Snorkeller left behind in Cairns

[WetPup]

I'm not sure if this is the appropriate sub-forum for this, but as it relates to Australian/Queensland regulation, I thought this was the most suitable place for it.

So all over the news this morning is a report of a snorkeller being left behind on the GBR while out on one of the day trip boats.

The incident baffles me. The dive boats (based on what we encountered with Mike Ball over Christmas) are forced to have the sign-in/sign-out sheets with multiple redundancy checks as part of Queensland's regulations after the '98 incident with the American couple being left behind. Why is this not enforced with the day trip boats with snorkellers, as seems to be the case here? Clearly a simple head count doesn't work, as evidenced by the previous case, which is I assume why the sign-in/sign-out sheets were introduced. I'd generally consider snorkellers to be more of a liability than divers in the first place. Divers have at least had some training and are required to show some level of competence in the water. Anybody can go out on a day boat and snorkel. So why is this sign-in/sign-out type headcount check enforced for the dive industry and not for the day trip boats?

 

[VooDooGasMan]

I would say cause there on the surface, and if they blacked out and did not surface the water was clear of snorklers, or they got out of sight. Dam shame either way, should send divers in the area and see if there.

 

[Aquapro Dive Services]

They do have to do either signatures or 2 people have to do a head count with clickers at separate times and if the counts don’t match then it is repeated.
This particular boat, the individual concerned was carless and just missed the non signature. They now been sacked. Not that it makes things right, trouble is that the rules are there but they need to be enforced. It was unforgivable what this person did and it has cost them their job.
Luckily the site where the snorkeler was left is a sand cay island - large and vegetated with lots of boats around. It’s a pretty easy swim to the shore and so it is highly unlikely he would have died, but that’s not really the point.
Please on behalf of the Cairns diving community (we are pretty devastated when these things occur) and am sure I speak for the others by saying there are over 800,000 visitors a year to the Reef and every precaution is taken. Unfortunately human error will always be around to stuff things up., Thankfully it’s a very, very small minority of times.

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Cairns Discount Dive And Snorkel Trips. Live Aboard And Day Trips To The Great Barrier Reef

 

[knowone]

The sooner lost is the term

HEAD COUNT

the longer will be the period until it happens again!

 

[WetPup]

Oh, absolutely. I know these incidents are rare given the number of visitors each year. And I wasn't aware that the same rules applied to the day trip boats, because all the media reports I'd seen recalled the sacked person stuffing up a "head count". There was no mention of sign-off sheets or multiple head count checks. Thanks for that bit of information though, it now makes more sense that they all fall under the same regulations and this person messed it up.

 

[Aquapro Dive Services]

Its all a Queensland Workplace health and Safety regulation (so not Law but if you dont follow these regulations and something goes wrong you better have a damn good reason why).

Sign off is the preffered way, but if large passenger numbers are on board they are allowed to do a head count, but it has to be done by 2 people at same time but not tegether as a double check.

 

[Doc Harry]

He doesn't look very happy in the photo.

My girlfriend and I always make friends with some other couple on the dive boat. We agree to watch out for each other, and make sure that each other is back aboard.

 

[danhool34]

Haha Passions of Paradise, way to go! If you look at the picture in the article, he's standing right in front of the empty dock space normally occupied by Passions. On the left you can see my former vessel, Reef Experience. We had over 100 people on our boat, so we did head counts, but we never lost anyone (phew!).
To be fair, Passions is a quality operator, and I assume that the crew member believed that the snorkeler was a passenger on the other vessel (but still, no excuse). Also, Michaelmas Cay is probably the best place to get left behind in all of the GBR; very short swim to the Cay, incredibly shallow, and the MOST you'd ever have to wait for another boat to come by would be about 24 hours. The worst part would be having to deal with the smell of all the birdsh*t on that tiny island.