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 High Springs is a city in Alachua County, Florida, United States. It is the fourth-largest city in Alachua County and seventh-largest in North Central Florida. The population was 6,215 at the 2020 census. History The present-day area of High S ...

Background

Skiles was born on March 6, 1958, in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, 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 classmate recalled the incident that sparked Skiles' interest in

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for " Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chr ...

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 assist with

scientific diving Scientific diving is the use of underwater diving techniques by scientists to perform work underwater in the direct pursuit of scientific knowledge. The legal definition of scientific diving varies by jurisdiction. Scientific divers are normally q ...

projects. Skiles worked at a dive store in

Branford, Florida Branford is a town in Suwannee County, Florida, United States. The population was 712 at the 2010 census. Geography Branford is located at (29.961803, –82.927204). The town is located on the banks of the Suwannee River. U.S. Route 27 a ...

, 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 Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, an ...

. The National Geographic

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

expedition allowed him to be the first human to set foot on the

Iceberg B-15 Iceberg B-15 was the largest recorded iceberg by area. It measured around , with a surface area of , about the size of the island of Jamaica. Calved from the Ross Ice Shelf of Antarctica in March 2000, Iceberg B-15 broke up into smaller icebergs, ...

. His expedition to record deepwater sharks had him diving to a depth of 700 FSW for 11 hours in a "

Newtsuit The Newtsuit is an atmospheric diving suit designed and originally built by Phil Nuytten. The suit is used for work on ocean drilling rigs, pipelines, salvage jobs, and photographic surveys, and is standard equipment in many of the world's navie ...

". Skiles created, directed, and was the cinematographer of the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

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."Wes Skiles"
National Geographic Society, photographer biography

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 documentary and best cinematography for the ''Water's Journey'' series. The awards are given for "accomplishments in High-Definition

Indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

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 Zolpidem, sold under the brand name Ambien, among others, is a medication primarily used for the short-term treatment of sleeping problems. Guidelines recommend that it be used only after cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia and behavioral ...

and

Hydrocodone Hydrocodone, also known as dihydrocodeinone, is an opioid used to treat pain and as a cough suppressant. It is taken by mouth. Typically it is dispensed as the combination acetaminophen/hydrocodone or ibuprofen/hydrocodone for pain severe eno ...

. 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 The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) is the Florida government agency responsible for environmental protection. History By the mid-1960s, when the federal government was becoming increasingly involved in initiatives desig ...

renamed Peacock 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 A rebreather is a breathing apparatus that absorbs the carbon dioxide of a user's breathing, exhaled breath to permit the rebreathing (recycling) of the substantially unused oxygen content, and unused inert content when present, of each breath. ...

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

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skiles, Wesley C. 1958 births 2010 deaths American underwater divers Artists from Jacksonville, Florida Sports deaths in Florida Underwater diving deaths Underwater photographers People from High Springs, Florida Cave diving explorers Regional Emmy Award winners