After seeing the brothers, I have to wonder why none of the other passengers didn't notice them missing. They really stand out, and there would have been at least two empty spaces on the bench.
Unknown Two abandoned drifters rescued by ferry, one hospitalized - Western Australia
- Thread starter DandyDon
- Start date
This Thread Prefix is for incidents when the cause is not known.
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Hard to miss, but they did.
I like the “will implement preventative measures, if needed”. Umm,….Uhh,….Well,…. I THINK YOU’VE ALREADY PROVEN THAT THEY’RE NEEDED!!!
I believe it's common to hear people ask a question about what the other passengers were doing when a situation like this happens. Obviously (not saying you are saying the opposite), it's not the passengers' responsibility, but one can wonder why those extra pairs of eyes were not helpful.
It will be interesting to hear someone with experience on human factors to comment. I just suspect that in boats like these multiple factors are at play. For example, people come with an attitude of being served, so they only mind themselves and hopefully their buddy, but don't really pay attention to others. Often many of these boats also have a lot of people with few logged dives and even little water experience, so they're probably task loaded already and don't pay attention to other people much. These divers were recognisable, if, you were paying attention to everyone else. If divers are not regulars to the operation, then they simply haven't memorised what other people look like. Add distractions like crew giving orders or having a laugh, dealing with your own gear, feeling cold or hungry, chatting with your buddy about the cool stuff they just saw, perhaps being moved to another part of the boat when you get back, etc. then you end simply not paying attention to everyone on board and not noticing when someone's missing. Also, perhaps someone did notice but for some reason didn't speak up?
This is why it's so important for crews to have good protocols and passenger lists.
DownUnderwater Dan
Contributor
EDITOR'S NOTE: April 7, 2025: The original version of this story said the divers were in the water for several hours after their tour boat returned to shore without them. The divers have since told the ABC they were in the water for between 30 and 50 minutes. This story has been amended to correct this.
All various reports say they were left behind at around 2-4 nautical miles off the coast of Hillarys Harbour. I initially thought they were diving at Rottnest Island, which is around 11 nautical miles from Perth.
I had a brief look at PDA'S website, it shows pic of Wildcat boat, and says that their boat dives are conducted as single dive trips, and in the vicinity of Marmion Marine Park.
So, it's probably the case, that the divers boarded the boat with tanks and equipment, the boat departs, divers get prepared to dive, and sit down for 10-20 minutes boat ride to dive site, briefed, then dive. It could very well be, that the other divers boarded after dive, placed their tanks/BCD, had a cup of tea, and were already back to Hillarys Harbour in quick time.
And it's Australia, I'm not sure what you mean "they really stand out", if they were 2 skinny short Asian women, would that mean that other passengers should have noticed them missing? Australian's aren't just Ken and Barbie doll stereotypes.
The 2021 Census found that almost half of Australians have a parent born overseas (48.2 per cent) and the population continues to be drawn from around the globe, with 27.6 per cent reporting a birthplace overseas.
clownfishsydney
Contributor
The brothers are pretty distinctive, quite big blokes, so I agree they would have/should have stood out and hard to see why the crew and passengers did not notice that they were not on the return trip.And it's Australia, I'm not sure what you mean "they really stand out", if they were 2 skinny short Asian women, would that mean that other passengers should have noticed them missing? Australian's aren't just Ken and Barbie doll stereotypes.
The 2021 Census found that almost half of Australians have a parent born overseas (48.2 per cent) and the population continues to be drawn from around the globe, with 27.6 per cent reporting a birthplace overseas.
DownUnderwater Dan
Contributor
One was overweight, and the other was bald, I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've dived with blokes fitting the same description in Perth.
Also, I think it's irresponsible to insinuate any kind of blame on the other divers/passengers for not noticing missing divers. Isn't that blame storming?
Anyways, I know people/humans have strong held beliefs that make themselves try to stick up for one another in matters like these.
I'll stick up for them. I don't care if one of them was striped like a barber's pole and the other in polka dots.
THE CREW should have done a name call before the boat left two of their divers behind!
THE CREW should have done a name call before the boat left two of their divers behind!
I wasn't blaming passengers. It is entirely the crew's fault. I'm just surprised that with crew and thirteen other passengers, nobody noticed the empty spots on the bench.
People do go lay down on foredeck, or upper deck where available, so it's not always the case that everybody is sitting on the bench.
The only times I've seen the crew not doing the roll call is when it was the 2 of us plus the DM and the captain.
Similar threads
