Submarine escape
and rescue

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Neutral buoyancy
facilities for
Astronaut training

• Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory
• Neutral buoyancy pool
• Neutral buoyancy simulation as a training aid
• Neutral Buoyancy Simulator
• Space Systems Laboratory
• Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center

Other

• Nautilus Productions
• Helicopter Aircrew Breathing Device

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