Phuket hunt for coral-touching divers reveals speedboat danger ‘safety stop’

[snoop1130]

Phuket hunt for coral-touching divers reveals speedboat danger ‘safety stop’

The Phuket News

 

 

PHUKET:-- A dive tour boat operator has responded to reports of divers holding onto corals off Phuket with the explanation that the divers were forced to take action as speedboats were passing dangerously overhead.

 

The news broke yesterday (Feb 12) when local marine conservation group Go Eco Phuket posted photos online showing the divers touching corals reportedly at Shark Point, also called Hin Musang, off Koh Yao Yai east of Phuket, about halfway to Phi Phi Island.

 

The photos were reportedly taken at 5:30pm on Feb 7.

 

Full Story: https://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-hunt-for-coral-touching-divers-reveals-speedboat-danger-safety-stop-65957.php#9FszscQmScrWPDcE.97

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2018-2-13

[SpaceKadet]

“Therefore the divers had to get closer to the bottom of the sea for their own safety. It is called a ‘safety stop’,” she said.
Read more at https://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-hunt-for-coral-touching-divers-reveals-speedboat-danger-safety-stop-65957.php#vcDA5wkhkxdAzzgk.99

 

What a lot of <deleted>.... Where do they pick these people up that are making such comments.

[worgeordie]

They should be easy to spot ,walking around Phuket, wetsuits,facemasks,

and one has the number 3 on the bottom of his flipper.

 

regards worgeordie

[stevenl]

7 hours ago, SpaceKadet said:

“Therefore the divers had to get closer to the bottom of the sea for their own safety. It is called a ‘safety stop’,” she said.
Read more at https://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-hunt-for-coral-touching-divers-reveals-speedboat-danger-safety-stop-65957.php#vcDA5wkhkxdAzzgk.99

 

What a lot of <deleted>.... Where do they pick these people up that are making such comments.

A safetystop at the end of a dive, 5 meters for 3 minutes, is a good and well established diving practice, and that was what she was referring to. And that is as well what the divers in the photo were doing.

 

The comments were translated from Thai, so can be a bit confusing.

[Juan B Tong]

Dive boat operator's comment provided by the 'Ministry of Silly Excuses'.

[rosst]

Poor skill level by the divers, lacking buoyancy control. 

[johnny49r]

A standard non-decompression dive usually ends with a 3 minute safety stop at around 3 meters (15 feet) below the surface. 

New divers who have poor buoyancy skills often need to hang on to something. A proper dive master would lead the group back to the boat anchor or buoy chain to perform the safety stop and also provide a safe place for divers to surface. Sounds to me like the dive operators didn't plan for any of this and just allowed divers to manage their own ascent. In other words, don't shoot the divers, shoot the dive operators.

[Jai Dee]

An offensive racist remark has been removed from this thread.

[maximillian]

4 hours ago, stevenl said:

A safetystop at the end of a dive, 5 meters for 3 minutes, is a good and well established diving practice, and that was what she was referring to. And that is as well what the divers in the photo were doing.

 

The comments were translated from Thai, so can be a bit confusing.

Safety stop or whatever. A good diver doesn't need to hold on to anything in order to stay at a certain depth. Certainly not to corals.

As a diver with more than 1.400 dives, I also must say that there are more dead corals than life ones. No harm in touching the dead ones. Most damage to corals is done by stupid boat people dropping their anchors right on the best dive sites, where there are life corals.

High water temperatures, toxic waste and dynamite fishing are coral killers as well.

[SpaceKadet]

6 hours ago, stevenl said:

A safetystop at the end of a dive, 5 meters for 3 minutes, is a good and well established diving practice, and that was what she was referring to. And that is as well what the divers in the photo were doing.

 

The comments were translated from Thai, so can be a bit confusing.

I know very well what a safety stop is. And that's not what she was referring to. My reaction here was that because the speedboats passing on the surface, the divers had to descend closer to the bottom for their safety, and that was called a "safety stop". A lot of BS in the article.

[stevenl]

6 hours ago, johnny49r said:

A standard non-decompression dive usually ends with a 3 minute safety stop at around 3 meters (15 feet) below the surface. 

New divers who have poor buoyancy skills often need to hang on to something. A proper dive master would lead the group back to the boat anchor or buoy chain to perform the safety stop and also provide a safe place for divers to surface. Sounds to me like the dive operators didn't plan for any of this and just allowed divers to manage their own ascent. In other words, don't shoot the divers, shoot the dive operators.

No boat anchor or buoy chain there. Safety stop always done close to the reef, and if current at shark point 2 holding on to the rock, no corals there, is common practice.

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, SpaceKadet said:

I know very well what a safety stop is. And that's not what she was referring to. My reaction here was that because the speedboats passing on the surface, the divers had to descend closer to the bottom for their safety, and that was called a "safety stop". A lot of BS in the article.

As I said, comments were translated. The divers were not close to the bottom.

[Dap]

7 hours ago, johnny49r said:

A standard non-decompression dive usually ends with a 3 minute safety stop at around 3 meters (15 feet) below the surface. 

New divers who have poor buoyancy skills often need to hang on to something. A proper dive master would lead the group back to the boat anchor or buoy chain to perform the safety stop and also provide a safe place for divers to surface. Sounds to me like the dive operators didn't plan for any of this and just allowed divers to manage their own ascent. In other words, don't shoot the divers, shoot the dive operators.

3 meters equals 15 feet? Not hardly.

[johnny49r]

20 hours ago, stevenl said:

No boat anchor or buoy chain there. Safety stop always done close to the reef, and if current at shark point 2 holding on to the rock, no corals there, is common practice.

Doesn't sound like a good dive spot for unskilled divers. Noob divers clinging to rocks in a stiff current may be a common practice in Thailand but it seems like poor DM judgement IMHO.

[nahkit]

On 2/13/2018 at 11:49 PM, worgeordie said:

They should be easy to spot ,walking around Phuket, wetsuits,facemasks,

and one has the number 3 on the bottom of his flipper.

 

regards worgeordie

I thought it was a picture of a pair of tits myself.