2 Divers Die At Mornington Pier Victoria Australia

[Peter69_56]

Two scuba divers have died at Mornington pier. It's believed one was an instructor, the other a student.

The man and woman were diving off Schnapper Point Drive, near the Mornington Yacht Club on Friday morning.

A local alerted police after seeing the bodies of the two divers underneath the pier about 12.15pm.

Members from Search and Rescue and Water Police have retrieved one body and are working to retrieve the second.

Fairfax Media understands the woman was a scuba diving instructor.

Sergeant Anthoula Moutis said police were investigating the circumstances.

"The deaths are not being treated as suspicious," she said.

Graheme McGillivray from Volunteer Marine Rescue said volunteer members were assisting police.

He said the deaths were "really upsetting".

Mr McGillivray said he had been told the pier was a popular scuba diving spot in the area.

Police remain at the scene speaking to witnesses.

Report; THE AGE VICTORIA

 

[Peter69_56]

The pier looks quite benign. Many inexperienced divers dive their as its protected from currents, waves and a simple dive. They have just added concrete walls on the sea side and harbour side to protect yachts. The sea side wall runs maybe 3/4 the way along the pier, harbour side a bit less than that. Harbour side nearly right down to the rocks, sea side you can get under some of the wall. When vis ia bad, its pitch black underneath and very dark even under the fully open end of the pier. I would think vis would be pretty bad at the moment.

 

[WetPup]

Sorry to hear about this

 

[Peter69_56]

Two drown at Mornington pier

Google Maps: Report Inappropriate Image

 

[clownfishsydney]

Very sad. In the photos I saw today, looks like there was some surge as water pouring out one side of the pier in a spot. This may have made it a problematic dive.

 

[Peter69_56]

Very sad. In the photos I saw today, looks like there was some surge as water pouring out one side of the pier in a spot. This may have made it a problematic dive.

Yes it appeared rough on the sea side today. Perhaps the student got into trouble and the instructor tried to save him and sadly they have both perished. The news reports said that a bystander tried to help and also risked his life in the water.

 

[Peter69_56]

The depth is about 3-4 metre on the harbour side and about 8 metres past the rocks on the sea side.
Such a benign site, but clearly nothing is benign. Once past about 1 metre, its a risk.

 

[Andrewmcalister]

The pier looks quite benign. Many inexperienced divers dive their as its protected from currents, waves and a simple dive. They have just added concrete walls on the sea side and harbour side to protect yachts. The sea side wall runs maybe 3/4 the way along the pier, harbour side a bit less than that. Harbour side nearly right down to the rocks, sea side you can get under some of the wall. When vis ia bad, its pitch black underneath and very dark even under the fully open end of the pier. I would think vis would be pretty bad at the moment.

I am a regular diver there. The exit from the water is really hard. The ladders are rusted and broken at water level so you have to lift yoyrself up to get on the first rung. Another exit is onto a low sea wall but that is a bit high too.
I gave the council feedback on the pier 6 months ago. I told the survey guy about the ladders and said the simplest fix would be to drop a large rock by the seawall that divers could climb onto.
I think the council are partly responsible for these deaths!

Many other questions raised.
Why they were diving in a big swell.
Why they didn't inflate their bouyancy control devices. Esp the instructor.
Why didn't she keep her regulator in her mouth.

I'm just shocked and amazed it happened.

 

[WetPup]

More details here with comment from the bystander.

Definitely sounds like it was swell related.

 

[clownfishsydney]

Yes, sounds like the conditions were not good and probably contributed to the accident. What I do not understand is why the instructor did not inflate her BCD and that of the student! Very brave effort by the restaurant owner to attempt to save them.