Stranded divers 'lucky to be alive'

[Tassie_Rohan]

Sunday September 18, 12:25 PM AAP

Two British tourists who survived nearly six hours in the water after disappearing from a dive trip in north Queensland were "freakishly lucky" to have been found, one of their rescuers says.

Louise Woodger, 29, and Gordon Pratley, 31, spent hours clinging to emergency flotation devices after becoming separated from the dive boat Sea-Esta on the Great Barrier Reef about 10am (AEST) on Saturday.

The pair, suffering exhausting and mild hypothermia, were found about 3.50pm - nearly 10km from where they first entered the water at Wheeler Reef about 90km east-northeast of Townsville.

The ordeal revived memories of the disappearance of American couple Tom and Eileen Lonergan, who were left behind on a dive trip in Cairns in 1998.
Coast Guard skipper Jon Colless said the Britons were at risk from the "very large sharks" known to frequent Wheeler Reef.

They would have also been in greater danger if they weren't found before sunset.
"They were freakishly lucky that search was called early in the day, that the weather was going down, it had been a bit lumpy ... and the skipper of the dive boat was right on the ball, did everything right," Mr Colless said.

"Wheeler (Reef) Kay ... is known for having some very large sharks working its seaboard side and the risks increase at night because that's when a lot of your predators are out."

Mr Colless said the area the pair went missing was between two reefs and a high tide "caused a much stronger current between the reefs than I think anybody realised".

The skipper of the dive boat immediately raised the alarm after a routine head count, sparking a widespread air and sea hunt.
Dive Queensland spokesman Col McKenzie said the successful rescue was a result of new safety procedures put in place following the disappearance of the Lonergans.

"When the Lonergans were there, there was only a requirement for one person to do the head count and unfortunately in that case the person got it wrong," he told ABC Radio.

"Now the head count is actually done by two people, so two staff members have to count everybody on board."

Police said there was no suggestion of any negligence by the crew.


Many details are unknown: if they were diving with another group and got separated, if they surfaced soon after being taken off the reef by a current, or if they had surface marker buoys and signalling devices etc..

But its clear that the head count and quick response probably saved their lives..

Cheers,
Rohan,

 

[wetrat]

Phew! That's all the Great Barrier Reef operators need is another couple missing from a dive boat.

 

[H2Andy]

man, those two people need to be on their knees thanking God

i'm happy this turned out this way

 

[gtcpl2]

I can't imagine the thoughts that go through your head when you out there alone. Has to be very scary. I have not gone on a dive trip yet but have over the yrs done snorkle trips ( before I got certified) and they always do head counts with many people on board. To much room for error,

Why don't these boats have another form of accountability such as drivers licenses, numbers ect?? These are almost fool proof verses counting moving people and getting distracted while counting.

 

[Scubaroo]

Why don't these boats have another form of accountability such as drivers licenses, numbers ect?? These are almost fool proof verses counting moving people and getting distracted while counting.

The problem was *not* the head count procedure on the boat - the head count identified the problem that two divers were missing! The divers were swept away by current, at the end of the dive it was identified that two divers had not surfaced or returned to the boat, authorities were notified and the divers were found after an extensive search.

 

[Markdone]

Is anyone using a PLB (Personal Locator Beacon)?

They are pricey, but seem like a good insurance policy if you think you might encounter this kind of scenario. I've seen them on Landfall Navigation's website - $550 with internal GPS plus $250 for the dive canister. (US Dollars). You can save a little by getting the $470 version without GPS, but at this price point, why bother?

http://www.landfallnavigation.com/spwff1.html

http://www.landfallnavigation.com/spwffdive.html

Mark

 

[DennisW]

I still believe head counts are not acceptable. Only roll calls work every time. People move around the boat too much for a head count to be a realistic means of determining that you have everyone on board. Shame on them for only doing head counts. I don't care how many people do them, they are not effective 100% of the time.

However, the captain did a very good thing when he notified search and rescue immediately.

 

[djanni]

It doesn't appear the actions of the boat had anything to do with the incident and thank God the couple was found; however, I have my own story about how head counts fail. Head counts are NOT RELIABLE.

Don

The problem was *not* the head count procedure on the boat - the head count identified the problem that two divers were missing! The divers were swept away by current, at the end of the dive it was identified that two divers had not surfaced or returned to the boat, authorities were notified and the divers were found after an extensive search.

 

[Scubaroo]

I'm not saying that head counts are a good procedure - too easily stuffed up - I was correcting the other poster who seemed to imply that the boat had miscounted and left people behind. This was not the case in this incident.

 

[Zeeman]

Before we get too excited about "head counts" and condemning the crew to eternal torment with fire andmetal tipped whips for not doing a roll call instead, remember that the news was brought to you by "Non Diving Media Corporation inc.", the same people that call B.C's "emergency flotation devices", the same people that also say that you "inflate your wetsuit with oxygen" to help you stay on the surface (one particular news report I saw on TV claimed this is how they stayed afloat). The crew may well have done a roll call, and this has been called a head count by some bonehead reporter.

Z...