I feel like the crux of what you're describing at a certain point of the video can be summed up with the phenomenon known as Dunning-Kruger effect, when having a little knowledge on something makes you overestimate your capacities and capabilities on that topic. It's from what I recall, especially common with people who have high capacities in other fields - like being a navy seal as you mentioned, equating that skill to another. It's a difficult problem to get away from, because in order to know that you don't know something, you at first have to know enough to tell that you don't know - and that's where it's so hard to get information to people, regardless of what the topic is about.

Very enjoyable video to watch, thank you! It's always so nice listening to you talk, because what you say is so earnestly meant and come from the heart every time. Looks like you're having a fantastic day with fantastic weather too, hope you get to see some nice fish around!

All evidence published leads to gross negligence and lack of planing. Going below 40m with single tanks. Going inside a cave with single tanks. Going inside the cave without the right training. Without a line. Without backup lighting. All evidence tells a tragic story that was 100% preventable. What a loss 😢

Woody looking like he going to a underwater rave lol

The most dangerous mindset someone can have is the belief that they are so good they are invincible.

First rule of Recovery: Don’t make bodies going to get bodies.

Just to correct something. The rescue diver surfaced. Felt unwell. Was taken to hospital. He died in hospital. DCS.

There is so many things wrong with that dive it's literally almost unbelievable it happened. Someone literally okayed it like wtf

What I simply can't get my head around is Monica Montefalcone a serious professional person bringing her daughter illegally (not on the permit) and without proper training along while breaking all safety protocols on what appears to be a planned secret mission disguised as research.  They didn't inform the boat operator of their intentions to go into the caves, no safety line, no extra tanks.  This is not just malfeasance but also conspiracy and it defies all common sense.  Where was her sense of safety and concern for the welfare of her daughter?  Were these people so convinced of their exceptionalism that they thought they could sidestep reality itself?  OceanGate vibes.

it was 5 divers + 1 recovery diver

The dive leader was the one who was found at the cave entrance. He knew they were in trouble and bugged out,  but it was already way too late to survive much less to decompress.

This entire situation reminds me of the CEO of Oceangate Stockton Rush, who designed a submersible with a carbon fiber hull which was the wrong material to use in deep ocean submersible diving  where pressure is your most imminent threat. The guy was an aerospace engineer trying to apply space principles to deep sea exploration relying on composite materials rather than the proven industry metals like titanium and steel. The guy touted himself as this great innovator all while dodging protocol and safety which had never been an issue in the deep submersible community until he came along. His arrogance and unwillingness to follow a set standard cost him his own life and the innocent lives of others. Everyone warned this guy that it was a mathematical certainty that his sub would fail under cyclical pressure which is why he deliberately avoided getting his sub certified because he knew it would never be able to pass the rigorous testing required for certification.  It's unbelievable to me that people would knowingly ignore a set of safety standards and risk their own lives. Really a very sad situation that was 100% preventable. There are rules/protocols in these type of environments that are in place for a reason and should never ever be broken.

The most experienced dive "leader" had no business taking himself into that cave much less 4 amateurs.
One tank, no plan, no guide ropes...?
Unconscionable.

Perfect Analysis. I once did a cave dive in Malta. It was a very shallow cave at only approx. 18m depth. We got a little lost because our dive guide was a really bad navigator. It took us more than 10 minutes to find the exit and I was really panicking. It's incredible easy to get lost in a cave.

Patrik Grönqvist, one of the cave rescue divers who located and retrieved the bodies in the cave (and a fireman/rescue diver of Helsinki rescue department by profession) told his unofficial opinion in a Finnish media interview: "They made all mistakes one can imagine". So, his analysis is very similar to yours.

It's so easy to die in a cave. Came close once. Even if you think you have all the bases covered, unexpected things can go wrong. Such as being unable to clear your sinuses and having to dive 80 feet deeper to exit the cave alone while it feels like someone sticking a dagger into your forehead. And not panicking.  BTDT. Never again.

Gross negligence. Preventable.

As a certified cave diver I agree 100% with your comments. I did a ton of cave dives in the Yucatan peninsula about 10 years ago and not cave dive since then. I will never get into a cave now until I take a re-certified training first.

I think both Woody and Gus in his video nailed it.  I don't think anyone splashed in thinking this was going to be a dangerous challenge.  If they thought that would a resonable person take their child along for the ride, I think not.  All of them had significant experience, they were being led by a SCUBA instructor, from the liveaboard.  Few people realize just how impaired they become by narcosis.  The entrance to this cave was at a depth where they were amost certainly impaired.  About 45 years ago, I was lucky enough to attend a college where they taught commercial diving, and had 2 recompression chambers.  During an intermediate SCUBA class, they took us for a ride to 150' for 10 mins on air.  We broke up into 2 groups (I was in the first), this so we could observe eachother through view ports in the chamber.  When we surfaced they asked how we felt?  We all responded that it was a blast and we were just fine, hardly felt a thing.  The other group just laughed and started their experience.  Before they even reached the 150' depth limit  they were laughing and acting as though they were on a all night bender.  I doubt if we could have made any rational decisions.  This was just one of the contributing factors if not they main factor that lead to their deaths.

I'm not a diver at all but you explained this so well. I actually felt physically panicked a little at #3 when you mentioned feeling narc'd in the dark and panicked. People really do be doing things like they're invincible.

One of the Finnish divers has now detailed in the media what they found in the cave: single tanks, divers wearing only bikinis or thin wetsuits, insufficient lights for the dark dive, and no dive line. He said that every single thing was wrong, and the decision to go that deep was already fatal, no matter them getting themselves into a cave. One can only wander why they did so, until the GoPro footage is analysed and hopefully reveals what happened.