... if the image used is from the day of the death the conditions looked pretty crappy
Hi Chris Kippax
The image does look like it was taken yesterday based on the content of the following link -
Scuba diver dies in front of daughter as paramedics rush to save him.
Also, the two people shown in the image at the end of the jetty are wearing SA Police uniforms and appear to be doing a survey.
Based on the height of the water at the end of the jetty, the image would have been created as early as about 3.30 pm, i.e. the time of high tide on Wednesday. For your information, the jetty stops on the east side of a reef which runs parallel to the coastline and which is exposed at low tide and is covered by about one metre of water at high tide. I think the sea appears ‘steeper’ in the image because of a telephoto lens has been used to obtain a useful image. The photographer would be standing at street level on the shore about 350 metres away in order to be at the same level as the two persons on the jetty.
I checked the wind conditions for the site on one local website (i.e. willyweather) which reported a maximum wind speed of 22 km/h (i.e. 12 knots) which is close to the limit for dive-able conditions in open water. However, the submerged reef does moderate the effect of a wind-driven sea at this site.
The conditions shown on both the image and the video on the above link are dive-able if one enters and exits via the steps at the end of the jetty. The conditions were better in the morning because the sheltering effect of the reef which was fully exposed due to low tide being at about 9.00 am and lower wind speeds. The water temperature would have been low, i.e. less than 15 degrees C (i.e. 59 degrees F) while the visibility would probably have been OK as the relatively dry winter experienced so far this year means that a nearby river has not yet flooded and silted out Port Noarlunga.
