2 Divers Die At Mornington Pier Victoria Australia

[chillyinCanada]

now we know why she didn't have her reg in her mouth. She was yelling for assistance.

 

[Wingy]

What a tragic story. Thoughts with the divers family and Mr De Santis

 

[DandyDon]

More details here with comment from the bystander.

Definitely sounds like it was swell related.

From that article and other updates, it does sound like it was indeed swell related. Excerpting about the fully clothed bystander who tried to help them...

Mr De Santis managed to drag the pair back to the ladder but the force of the waves sent all three crashing into the pier’s concrete piles.

With one arm clung around the ladder and the other tightly gripped to the student and his instructor, Mr De Santis tied ropes around them and tried to put the man into a life ring.

“The waves were just eating us up and down. We kept going under and every time the water would retract I’d tell her ‘breathe now, breathe now’ before we got slammed by the next wave,” he said.

“She was getting tired and I just told her to hold on to the ladder. I had to make the decision to let go of him as it was too late. He was already gone.

No clue yet as to why the student was unconscious, or why the instructor didn't ditch weights for both?

 

[k_sheep]

What a tragedy. It still seems a little unusual that she died? With assistance I would have thought she could drop her weights and get up the ladder, or at least inflate her BCD and head away from the pier until help arrived?

 

[bowlofpetunias]

With the conditions reported and the information so far there is no evidence that she didn't inflate or drop their weights. I remember diving the site on a calm day and the entry/exit were a bit of a challenge. If the ladder has gotten worse from when I was there that may have been a contributing factor.

 

[k_sheep]

True. A good reminder to always have a plan B escape plan I guess.

Good on her for not giving up on her student.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Yes.. sad to lose one and tragic to lose two! I wonder if the conditions were that bad on entry or if they got unexpectedly worse. Sure a message in this about the importance of picking your site and making sure conditions are right for the divers.

 

[Whitewatermike]

...the information so far there is no evidence that she didn't inflate or drop their weights.

I'm just speculating, however, while there's no information on what exposure suit she was/wasn't wearing, I don't think she would have, "sunk below the surface," as reported, if she had established positive buoyancy.

 

[iamrushman]

always sad new news.....condolences to family and friends.

 

[Peter69_56]

I'm just speculating, however, while there's no information on what exposure suit she was/wasn't wearing, I don't think she would have, "sunk below the surface," as reported, if she had established positive buoyancy.

She would have had either a 6-7 mm wetsuit or a drysuit as conditions are now cold here. Water is about 14C so she would have had reasonable protection.

From the news video they recovered the bodies on the mooring side of the pier, which appeared relatively calm on the day as its somewhat protected from the sea by the new sea wall. As I have not been down the new pier (only dived under it), I am not sure if there are ladders on the seaward side, although there are a number on the mooring side and on the lower platform on the mooring side. If so, it appeared rough on the day on the seaward side, and if they were trying to recover on that side it would have been very hard indeed. From the description from the guy who tried to help them, it would appear they were on the seaward side. The inquest will shed more light on this anyway.

A very sad day for us all as many in the dive industry here knew the instructor.