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Mystery scuba deaths shake divers
Mystery scuba deaths shake divers
Rachel Olding
March 26, 2011
Scuba diving school at Camp Cove. Dive instructor Tony Patamise, second from right, with students, from left, James Walsh, Adam Arnold and Sean Rhael, as they begin an advanced navigation dive at Camp Cove in Sydney's eastern suburbs.
Risky hobby ... dive instructor Tony Patamise, second from right, with students, from left, James Walsh, Adam Arnold and Sean Rhael at Camp Cove. Photo: Jon Reid
SHE had dived to World War II shipwrecks off Vanuatu and with whitetip sharks in the Red Sea. By December last year, scuba-enthusiast Carol Martin had clocked up 1000 dives and 15 years as a member of the St George Scuba Club in Sydney's south, but a night dive at Bare Island, off Botany Bay, on February 3 was her last.
Then four weeks after Ms Martin, 52, stopped breathing during the dive, Adam Rothery, another experienced scuba diver, died suddenly at the Royal Sheppard wreck off South Head.
His death was the fourth in as many weeks around Australia, leaving the scuba community asking questions about an unusual spate of deaths and cautiously reviewing safety procedures.
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On March 5, a 55-year-old father of two, Michael Williams, suddenly lost consciousness during a dive in Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay. One week earlier, Agnes Milowka, a world-renowned cave diver from Melbourne who was a stunt diver in the James Cameron film Sanctum, ran out of air during a dive near Mount Gambier in South Australia.
''Even though scuba diving is a dangerous activity it's pretty rare that people die. I can't remember ever having that many deaths in such a short space of time,'' said Neil Miller, creator of the Dive-Oz website.
The deaths are unrelated; two were a result of unknown med- ical problems which were exacerbated underwater, but Mike Whitworth, diving officer for Sydney Sub Aqua Club, said divers were concerned.
''It's a small community so everybody is aware of [the deaths] and would be foolish not to have a look at themselves … ''
Other divers are troubled by the lack of information about Mr Rothery's death. The Herald understands the weather was poor with a swell of up to six metres developing overnight and several people aborted the dive. Peter Letts, the director of Abyss Diving, the company in Ramsgate which chartered the boat, denied conditions were unsafe and said other boats were at the same site on the day.
''I wouldn't have gone out. I cancelled my dive,'' said Michael McFadyen, a scuba diver with 25 years' experience. ''People on the boat get knocked about and get seasick or do rushed things to get into the water.''
Police are still investigating the cause of death to prepare a brief for the coroner. On the Dive-Oz forum, divers want to know more.
''We dive and don't want to die doing it. So analysis of deaths and near misses … is appropriate,'' wrote one diver.
The cause of death may never be known. Scuba diving accidents are often the result of small undetected health problems accumulating that can take years of autopsy investigation to pinpoint. Criminal proceedings against operators are rare given the voluntary assumption of risk.
Adam Arnold, an advanced diver, said he doesn't often think about the risks associated with diving. He was diving at Camp Cove on Wednesday with Pro Dive, a company that has taught 400,000 divers without a fatality due to strict safety screening.
''I feel like it's pretty safe. You learn almost all you need in the first dive,'' he said, acknowledging that there are many things that can go wrong.
There are about nine scuba deaths in Australia per year but almost all occur in Queensland.
''Like many dive-related incidents,'' wrote Jason Coombs, St George club president and close friend of Ms Martin, ''we will probably never know why it happened.'' |
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