A student diver, who was found dead in an Auckland lake, was on a course run by Tauranga-based company Adventure Education.
One student is confirmed dead and another is still missing after the pair embarked on the Helix Training Limited operated course on Lake Pupuke yesterday.
Adventure Education general manager Sharon Sutherland says they are shattered by the tragedy.
'At the moment our total focus is on finding our missing diver and we are doing everything we can to assist the police with their investigations,” says Sharon. 'We will be doing a thorough investigation into what has happened, but our immediate priority is to find the missing person.”
3 comments
That Lake...
Posted on 16-07-2011 17:52 | By Tauranga Tazmin
is not for the novice divers... I was a dive master for an advanced class that almost lost two divers there about 13 years ago, and strongly feel the place should be off limits for dive schools...
Where is the risk?
Posted on 17-07-2011 11:47 | By Murray.Guy
Tga Tazmin, as a non-diver can you explain some of the risks associated with dives of this type. Often thought I'd like to do a basic course.
Murray..
Posted on 18-07-2011 06:50 | By Tauranga Tazmin
Lake Pupuke is extremely low viability for a diver, which not only can bring on a claustrophobic response, but the shallow murky water can bring on the onset of nitrogen narcosis which is normally only seen below 30m for most. There is a reason that Night/Limited visibility dives are specialty classes for advanced divers under most conditions. Just breathing through a regulator is un-natural to most taking a scuba course, add to it advanced conditions, and you have a recipe for someone to freak out. As a Advanced/Nitrox Instructor, I would not take may classes to Tepuke and would instead roll my schedule out until open water days could be taken in the ocean, but many Instructors would do lake Pupuke to end classes on schedule. Murray, definitely take an underwater course as it's a different world down there and in my opinion, more beautiful than the one up top! ;-)
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