Joint statement by iSimangaliso, IANTD JAPAN and Triton Dive Lodge 21/5/2017 - Coelacanth Expedition Tragedy
Thursday the 18th of May, ended in tragedy as 55-year old professional diver, Mr Mitsuyoshi Tanaka, tragically died while diving on Jesser Canyons in the Sodwana Bay section of iSimangaliso at approximately 110m. The dive team was using mixed gases and rebreathers.
Mr Tanaka was a senior diver on the month-long dive expedition by the International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers - JAPAN (IANTD JAPAN) with South African specialist dive company Triton Dive Lodge. IANTD JAPAN MD is Ryoji Keimatsu and IANTD JAPAN Chairman is Kazuhiko Maeda.
The authorised expedition is filming the wonders of the ocean to promote the conservation and protection of iSimangaliso’s coelacanths and leatherback turtles through documentaries to be flighted internationally and nationally. They will also produce educational videos in isiZulu and English for youth in the region.
Mr Tanaka was a former specialist dive trainer for the military who was previously head of IANTD JAPAN with over 25 years dive experience. Mr Tanaka had a passion for nature and was fascinated by the creatures he was seeing in iSimangaliso.
It is reported that Mr Tanaka surfaced unconscious. Shortly before this, the backup divers had entered the water to meet the deep divers at 70m, in accordance with the standard accent safety procedures for this kind of technical dive, after the marker buoys for the deep divers had surfaced without danger tape meaning that all was okay and they were starting to ascend.
The surface support boat team and surface divers immediately brought the unconscious diver onto the boat, administered 100% O2 and performed EAR and CPR. DAN (Dive Accident Network) was called as the boat took Mr Tanaka back to the beach, where he was immediately transferred to Mbazwana, met by an ambulance and taken to the nearest hospital, Mseleni Hospital. Life support was administered throughout but sadly Mr Tanaka was pronounced dead at Mseleni Hospital.
The exact cause of the tragedy is not known at this stage and is pending investigation. The outcome will be made available in due course.
Condolences have been conveyed to Mr Tanaka’s family and all the members of the expedition team, who are experiencing considerable pain from this loss.
Background on iSimangaliso’s Coelacanths:
The coelacanth was long considered a "living fossil" because it was believed to be the sole remaining member of a taxon otherwise known only from fossils, with no close relations alive, and to have evolved into roughly its current form approximately 400 million years ago.
Until 1938, when ichthyologist J.L.B. Smith identified a deceased coelacanth specimen, these prehistoric fish were believed to have been extinct for around 70 million years. The discovery on the 28th of October 2000 of an extant population of iSimangaliso’s coelacanths by Peter Timm, Pieter Venter and Etienne le Roux while on a trimix training dive to 340 feet constituted the first ever coelacanth encounter on scuba.
Through his dive centre, Triton Dive Lodge, Peter Timm led many more expeditions to the world’s only coelacanth colony shallow enough to be scuba-accessible. The current coelacanth expedition to promote their conservation and protection builds on this work.
