Darwin says, "This is a personal account with enough details I think it might be confirmed by readers. Can you confirm the death of Mitchell Ether in Broome, AU?"

(Broome, Australia) When you work as a diver on a pearl farm, there are many ways to "buy the farm." Mitchell Ether was my head diver for a couple of years. Known as Sharky, he was a can-do guy, not afraid to take risks to get the job done. He was a loose gun in a company of cowboys, and he seemed destined to make an original exit.

One example happened in Roebuck Bay. He miscalculated the amount of fuel needed for the air compressor, which pumps air to the divers below. Instead of following standard procedure, bringing everyone up and refuelling during a surface interval, he surfaced alone mid-dive to top up the fuel tank while the compressor was still running.

The deck was unsteady, and naturally he spilled some petrol. The compressor had been running for hours. Its red-hot exhaust ignited the spilled fuel, and the flames followed the fuel into the half-filled tank.

The dive boat was brand-new, and worth $200,000 fully kitted out for the pearl farm, including an oxygen bottle for resuscitations. The resulting mushroom cloud explosion from the oxy bottle startled observers all the way back in town, 5 kilometers away.

Luckily Sharky jumped back into the water before the big explosion, and he and his crew were picked up by another dive boat.

Despite this incident, Sharky was promoted to skipper of one of the larger vessels. He still found excuses to don the old dive gear, however. One such excuse was when a mooring rope tangled around the boat's propellor. Instead of asking an outfitted diver's assistance, Sharky chucked on his dive gear, started the compressor, clipped on his dive hose, and jumped off the back of the boat. But he neglected to take the boat out of gear...

The spinning prop soon entangled his dive hose and started reeling him in. His "lifeline" pulled him through the prop, and he died on the way to hospital. Sharky didn't have any children (that he knew of) but he did have a wicked sense of humour. I hope he fortives me for submitting him for a Darwin Award! He died doing what he always did... having a go.

There are plenty of ways to buy it when you work as a diver on a pearl farm in the far nor-west town of Broome but a workmate of mine was always destined to go out in an original way. Mitchell Ether was a loosenut in a company full of cowboys and he was my head diver for a couple of years. He taught me alot more than just how to work underwater on a pearl farm. He was a "can-do" sort of guy, and wasn't scared of taking a few risks to get the job done. An example of this occurred one day out in Roebuck Bay when he miscalculated the amount of fuel needed in the air compressor, which pumps air down long air hoses to the divers below, he decided to return to the surface mid-dive and top up the tank. Standard practice would be to finish the dive, everyone come up and refuel the compressor for the next dive after a surface interval. Sharky(as he was known by everyone) wanted to finish the job, so as not to disturb the other divers he surfaced and attempted to fill the still running compressor in his full dive kit. After running for a couple of hours the exhaust was red hot and the extremely flammable unleaded petrol was splashing all over the place as Sharky tried to steady the jerry can on the rocking deck. Once ignited the flames followed the fuel into the half filled tank and then really took off. The dive boat was a brand new 6 meter Aluminum centre console worth about $200,000 it was fully kitted out for working on the pearl farm which included an oxygen bottle for resusication purposes.The resulting mushroom cloud explosion from the oxy bottle was noticed back in town 5 KM away. Luckily Sharky jumped back into the water and him and his crew were picked up by another dive boat.

Sharky was soon promoted to skipper of one of the larger support vessels and seemed to enjoy not having to be under water 5 hours a day. He still found excuses for putting the old dive gear on however and one such instance was when he got a mooring rope tangled around his propellor. Although there was an army of divers at hand Sharky chucked on his dive gear, started the compressor, clipped on his dive hose and jumped of the back of the boat. What he didn't do was take the boat out of gear and the spinning prop soon entangled his dive hose and started reeling him in. He desperately yelled to his inexperienced crew to cut the motor as his "lifeline" pulled him through the prop. He died on the way to hospital of severe internal injuries.

Mitch didn't have any children that he knew of but he did have a wicked sense of humour, I hope he can forgive me for submitting him for a Darwin Award. He died doing what he always did .....having a go.

Submitted on 03/23/2007

Submitted by: Matt Turner
Reference:

Copyright © 2007 DarwinAwards.com

Bruce said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
Thanks for a great story, Matt. Unfortunately without verification I can only vote this as a Personal Account. If you know of any news articles of Sharky's unfortunate demise please submit them and we'll vote on them.

Chip said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
Matt, a truly amazing story! Your friend Mitchell certain had some unconvential methods for diving. Too bad there is no supporting documentation to award him a Darwin, a Personal Account will have to do. Thank you for the excellent write up.

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