Sheck Exley

Sheck Exley
Born(1949-04-01)April 1, 1949
DiedApril 6, 1994(1994-04-06) (aged 45)
El Zacatón, Tamaulipas, Mexico
NationalityAmerican
OccupationAutomobile dealer / high school math teacher
Known forCave diving pioneer
Notable workBasic Cave Diving: A Blueprint for Survival

Sheck Exley (April 1, 1949 – April 6, 1994) was an American cave diver. He is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of cave diving,[1][2] and he wrote two major books on the subject: Basic Cave Diving: A Blueprint for Survival[3] and Caverns Measureless to Man.[4] On February 6, 1974, Exley became the first chairman of the Cave Diving Section of the American National Speleological Society.[5][6] During his career, he established many of the basic safety procedures used in cave and overhead diving today.[2] Exley was also a pioneer of extreme deep scuba diving.[7]

For purposes of rescue during cave diving, Exley helped standardize the usage of the "octopus", a redundant second stage diving regulator that can be used as a backup in the event the diver's primary second stage fails, or alternatively, to allow the diver and their buddy to have simultaneous access to the diver's gas if the buddy has an out-of-gas emergency.[2] The octopus is now considered an essential piece of equipment among virtually all scuba divers, whether caving or in open water.[7]

Exley died at age 45 while trying to set a depth record by diving the world's deepest sinkhole, Mexico's 1,080-foot (330 m) deep, Zacatón, a fresh water cenote.[8]

In the book, Diving into Darkness (a story about Dave Shaw and Don Shirley), the author comments: "Exley's status in the sport is almost impossible to overstate".[9]

  1. ^ Ling, Rodger (July 2005). "Eulogy for an Explorer". Rodger Ling. Retrieved August 5, 2024.[self-published source]
  2. ^ a b c Burgess, Robert F. (1999). "Cave Diving: Evolution of the Sport". The Cave Divers. Locust Valley, New York: Aqua Quest Publications. pp. 268–274. ISBN 1-881652-11-4. LCCN 96-39661 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ Exley, Sheck (June 1986). Basic Cave Diving: A Blueprint for Survival (5th ed.). National Speleological Society. ISBN 978-9994663378.
  4. ^ Exley, Sheck (1994). Caverns Measureless to Man. St. Louis: Cave Books. ISBN 0-939748-25-8.
  5. ^ Staff. "Cave Diving Section of the National Speleological Society was founded". cavedivinghistory.com. Retrieved 2013-08-24.
  6. ^ Kendrick, DF (2009). "Science of the National Association for Cave Diving (NACD): Water Quality, Hydrogeology, Biology and Psychology". In: Pollock NW, ed. Diving for Science 2009. Proceedings of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences 28th Symposium. Dauphin Island, AL: AAUS; 2009. Archived from the original on July 5, 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-20.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ a b "Sheck Exley". Squalo Divers, 13 July 2017. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  8. ^ Zimmermann, Tim (July 22, 2022) [Originally published August 1, 2005]. "Raising the Dead". Outside Classics. Outside. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  9. ^ Finch, Phillip (2008). Diving into Darkness: A True Story of Death and Survival. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 21–22. ISBN 978-0-312-38394-7. LCCN 2008024271 – via Internet Archive.