Diver lost at sea for 7 hours - Protea Banks South Africa

[Dive Bug Bit Me]

This is errily similar to the events on 11 Nov 2012 at the same site. Only this time, it was one person, not nine.



Diver rescued after 7 hours at sea | News24

Diver rescued after 7 hours at sea

2013-02-27 11:40

Ayanda Mdluli, The Witness


Durban - A diver who went missing on Tuesday morning was found after drifting for more than seven hours in the rough seas off the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast.
Jean-Pierre Els, 30, of Uvongo, went missing at around 08:00 at Shelly Beach.
The dive master for a diving company was 12km offshore of Shelly Beach at Protea Banks when he got swept away while conducting a group charter dive.
National Sea Rescue Institute Shelly Beach station commander Mark Harlen said Els was located by the Transnet National Ports Authority rescue helicopter at around 15:20 off the shore of Port Edward, which was about 45km from where he originally went missing.
Harlen said Els got separated from the dive charter group while diving. When he surfaced from the dive he had no sight of the dive charter boat.
“He drifted for over seven hours in the two- to three-metre rough sea swell and a 30 knot wind until he was found. An NSRI rescue swimmer was deployed into the water from the rescue helicopter to secure the diver, who was then airlifted to our Shelly Beach rescue base,” he said.
Harlen explained that although Els was exhausted, dehydrated and had experienced some sunburn, he did not need to be hospitalised.



Link to the previous event at Protea Banks

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/438933-9-lost-divers-found-south-africa.html

 

[xyrandomyx]

Here's a link to the NSRI's post:

Missing scuba diver found | nsri.org.za

It's the same dive op as the last incident -- apparently the only one regularly operating in the area. Between the strong currents, potential for large swell and fair distance from the shore, it's a site I'd prefer not to dive. Glad the diver's OK, though -- seems there's a pretty good record of finding divers drifting out there.

 

[peterbj7]

A single person would be the target of shark attacks, so this guy was very lucky.

 

[ajduplessis]

Here's a link to the NSRI's post:

It's the same dive op as the last incident -- apparently the only one regularly operating in the area. Between the strong currents, potential for large swell and fair distance from the shore, it's a site I'd prefer not to dive. Glad the diver's OK, though -- seems there's a pretty good record of finding divers drifting out there.

This will happen again and someone is going to end up hurt at best!!! The way diving is conducted is not safe for the average recreational diver. I said in the other PB incident. I am glad JP is OK, he is a nice guy and works late into the night at the family dinner.

 

[kymtris]

Here's a link to the NSRI's post:

Missing scuba diver found | nsri.org.za

It's the same dive op as the last incident -- apparently the only one regularly operating in the area. Between the strong currents, potential for large swell and fair distance from the shore, it's a site I'd prefer not to dive. Glad the diver's OK, though -- seems there's a pretty good record of finding divers drifting out there.

There is another operation in the area, Aqua Planet which dives exactly the same dive sites. We just dive in a different manner, making sure everyone descends together.Two marker buoys are used as not to have one submerged due to the strong currents that we often experience on Protea,as well as two dive reels allowing us to spend time in the caves on the Northern pinnacle without having to tie the buoy down. All rental BCD's come standard with deploy buoys. Protea is a wonderful dive destination for divers wanting to see sharks, it is not Dangerous when dived in the right way. JP way lucky and we taught him so we were very relieved when he was found.

 

[xyrandomyx]

There is another operation in the area, Aqua Planet which dives exactly the same dive sites. We just dive in a different manner, making sure everyone descends together.Two marker buoys are used as not to have one submerged due to the strong currents that we often experience on Protea,as well as two dive reels allowing us to spend time in the caves on the Northern pinnacle without having to tie the buoy down. All rental BCD's come standard with deploy buoys. Protea is a wonderful dive destination for divers wanting to see sharks, it is not Dangerous when dived in the right way. JP way lucky and we taught him so we were very relieved when he was found.

Care to explain in more detail about your procedures and the site(s) for those of us who've never dived there before?

 

[kymtris]

Care to explain in more detail about your procedures and the site(s) for those of us who've never dived there before?

We are a relatively new dive charter on Protea Banks, have been operating as a charter for the last three years now with great success. We have had a dive centre in the area for 15 years so are well experienced in the area. When we opened up the charter side of the business, we took our previous experience of diving Protea Banks into account.

1. Although Protea Banks is reserved for advanced divers, not everyone with an advanced card is necessarily an advanced diver, therefore we wait at 5m to make sure everyone gets down and the group is kept together from the start.
2. We insist on buddy pairs (or 2 divers) surfacing together along the buoy line, which is explained in the briefing, which is well done and covers all scenarios.
3. All hired gear has a deploy buoy in, and we highly recommend that any diver, diving in the sea in South Africa, should have one as a standard part of their dive equipment.
4. Most of the time the dive is lead by an Instructor or a highly experienced DM.
5. We never tie off our buoy line in the caves on the Northern Pinnacles, as in current the buoy goes under and it is difficult the to mark the divers. We would rather miss a cave and be safe (the divers that went missing last year, went missing because the buoy line was tied down - it did not snap as was reported).
6. I personally have been diving for 15 years and have a lot of experience in difficult dive conditions, I have used this experience to make our diving as safe as possible.
7. We do not launch everyday only when the base allows us to and take into consideration the wind predictions for the day and plan accordingly.
8. We often provide a 'safety diver' on the dives for divers that are a bit nervous.
9. Safety is our number one concern!
10. We have highly experienced skippers, which are very safety conscious.
11. Protea Banks is a truely an exceptional dive site with a wide variety of sharks to be seen, depending on the season. For a diver who wants to dive with sharks, Protea Banks should be at the top of their wish list. Just because one dive charter is in the headlines with missing divers, it does not mean that Protea Banks is an unsafe dive site. The great thing is there are two charters in the area, which means there is now a choice, be that diving with us or the other charter.
12. We would love to welcome more divers to South Africa, and Protea Banks to show them what a remarkable dive site Protea Banks actually is. I have the privilege of diving Protea Banks often and am passionate about the dive site, sharks and about diving, and would love to share this with other divers. I have had dives that some would just not believe as they were so MIND BLOWING!!!!

We have two main dive sites for Protea Banks.

PROTEA BANKS - SOUTHERN PINNACLES: Depth 26 to 40m
Dived mainly in the summer months, this site is home to the notorious Bull Shark (Zambezi) which brings a great deal of notoriety to this world-renowned dive location. Other sharks frequenting PROTEA BANKS include shoaling Hammerheads sharks (some days in the season we can see from 50 to 1000's on a single dive), Oceanic Blacktip sharks, Dusky sharks, Spinner sharks, Guitar Sharks to name a few and a variety of Rays. For a fortunate few there is even the possibility of sighting the Tiger Shark.


PROTEA BANKS - NORTHERN PINNACLES: Depth 28 to 38m
This site, normally dived in winter months during the Ragged-Tooth mating season, allows divers to view "Raggies" in close proximity on their annual migration route. The area consists of two cave systems in which the "Raggies" congregate. At times it is impossible to see the mouth of the caves as it is completely obscured by masses of sharks!

HAPPY AND SAFE DIVING ALL!

 

[peterbj7]

Sounds a thoughtful and professional operation. I used to live in South Africa but didn't dive then. Your diving sounds very much like what I was brought up on, and indeed lots of my UK friends have dived Protea Banks. I remember one occasion when a great white showed up and they were with it for ten minutes. It showed them no aggression and they showed no fear. It's the sort of place I'd like to work after too much easy diving here in the Caribbean!

 

[InTheDrink]

I've dived Protea banks. I won't names any names but the op we dived with were pretty concerning. And I know from both local hearsay and word of mouth from our own op that they'd lost a number of divers - both lost at sea and lost life. I'll say no more and don't want to put anyone off Protea Banks but make sure you get a good op (and the one above sounds good).