The property owner warned them not to go in there . And the girl simply blew him off saying . " We're all diving instructors." Apparently the cave didn't care about their credentials .
@@starrgazer1000 That is fair, but what about their friends, relatives,... what did they do, to deserve losing a dear person? They are the ones suffering, the dead don't care any more.
I was certified in 1979, six years after this tragic incident, but still the same general era. While the procedures then were somewhat less developed and the gear was a bit more primitive these people still made a ton of mistakes, even for that time, at least by US standards. I doubt AUS was too different from the US then, either. For example, the "Rule of Thirds" was well known then. But that one uses 1/3 of their air to reach the farthest point in the dive; the next 1/3 is for the return; the final 1/3 is kept as emergency reserve. Decent lines/reels/spools were in standard use then. Redundant dive lights/torches were in use. Stage decompression tanks tied off on the decent line and leaving 1-2 at depth at the rockpile would have been a basic measure then, too. Set buddy teams would have also been the norm, the large gaggle with no assigned teams is why people got split up and others separated without anyone noticing. And then there is the narcosis issue. There was no recreational mixed gas in '73, which would have reduced narcosis to a very minor level, but a tolerance can be developed in many divers, so what we'd do in that era is make a series of dives over days or weeks gradually increasing depth after about 80-100 feet to work oneself up to a depth like 250 feet, which is 120 feet deeper than the (US) maximum recommended recreational sport diving depth (after that one enters the realm of what is now called "tech diving", which requires special training and gear more specialized than the standard recreational diver's kit). I thought this video did an outstanding job telling this story, a great balance of explaining the basics to the non-diver viewers, but still providing the details to anticipate and answer the questions popping into the heads of those of us who do dive. BTW, I have seen the "It's OK, we're instructors" overconfidence get a lot of people into trouble over the years, as it did here. That one is trained to teach beginners in basic SCUBA techniques does NOT mean one is magically qualified to engage in various speciality areas of diving that require special training and equipment. Cave/overhead diving alone is highly specialized, as is deep diving, but to combine BOTH was a recipe for the disaster that did in fact occur. Very sad story, but well-told.
Thanks. I was only just born and didn’t start diving till 20 years later. I think a lot demented in those 20 years. As well as lots of stories of mistakes that make people realise the dangers and the learning.
That saying "rules and regulations were written with the blood of the dead" definitely applies A LOT to cave diving. Even now, cave diving is still incredibly dangerous (in fact together with BASE jumping it's considered the most dangerous sport on earth), but the 60's and especially 70's were sheer madness, the frontier of (cave) diving. No training for cave diving existed back then, there was pretty much no knowledge or expertise on it, let alone easily accessible sources for it. And as a result, a lot of incidents like the one in this video happened, where mistakes
Reminds me of F1 back then. I believe at some point it was like a 20% chance of a death of a driver per race. Not sure if people just never think it will happen to them or what, but that’s insane.
@knarftrakiul3881 the majority of RUclips fatal cave diving stories involve divers with extensive experience and the best equipment and ample safety measures. Even the most prepared outings encounter an unexpected x factor that proves fatal.
This was such a reckless dive. Skipping safety precautions, a "secret" plan for a record and then pulling recreational divers with them without telling them about the very risky thing, they were planning to do, which is just beyond reprehensible. Risk ur own life, whatever, thats ur choice. But deliberately risking the lives of others, less experienced divers? And not even telling them, what ur doing?
"secret" plan, a cover girl, towing a group down, this tale is unbelievable. In the end, we got what we get everywhere, regulations, and a certification racket.
My mom had no problems diving in the ocean. But when she went into a massive 30 meter in and out (like a tunnel) a few hundred feet long…. She got vertigo. She thinks because it was night, and the sight of the fish swimming sideways and upside down that set her off. She panicked. Started clawing at the walls and went thru a 1/2 hours worth of air in minutes hyperventilating. Dad, in the military, grabbed her immediately and yeeted out of there. Got to the surface just as she ran out of air. Took her weeks to even think about going diving again, just during the day. Eventually she dove at night again, but she 100% refused to go in, much less near an underwater cave again. Apparently the kids trapped in that cavern in Thailand years ago brought back some traumatic memories and she told me her tale. She voice shook slightly recalling her trauma…..over 30 years ago. So, cave diving is no joke in my book!
Joan made a good choice. These days we always ask trainees if they are FIT & WELL prior to every dive. This doesn’t just mean, do you have a cold? - it means physically & MENTALLY well. Are you feeling safe & calm? Joan knew from the first dive that her ladder issues probably caused her to start the dive anxious. So it was best to remain at the surface. I have hundreds of dives under my belt, but even I have to occasionally call off from a 3rd dive in the same day if a boat chucks out a load of diesel smoke, as it makes me physically sick. I’m more of a sailor than a boater!
Diesel gets me as well. You're right about Joan. Good point about being 'well and fit' before a dive. On that note - I was having some sinus issues like a cold one time before diving in Mexico. Not wanting to miss 1 of the 2 days of diving I took some afrin to make sure I could equalize. This increased my heart rate and respiration more than I realized. I kept track of my air level throughout the dive (duh) and as it got really close to the planned dive limit I couldn't understand why the guide we went with wasn't starting the ascent. I grabbed thier fin and showned them my gauge - I don't think I have ever seen eyes go so wide (as we were about 60% through the dive). They had me buddy breath for like 10 min across 3 divers (group of 5 including guide) along the ocean floor and through part of the decompression stop. They managed everyones air and we all had air left over as well as ascended at the planned point so the guide we went with did a great job in my book. If I had a timer I could have tracked how quickly I went through the planned amount of air and been more proactive. I got a dive computer not long after that. But anyway - the simple rule of being 100% fit and well to dive is one I always follow now, and to the standards you speak. Diving seems easy and straight forward and partly because of this it is quite dangerous. Small things that seem easily dismissed can compound underwater to deadly levels...fast.
Exactly, It's the same with a lot of things even like taking mushrooms don't do it if you're not in a good headspace. I bet she's made some good decisions in her life after that incident.
As an ex North Sea commercial diver from the 70s, and as an inland commercial diver for 13 years and commercial diving instructor at DIT , 85/86, I recall at least three people, diving scuba, who did very, very stupid things. One, diving repeaedlly to 200 feet in Lake Washington to raise a WWII fighter plane, did not suffer at all, either from nitrogen narcosis or 02 toxicity. Another was a scuby-doo boat cleaner who taught, for money, scuba diving without ever having heard of 02 toxicity, who when I mentioned that he should be teaching it to his students scoffed and replied sarcastically that such toxicity didn't exist. And a third was a guy who in a commercial venture died in scuba gear while trying to save a fellow diver who, surface-supplied, had become tangled in an anchor line at 300 feet. The tangled diver was later found, he wasn't. I have never cave dived and would not have except for good money. I would never ever do so without a strong safety line, extra air or mixed gas supply, good lights, and good communication, with the surface, and to hell with the fun and adventure. I have gone into small spaces to work in cold, dangerous conditions, but as far as I'm concerned caves are just deep, scary holes, and no fun at all. I'd as soon dive in a sewer.
Sorry, but if you have a secret plan behind my back, and put you and your team in danger, and don't listen when I warn of low air, you're on your own buddy boy.
8:50 I think I speak for the majority of us viewers when I say we all chose we would be Joan in this story lol. Make some food, help out. Much nicer than going down a deep dark underwater hole
When you got to describing the shape of the cave I realized I'd seen this exact story done by a different youtube channel, but due to the amount of divers they simplified with "diver A, B, C" etc so as not to confuse folks. Hearing you cover the story, it's apparent that simplification is just unnecessary. I appreciate how you can paint a clear picture without losing track of things along the why like that other guy feared he would. There's no substitution for thorough research and respectful recounting.
What a terrible waste of young lives. The thought of drowning absolutely terrifies me. Thanks for another great video, i really enjoy your presentation style and narration.
I will never dive. Ever. When I was a kid I saw a movie where a monster in the water would go after divers and remove the oxygen tanks. Then it would just watch them drown and swim off. That was more than enough to keep me away.
I've dived The Shaft half dozen times. It's actually more fun getting in and out then the actual dive. Wanted to add that after this period of time where there were a large number of deaths in the caves, and the land owners started banning divers, the divers got together and started a training organising, Cave Divers Association of Australia and began a licensing system with extremely stringent training. Since then, there have been very few deaths and those that occurred have been from not following training and the 5 golden rules. Edit: lol only got to watch the end after i wrote this.
Wow, real sad tale this one, brother. Fantastic job, research, animation and follow up story. Although not a diver myself, I really appreciate the effort you put into these videos. One of my favourite weekly places to visit. Great accent for commentary, too. Keep up the sterling work. 👏👏👏
So many young mavericks back then pushing themselves and their equipment. Wild how many had died in the sinkhole, looked like a very simple layout at those depths, amazing how fast inexperience, recklessness, silt outs and narcosis can flip a situation.
No worries, credit where it's due :-) The only other channel I might compare the quality to is Disturban, and he is a true legend not only as a content maker but as a person, he fundraised 8,200 USD to give to (and gave to) an unfortunate lady who was acid attacked so she could move away before her assailant is released from prison.
@waterlinestories Good presentation. Many divers did not respect cave systems, get a hold of Sheck Exleys "Cave Diving Basics - A Blue Print for Survival". I've dived The Shaft and many sites in Mt Gambier. Not sure of the water level in the shaft back then, but when I dived there, the distance from the opening to the water was considerable, and the only out was via a ladder. If someone were to pull the ladder out, there was no way you could exit the cave. This gives you deep respect for that cave system. As I've told non-diving friends, you don't know the dark until you're underwater at the back of an unlit cave.
For being a bunch of dive instructors, they sure broke some basic rules… always use the buddy system and always use a safety line if you are cave diving. I agree with the other comments here… I have absolutely no interest in cave diving. Another thing is that they were going so far past the 100 foot depth where nitrogen narcosis sets in. I’m only certified for open water diving. I can still remember my instructor from 1982 saying “don’t go into caves unless you get certified for cave diving”. This was before some of the special cave diving certifications mentioned in this video. We were also told not to go past 100’ due to nitrogen narcosis although I’ve heard some classes say you can go a little deeper. If you go that deep, you’re really limiting your bottom time.
@@foo219 Going by what's in the video, and given it was before I was alive, if there were certificates, there didn't seem to be a sanctioned national body to overlook it until later. It wouldn't even surprise me if there was no State body set up either, least not one with proper expertise and oversight.
My same thoughts on the stupidity here and I am only PADI rescue diver certified for 32 years. I'm at my halfway level on air but hey let's just keep going deeper and longer even tho we are all instructors.....(Other instructors on the dive) Yeah man that sounds like a great idea I'm having too much fun so let's go fuck our gauges/computers and air supply. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.🤷
I got certified in late 1974. Equipment was primitive. Not having a depth gauge was common. Also many don't even have a tank pressure gauge, relying on a J-valve, which cuts off the air, when air drops to 500PSI (~35Bar), that's when you flip a valve, to use that remaining air as your reserve. A watch is used to measure your bottom time. A dedicated bottom timer was an uncommon, but existed. BCDs (Buoyancy Compensator Device, aka stab jacket) would not be a thing for another couple of years. True dive computers would not show up for over another 10 years !
As a recreational diver myself, I'm flabbergasted by the gung-ho attitude and lack of planning. How on earth would you just go and descend to 60 or 70 meters without nitrox, reserve tanks, briefings, buddy pairs, lines, etc? It must truly have been a different time, I suppose.
Yeah. Not to mention a nominated dive leader, an abort criterion (such as one diver with DCS, or low on air) or a buddy pair system. An emergency set on the rock pile would have been a life saver. There's so much more they could have done, had they thought about it. I'm afraid this was a tragedy in the making from the start. Very sad.
@dhmacher @majorbruster5916 Couldn't agree more. I bet these imbeciles also drove around in cars with no head restraints, rear seat belts, anti-lock brakes or even yaw control! And don't even get me started on tetraethyl lead, deep fried everything, government sponsored cigarette smoking, or this so called "health and safety at work" shit... How stupid have you got to be for getting born without 20/20 hindsight??!?
Thank you, scary dive without proper equipment.. I have dived 57m deep on open water in a place where one diver died few years before, they had plan to go to 80m with normal air. One young member of the group didn't stop when they should have. I have done some cave diving too, but not over 40m, not very wise without trimix-gas.
did a sink hole dive in darwin once, i was a semi experienced diver, training to be a divemaster. we planned to dive to 50 mtrs limit, ,we had a long line, it was just straight down , then up, dirty hot water first 10 mtr, crystal clear cold water down to 50. fun experience, didnt notice any ill effects, until,, 1st stage reg fail , it was an old unbalanced eg, couldnt handle 50 mtr presure, there were 6 in our group, i signalled to my buddy that i had no air, ,, we did buddy breathing as we headed up, eventually my reg started to work again at about 40 mtrs. arrived safely at the surface, a good experience in working as a team, and testing the equipment. rule 1 Do not Panic, its the panic that kills you, so train for any possible circumstance. i bought a new balanced 1st stage a week later. it works well at even deeper depths. thing is , stick with your buddy and have a plan, plan the dive,dive the plan,
Just finished listening to Jill Heinerth's excellent book, Into the Earth. Can highly recommend it to anyone interested in the adventure, risk, and rigours of submerged cave exploration. The tragic consequences of poor preparation & planning, hubris and panic are also spelled out. Dive safe
So many alarms went of in my head that i cant even count them. I mean im not a diver and probably never will be more then snorkeling and i think the most ive done is about 5-7 meters at a maximum. Yet even i know to always leave spare airtubes when going down with a group. And for the love of Kraken when the landowner advices you and maybe even beg you to not do it , YOU DONT BLOODY DO IT!. It's like pissing on the sheep fence....you know it will hurt and you know it will end with you spraying yourself......yet you bloody did it...... And yes ive seen girls do it and yes it get even messier........Especially when they fall backwards from the jolt and electrocute their more tender regions. Best Regards.
I got my open-water certification in the mid-80s. I learned very quickly that I start feeling nitrogen narcosis at about 80 feet, and it can be insidious. My deepest dive was the Blue Hole in Belize; even knowing I was susceptible to narcosis, when we got to our max depth of 130 feet, I kept right on sinking without realizing it until my dive buddy hauled me back by my BC. The hubris displayed by these divers -- espcially the recreational-only ones -- is mind-blowing.
Dude I've been binge watching your channel. You are an amazing story teller on par with MrBallen and your animations are excellent. Well done and thank you for your content.
This is one of my favorite caves as an equestrian. Since I started riding I’ve had it engrained in me to be careful for holes because a horse can easily trip and get very hurt if they step in a hole unexpectedly. I really resonate with the farmer and how he attempted to fill the hole with rocks.
My old deputy headmaster in the run up to exams - "If you fail to prepare, you are preparing to fail" Exam outcomes are not life-ending, unlike not enough air in your scuba tank!
The best swimmers are always at risk of drowning. When you think you possess all the knowledge that exists the universe steps forward to expose your folly.
Mr. Darwin claims another prize. Regarding regulation this is a great quote: 'If you protect a man from folly, you will soon have a nation of fools.' FAFO should be the rule eh?
I'd be really curious to know how it goes from a farmer finding a smallish hole on the absolutely colossal landmass of Australia where farming neighbours can be hours away to it been known about by what must be a very small niche group of ppl in the 70's ? Wonder if cave discoveries go on some type of ordinance survey database that cavers loo out for
Rule of thirds: use a third of your air for the way down, after that first third is gone, time to go back, so you have a third for the way back, another third of your air for unforseen problems, reserve basically. A third for the way down, a third for the way back up, a third for reserve. If you dont have line or a lin isnt established, DO NOT GO. Always have line. Bring AT LEAST 3 light sources, every person, 3 sources. Don't go anywhere above your skill level, and be cave certified. If you're not cave certified, stay your butt outta underwater caves. Also, if you arent diving anywhere near Edd Sorenson, better not go lol.. Edd Sorenson is a rescue/recovery diver, if you've never heard of him, go check him out. He's one hell of a guy with some incredible rescues and recoveries. Edit: oh, and dont kick up and down to paddle forward when in caves, it kicks up sediment then youre in zero vis, then youre screwed, especially without a guide line. You kick your feet towards one another when you go in caves, and try to disturb as little of the sediment as you possibly can.
Yeah I don't think these guys had any cave diving experience. And they decided that on their first cave dive, they were going to set a new depth record. The magazine articles were already dancing in their heads, and the boon it would be to the family diving business. Hubris leads to tragedy. It's a shame there was no strong leader to talk some sense into the young numbskulls.
Your videos are soooo… what am I trying to say here… entertaining for one thing lol but also, they agitate this primal fear I have of the unknown. Except it isn’t like a deterrent fear, it’s more of a fascination that is enhanced by fear. And it’s so fun to be mentally put into that eerie/stressful atmosphere that’s conveyed through your content. I think it’s entertaining for my subconscious as much as it is for my conscious self, if that makes sense lol
One time I was gonna go cave diving but at the last minute I decided to stay home, rip some bong hits and watch Waterworld again before it leaves Tubi.
A gruesome presentation, but at least something good happened as a result of this tragedy. Just to clarify the point you raise at time 04:07: Membership of FAUI does not mean you are necessarily an instructor. FAUI offer a dozen diver qualifications, from "Scuba Diver 25m" to "Dive Master", in addition to four levels of instructor qualifications. The inclusion of "Instructor" in the organisation's name is a little confusing, but the same is true of the international NAUI and PAPI diver organisations. They all offer instruction in diving to a number of different levels, and some of their members are instructors, but the majority are not.
I can only imagine the horror level panic you must feel as you run out of air while diving, with no choice and forced to breath in water, choking on the water as you feel yourself drowning and dying 😱
Brilliant video, tragic story…… no amount of money would entice me to dive to ANY depth never mind these depths, the thought of not being able to breathe and being lost in dark water terrifies me x
So in those days how did a diver at the back communicate with the leaders if falling behind or had an emergency? Radio, bicycle bell, what? On my PADI course only visual signals were taught that I can remember. In this tragedy the leader was focused on 76m rather than the safety of the group.
Hey guys lets go to the bottom of this cave, if we only touch the bottom for a second we might survive, but if we're down there for 2 minutes we all die. Sounds fun!
I have seen enough diving & cave videos to fully understand that if the place has the name of a body part. Stay away from there. The intestines. The birth canal. "The shaft". " yeah let me go down the 'shaft' " doesnt sound right to me
The real hero’s here were the Rescue teams and particularly the Pathology staff who although unnamed had the grimmest duty of recovering the bodies and extricating the decayed human remains from wet suits in which the bodies were encased to determine the cause of death. A job that that is unimaginable. As one who has witnessed several autopsies following normal and traumatic deaths, I cannot guess how awful that task must have been for those professionals involved.
Cape diving is the most dangerous type of diving when I took my advanced classes. They taught us the proper way to die first you take your knife scratch your message on your tank then start swallowing water.
Cave diving is so much more dangerous than even technical diving. I love getting your technical viewpoint on this. Just curious, have you done any cave diving yourself?
Drunkenness has always been a very bad way of describing narcosis. You'll go through a whole series of necessary procedures, swim through caverns, take pictures only to realize that you've been standing still doing nothing for the past 15 minutes. If you get warned by a dizzy spell consider it a personal favor from God Himself. It is more like sleepwalking and your dreams are possessed by a cat. There have been air mixtures since the late 90s that completely do away with nitrogen narcosis.
I was diving in Piccininni Ponds and Ewens Ponds in 1970-1971, perfectly safe. Then heard about the Shaft accident. So awful and so sad but shows the need for safety measures at the highest level.
![6 Worst Saturation Diving Accidents [Compilation]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ih2fSkCIQ4g/mqdefault.jpg)
The good thing about cave diving is that you don't have to do it.
No one has to lift weights, do archery, camp and hike, or play baseball either
@bruh-wy2ih and I don't, which is why I'm alive, without life long injuries.
Word. I will never.
Amen
Yeah, that's my favorite part of it.
The property owner warned them not to go in there . And the girl simply blew him off saying . " We're all diving instructors." Apparently the cave didn't care about their credentials .
Complacency at its worst, no sympathy for them
@@starrgazer1000 That is fair, but what about their friends, relatives,... what did they do, to deserve losing a dear person? They are the ones suffering, the dead don't care any more.
ego is a son of a gun isnt it ??!!
I was certified in 1979, six years after this tragic incident, but still the same general era.
While the procedures then were somewhat less developed and the gear was a bit more primitive these people still made a ton of mistakes, even for that time, at least by US standards. I doubt AUS was too different from the US then, either.
For example, the "Rule of Thirds" was well known then. But that one uses 1/3 of their air to reach the farthest point in the dive; the next 1/3 is for the return; the final 1/3 is kept as emergency reserve.
Decent lines/reels/spools were in standard use then. Redundant dive lights/torches were in use. Stage decompression tanks tied off on the decent line and leaving 1-2 at depth at the rockpile would have been a basic measure then, too. Set buddy teams would have also been the norm, the large gaggle with no assigned teams is why people got split up and others separated without anyone noticing.
And then there is the narcosis issue. There was no recreational mixed gas in '73, which would have reduced narcosis to a very minor level, but a tolerance can be developed in many divers, so what we'd do in that era is make a series of dives over days or weeks gradually increasing depth after about 80-100 feet to work oneself up to a depth like 250 feet, which is 120 feet deeper than the (US) maximum recommended recreational sport diving depth (after that one enters the realm of what is now called "tech diving", which requires special training and gear more specialized than the standard recreational diver's kit).
I thought this video did an outstanding job telling this story, a great balance of explaining the basics to the non-diver viewers, but still providing the details to anticipate and answer the questions popping into the heads of those of us who do dive.
BTW, I have seen the "It's OK, we're instructors" overconfidence get a lot of people into trouble over the years, as it did here. That one is trained to teach beginners in basic SCUBA techniques does NOT mean one is magically qualified to engage in various speciality areas of diving that require special training and equipment. Cave/overhead diving alone is highly specialized, as is deep diving, but to combine BOTH was a recipe for the disaster that did in fact occur.
Very sad story, but well-told.
Thanks. I was only just born and didn’t start diving till 20 years later. I think a lot demented in those 20 years. As well as lots of stories of mistakes that make people realise the dangers and the learning.
When I hear stories like this, I’m so glad I have zero need or desire to go places no one else has gone before.
🤣
@@waterlinestorieso
Good for you 😊
That saying "rules and regulations were written with the blood of the dead" definitely applies A LOT to cave diving. Even now, cave diving is still incredibly dangerous (in fact together with BASE jumping it's considered the most dangerous sport on earth), but the 60's and especially 70's were sheer madness, the frontier of (cave) diving. No training for cave diving existed back then, there was pretty much no knowledge or expertise on it, let alone easily accessible sources for it. And as a result, a lot of incidents like the one in this video happened, where mistakes
Reminds me of F1 back then. I believe at some point it was like a 20% chance of a death of a driver per race. Not sure if people just never think it will happen to them or what, but that’s insane.
well said, Sir!
You could not pay me to go down into something like that.
And that's exactly the reason cave diving nuts find it irresistible. They seem to thrive in terrifying conditions.
Pay me Zaddy ☺️
Cave diving sounds cool to me. Going in tight places were u have to take tanks off sounds fuking stupid 😅
It's safe if you go by the rules.. use rule of thirds for your air, take 3 or 4 flash lights and some long tie off line
@knarftrakiul3881 the majority of RUclips fatal cave diving stories involve divers with extensive experience and the best equipment and ample safety measures. Even the most prepared outings encounter an unexpected x factor that proves fatal.
This was such a reckless dive. Skipping safety precautions, a "secret" plan for a record and then pulling recreational divers with them without telling them about the very risky thing, they were planning to do, which is just beyond reprehensible. Risk ur own life, whatever, thats ur choice. But deliberately risking the lives of others, less experienced divers? And not even telling them, what ur doing?
"secret" plan, a cover girl, towing a group down, this tale is unbelievable. In the end, we got what we get everywhere, regulations, and a certification racket.
My mom had no problems diving in the ocean.
But when she went into a massive 30 meter in and out (like a tunnel) a few hundred feet long….
She got vertigo. She thinks because it was night, and the sight of the fish swimming sideways and upside down that set her off.
She panicked. Started clawing at the walls and went thru a 1/2 hours worth of air in minutes hyperventilating.
Dad, in the military, grabbed her immediately and yeeted out of there. Got to the surface just as she ran out of air.
Took her weeks to even think about going diving again, just during the day.
Eventually she dove at night again, but she 100% refused to go in, much less near an underwater cave again.
Apparently the kids trapped in that cavern in Thailand years ago brought back some traumatic memories and she told me her tale. She voice shook slightly recalling her trauma…..over 30 years ago.
So, cave diving is no joke in my book!
Did you ever dive? I wasn't the best diver but competent. I got my son involved in diving in his teens.
Joan made a good choice. These days we always ask trainees if they are FIT & WELL prior to every dive. This doesn’t just mean, do you have a cold? - it means physically & MENTALLY well. Are you feeling safe & calm? Joan knew from the first dive that her ladder issues probably caused her to start the dive anxious. So it was best to remain at the surface.
I have hundreds of dives under my belt, but even I have to occasionally call off from a 3rd dive in the same day if a boat chucks out a load of diesel smoke, as it makes me physically sick. I’m more of a sailor than a boater!
Diesel gets me as well.
You're right about Joan. Good point about being 'well and fit' before a dive.
On that note - I was having some sinus issues like a cold one time before diving in Mexico. Not wanting to miss 1 of the 2 days of diving I took some afrin to make sure I could equalize. This increased my heart rate and respiration more than I realized. I kept track of my air level throughout the dive (duh) and as it got really close to the planned dive limit I couldn't understand why the guide we went with wasn't starting the ascent. I grabbed thier fin and showned them my gauge - I don't think I have ever seen eyes go so wide (as we were about 60% through the dive). They had me buddy breath for like 10 min across 3 divers (group of 5 including guide) along the ocean floor and through part of the decompression stop. They managed everyones air and we all had air left over as well as ascended at the planned point so the guide we went with did a great job in my book. If I had a timer I could have tracked how quickly I went through the planned amount of air and been more proactive. I got a dive computer not long after that.
But anyway - the simple rule of being 100% fit and well to dive is one I always follow now, and to the standards you speak. Diving seems easy and straight forward and partly because of this it is quite dangerous. Small things that seem easily dismissed can compound underwater to deadly levels...fast.
Exactly,
It's the same with a lot of things even like taking mushrooms don't do it if you're not in a good headspace.
I bet she's made some good decisions in her life after that incident.
As an ex North Sea commercial diver from the 70s, and as an inland commercial diver for 13 years and commercial diving instructor at DIT , 85/86, I recall at least three people, diving scuba, who did very, very stupid things. One, diving repeaedlly to 200 feet in Lake Washington to raise a WWII fighter plane, did not suffer at all, either from nitrogen narcosis or 02 toxicity. Another was a scuby-doo boat cleaner who taught, for money, scuba diving without ever having heard of 02 toxicity, who when I mentioned that he should be teaching it to his students scoffed and replied sarcastically that such toxicity didn't exist. And a third was a guy who in a commercial venture died in scuba gear while trying to save a fellow diver who, surface-supplied, had become tangled in an anchor line at 300 feet. The tangled diver was later found, he wasn't. I have never cave dived and would not have except for good money. I would never ever do so without a strong safety line, extra air or mixed gas supply, good lights, and good communication, with the surface, and to hell with the fun and adventure. I have gone into small spaces to work in cold, dangerous conditions, but as far as I'm concerned caves are just deep, scary holes, and no fun at all. I'd as soon dive in a sewer.
🤣 at least a sewer follows a predictable pattern. Caves are something else
11:56 Divers today often carry a "scuba rattle". It gives you a way to get the other divers' attention.
Sorry, but if you have a secret plan behind my back, and put you and your team in danger, and don't listen when I warn of low air, you're on your own buddy boy.
8:50
I think I speak for the majority of us viewers when I say we all chose we would be Joan in this story lol. Make some food, help out. Much nicer than going down a deep dark underwater hole
Yes, I'm definitely Joan!
Well done Joan
Yes, be more like Joan. Make some food and watch the body count pile up.
@SonofGalahad pass the popcorn 🍿
Hey better theirs than mine lol, though that's only cause if you voluntarily dive down that honestly what happens should be of no surprise
When you got to describing the shape of the cave I realized I'd seen this exact story done by a different youtube channel, but due to the amount of divers they simplified with "diver A, B, C" etc so as not to confuse folks. Hearing you cover the story, it's apparent that simplification is just unnecessary. I appreciate how you can paint a clear picture without losing track of things along the why like that other guy feared he would. There's no substitution for thorough research and respectful recounting.
Thanks. Yes there’s quite a lot to keep track of. But the break down is step by step and you can see how it unfolds.
What a terrible waste of young lives. The thought of drowning absolutely terrifies me. Thanks for another great video, i really enjoy your presentation style and narration.
I will never dive. Ever. When I was a kid I saw a movie where a monster in the water would go after divers and remove the oxygen tanks. Then it would just watch them drown and swim off. That was more than enough to keep me away.
See, this is how I know I would survive a horror movie. I don't feel the need to explore dark, deadly places. 😂
🤣 Hey let’s go into that dark abandoned house.
Uh no thanks.
The end
I've dived The Shaft half dozen times. It's actually more fun getting in and out then the actual dive.
Wanted to add that after this period of time where there were a large number of deaths in the caves, and the land owners started banning divers, the divers got together and started a training organising, Cave Divers Association of Australia and began a licensing system with extremely stringent training. Since then, there have been very few deaths and those that occurred have been from not following training and the 5 golden rules. Edit: lol only got to watch the end after i wrote this.
Very similar to the Dave Not Coming Back story where they went 280 meters down to recover a deceased diver. Great presentation.
Thanks. I think one of my very first videos was about Dave.
@@waterlinestories you have so many great ones!
@dabootvv thanks 😀👌🏻
This was not an accident - they were incompetent.
Wow, real sad tale this one, brother. Fantastic job, research, animation and follow up story. Although not a diver myself, I really appreciate the effort you put into these videos. One of my favourite weekly places to visit. Great accent for commentary, too. Keep up the sterling work. 👏👏👏
Thanks mate, I really appreciate that 👌🏻
So many young mavericks back then pushing themselves and their equipment. Wild how many had died in the sinkhole, looked like a very simple layout at those depths, amazing how fast inexperience, recklessness, silt outs and narcosis can flip a situation.
So strange, they didn't even know they had insufficient air for diving that deep? Seems like a RANK 1 PRIORITY to consider in the plan for a dive.
You make probably the best production quality disaster videos I've yet seen.
Amazing to hear. That’s for that 😀👍🏻
No worries, credit where it's due :-)
The only other channel I might compare the quality to is Disturban, and he is a true legend not only as a content maker but as a person, he fundraised 8,200 USD to give to (and gave to) an unfortunate lady who was acid attacked so she could move away before her assailant is released from prison.
Check out Mentor Pilot.
@@slinkerdeerDisturban is one of my favorites.
@waterlinestories Good presentation. Many divers did not respect cave systems, get a hold of Sheck Exleys "Cave Diving Basics - A Blue Print for Survival".
I've dived The Shaft and many sites in Mt Gambier. Not sure of the water level in the shaft back then, but when I dived there, the distance from the opening to the water was considerable, and the only out was via a ladder. If someone were to pull the ladder out, there was no way you could exit the cave. This gives you deep respect for that cave system.
As I've told non-diving friends, you don't know the dark until you're underwater at the back of an unlit cave.
👌🏻
I was diving in small cave decades ago and it scared the s*it out of me. Never again.
Yep. I’m not a big fan either
I have gone open water diving exactly once, to a depth of about 35 feet. It was ok, nothing went wrong, but I don't feel any need to ever do it again.
For being a bunch of dive instructors, they sure broke some basic rules… always use the buddy system and always use a safety line if you are cave diving. I agree with the other comments here… I have absolutely no interest in cave diving. Another thing is that they were going so far past the 100 foot depth where nitrogen narcosis sets in. I’m only certified for open water diving. I can still remember my instructor from 1982 saying “don’t go into caves unless you get certified for cave diving”. This was before some of the special cave diving certifications mentioned in this video. We were also told not to go past 100’ due to nitrogen narcosis although I’ve heard some classes say you can go a little deeper. If you go that deep, you’re really limiting your bottom time.
I can't believe they were dive instructors. Isn't there some kind of certification for that? At least some kind of basic aptitude test?
Young and dumb
@@foo219 Going by what's in the video, and given it was before I was alive, if there were certificates, there didn't seem to be a sanctioned national body to overlook it until later. It wouldn't even surprise me if there was no State body set up either, least not one with proper expertise and oversight.
@@OptimalToast Yeah, I forgot this was quite some time ago.
My same thoughts on the stupidity here and I am only PADI rescue diver certified for 32 years. I'm at my halfway level on air but hey let's just keep going deeper and longer even tho we are all instructors.....(Other instructors on the dive) Yeah man that sounds like a great idea I'm having too much fun so let's go fuck our gauges/computers and air supply. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.🤷
Absolutely love this channel. Proper scary stories. Never catch me in there. Ever. 😮
👌🏻
by seeing hundreds of these over youtube while washing dishes, i believed i am an expert now in saving life in deep waters.
Thank you so much for all the hard work you do and all this great content!
Thanks for watching👌🏻😀
I got certified in late 1974. Equipment was primitive. Not having a depth gauge was common. Also many don't even have a tank pressure gauge, relying on a J-valve, which cuts off the air, when air drops to 500PSI (~35Bar), that's when you flip a valve, to use that remaining air as your reserve. A watch is used to measure your bottom time. A dedicated bottom timer was an uncommon, but existed. BCDs (Buoyancy Compensator Device, aka stab jacket) would not be a thing for another couple of years. True dive computers would not show up for over another 10 years !
As a recreational diver myself, I'm flabbergasted by the gung-ho attitude and lack of planning. How on earth would you just go and descend to 60 or 70 meters without nitrox, reserve tanks, briefings, buddy pairs, lines, etc? It must truly have been a different time, I suppose.
Yeah. Not to mention a nominated dive leader, an abort criterion (such as one diver with DCS, or low on air) or a buddy pair system. An emergency set on the rock pile would have been a life saver. There's so much more they could have done, had they thought about it. I'm afraid this was a tragedy in the making from the start. Very sad.
@dhmacher @majorbruster5916 Couldn't agree more. I bet these imbeciles also drove around in cars with no head restraints, rear seat belts, anti-lock brakes or even yaw control! And don't even get me started on tetraethyl lead, deep fried everything, government sponsored cigarette smoking, or this so called "health and safety at work" shit... How stupid have you got to be for getting born without 20/20 hindsight??!?
Recreational diving limits are very conservative (for a good reason). You can go much further and apparently that's what people did back then.
Technical diving is just like parachute jumping. The risks can be reduced, but never eliminated. (Diving for 27 years.)
Collectively known as: An Arrogance of "experts"
Except that the story is about the failures of people who were very clearly not experts.
@@nodidog They were all diving instructors, who broke every rule. You've gotta pay attention, and listen dawg.
Lot of people who died in caves were experienced open water diving instructors.
A new nope added to my list of nopes!
🤣 Nope
Thank you, scary dive without proper equipment.. I have dived 57m deep on open water in a place where one diver died few years before, they had plan to go to 80m with normal air. One young member of the group didn't stop when they should have. I have done some cave diving too, but not over 40m, not very wise without trimix-gas.
Yep. Need to have a plan
did a sink hole dive in darwin once, i was a semi experienced diver, training to be a divemaster. we planned to dive to 50 mtrs limit, ,we had a long line, it was just straight down , then up, dirty hot water first 10 mtr, crystal clear cold water down to 50. fun experience, didnt notice any ill effects, until,, 1st stage reg fail , it was an old unbalanced eg, couldnt handle 50 mtr presure, there were 6 in our group, i signalled to my buddy that i had no air, ,, we did buddy breathing as we headed up, eventually my reg started to work again at about 40 mtrs. arrived safely at the surface, a good experience in working as a team, and testing the equipment. rule 1 Do not Panic, its the panic that kills you, so train for any possible circumstance. i bought a new balanced 1st stage a week later. it works well at even deeper depths. thing is , stick with your buddy and have a plan, plan the dive,dive the plan,
Just finished listening to Jill Heinerth's excellent book, Into the Earth.
Can highly recommend it to anyone interested in the adventure, risk, and rigours of submerged cave exploration.
The tragic consequences of poor preparation & planning, hubris and panic are also spelled out.
Dive safe
"into the planet", I just ordered the audiobook
@@frannymcb_ haha yes, thanks for the correction
The quality of these videos is fantastic
Very matter of fact, clear, concise and well balanced audio
Thank you for your work :)
Thanks. That’s the aim👍🏻
So many alarms went of in my head that i cant even count them.
I mean im not a diver and probably never will be more then snorkeling and i think the most ive done is about 5-7 meters at a maximum.
Yet even i know to always leave spare airtubes when going down with a group.
And for the love of Kraken when the landowner advices you and maybe even beg you to not do it , YOU DONT BLOODY DO IT!.
It's like pissing on the sheep fence....you know it will hurt and you know it will end with you spraying yourself......yet you bloody did it......
And yes ive seen girls do it and yes it get even messier........Especially when they fall backwards from the jolt and electrocute their more tender regions.
Best Regards.
Oh geez that went south really quick 🤣
Great Report, I feel narcosis by tasting a metal taste from my air. This can happen much earlier then 50m, depending on your day condition.
Oooh interesting. I’ve never had that taste. Good you know that about yourself.
I got my open-water certification in the mid-80s. I learned very quickly that I start feeling nitrogen narcosis at about 80 feet, and it can be insidious. My deepest dive was the Blue Hole in Belize; even knowing I was susceptible to narcosis, when we got to our max depth of 130 feet, I kept right on sinking without realizing it until my dive buddy hauled me back by my BC. The hubris displayed by these divers -- espcially the recreational-only ones -- is mind-blowing.
@Soprano91396 you said it
I've heard about this story before a long time ago but you always have the most comprehensive, clear, cohesive and thorough explanation out there 👏🏽🤗
Thanks. That’s the aim 👍🏻
Dude I've been binge watching your channel. You are an amazing story teller on par with MrBallen and your animations are excellent. Well done and thank you for your content.
Thank-you for the effort in making this video. As always superbly told.
Thanks for that 👍🏻
I don't wanna go where no~one has gone before, I'll leave that business to star trek.
"If you dive long enough into the shaft, you will get shafted." --Friedrich Nietzsche
I love to listen to you telling these stories. How did I miss these? Thank you.
Found em now 🤣
0:04 he looks at his what now?
🤣 get your mind out the gutter
@@waterlinestoriesi guess we’re all doomed 😂
His weemar
The episode is called "the shaft" lol
@@waterlinestoriesYou knew what you were doing with that intro, and I applaud you for it. 😂
Been diving since 2006. I average about a dozen dives a year. I’ve never grown tired or bored sticking to warm, clear water sites.
Touché
Small correction mate, 1 ton of rocks isn't 46x36m - the majority of the rocks at the bottom are going to be from the cave collapsing, not the farmer.
another new setup! I like it and as always great job on the video! sad to hear siblings were involved, imagine the survivor's guilt :((
Yeah, imagine having to live with that. Hard
wow i got here fast... anyways, i love your channel! keep doing what you're doing!
Thanks will do
This is one of my favorite caves as an equestrian. Since I started riding I’ve had it engrained in me to be careful for holes because a horse can easily trip and get very hurt if they step in a hole unexpectedly. I really resonate with the farmer and how he attempted to fill the hole with rocks.
All of your reports are great, but I think your ones about dives are some of the best. Thank you.
Thanks👌🏻
Plan your dive, dive your plan.
Helps if you actually plan the dive
My old deputy headmaster in the run up to exams -
"If you fail to prepare, you are preparing to fail"
Exam outcomes are not life-ending, unlike not enough air in your scuba tank!
First time I see such a good video about dive accident. No crap, no horror stories - just info. Thank you for your work.
Good video bro love the effort you put in keep it up with these cave diving vids
Thanks I appreciate that
The best swimmers are always at risk of drowning. When you think you possess all the knowledge that exists the universe steps forward to expose your folly.
That was the best job of Narating a story I've yet hear! Very well done. Kudos 👍
Thanks. I really appreciate that
Always good to see a Waterline upload! Thanks m8
👍🏻😀
You're attention to detail is appreciated.
Thanks 👌🏻
Mr. Darwin claims another prize. Regarding regulation this is a great quote: 'If you protect a man from folly, you will soon have a nation of fools.' FAFO should be the rule eh?
Your videos are so very very good. Brilliant research and calm presentation. I look for them. (Jim Tasmania Australia)
Thanks Jim. I really appreciate that. That’s what I aim for
Thank you for this video and the metric conversions💪🏾
🤣👍🏻
I'd be really curious to know how it goes from a farmer finding a smallish hole on the absolutely colossal landmass of Australia where farming neighbours can be hours away to it been known about by what must be a very small niche group of ppl in the 70's ? Wonder if cave discoveries go on some type of ordinance survey database that cavers loo out for
Those cave divers. They’re a nosy bunch.
So have you got any sinkholes in your back yard?
Love all your videos! Well researched, engaging, great sound design, and a real human narrator; what's not to love? Keep it up, dude! ❤❤❤
Rule of thirds: use a third of your air for the way down, after that first third is gone, time to go back, so you have a third for the way back, another third of your air for unforseen problems, reserve basically. A third for the way down, a third for the way back up, a third for reserve. If you dont have line or a lin isnt established, DO NOT GO. Always have line. Bring AT LEAST 3 light sources, every person, 3 sources. Don't go anywhere above your skill level, and be cave certified. If you're not cave certified, stay your butt outta underwater caves. Also, if you arent diving anywhere near Edd Sorenson, better not go lol.. Edd Sorenson is a rescue/recovery diver, if you've never heard of him, go check him out. He's one hell of a guy with some incredible rescues and recoveries.
Edit: oh, and dont kick up and down to paddle forward when in caves, it kicks up sediment then youre in zero vis, then youre screwed, especially without a guide line. You kick your feet towards one another when you go in caves, and try to disturb as little of the sediment as you possibly can.
Yeah I don't think these guys had any cave diving experience. And they decided that on their first cave dive, they were going to set a new depth record. The magazine articles were already dancing in their heads, and the boon it would be to the family diving business.
Hubris leads to tragedy. It's a shame there was no strong leader to talk some sense into the young numbskulls.
Shafted, so to say.
🤣
A classic case of the Dunning-Kruger effect 😢…..and they all left out the all important “Cave “ part of the diving instructor
Your videos are soooo… what am I trying to say here… entertaining for one thing lol but also, they agitate this primal fear I have of the unknown. Except it isn’t like a deterrent fear, it’s more of a fascination that is enhanced by fear. And it’s so fun to be mentally put into that eerie/stressful atmosphere that’s conveyed through your content. I think it’s entertaining for my subconscious as much as it is for my conscious self, if that makes sense lol
I think that makes sense. Thanks for saying so.
that girl was cute
That’s why they put her on the cover 😂
Yeah, such a waste, smh.
Thank you for great videos.
Thanks 👍🏻
Deep respect from the other hemisphere of the planet.
👌🏻
Really appreciate the videos!
👍🏻 thanks
Things that aren't for me, cave diving, cave diving, and cave diving
👌🏻 so true
For me its:
Caves
Diving
You can get the 3rd.
@@DrDeuteron diving is great as long as you don't do it in a cave!
This channel has some fantastic content.
Thanks 👍🏻
Your videos scare me more than horror movies 😢😢
There’s no emoji for ‘Mwahahahaha’ 🤣
Your presentations are top rate. Dankie.
One time I was gonna go cave diving but at the last minute I decided to stay home, rip some bong hits and watch Waterworld again before it leaves Tubi.
A gruesome presentation, but at least something good happened as a result of this tragedy. Just to clarify the point you raise at time 04:07: Membership of FAUI does not mean you are necessarily an instructor. FAUI offer a dozen diver qualifications, from "Scuba Diver 25m" to "Dive Master", in addition to four levels of instructor qualifications. The inclusion of "Instructor" in the organisation's name is a little confusing, but the same is true of the international NAUI and PAPI diver organisations. They all offer instruction in diving to a number of different levels, and some of their members are instructors, but the majority are not.
20:12, what documentary is the one he talked about at? Anyone know? Id be interested in watching a cave diving doc from the 70s
I can only imagine the horror level panic you must feel as you run out of air while diving, with no choice and forced to breath in water, choking on the water as you feel yourself drowning and dying 😱
Brilliant video, tragic story…… no amount of money would entice me to dive to ANY depth never mind these depths, the thought of not being able to breathe and being lost in dark water terrifies me x
👍🏻
12:55 knees weak, mom's spaghetti
He’s calm, but to the surface, he ain’t getting
It's been awhile since last video about scuba diving accident. ❤ thanks
👍🏻
Taking public transportation is about as adventurous as I get. Whatever is underground can stay there. I don't need to see it. It's there...😒
So in those days how did a diver at the back communicate with the leaders if falling behind or had an emergency? Radio, bicycle bell, what? On my PADI course only visual signals were taught that I can remember. In this tragedy the leader was focused on 76m rather than the safety of the group.
Thank you my friend 🇯🇲👍
Thank you too 🇿🇦
Hey guys lets go to the bottom of this cave, if we only touch the bottom for a second we might survive, but if we're down there for 2 minutes we all die. Sounds fun!
I have seen enough diving & cave videos to fully understand that if the place has the name of a body part. Stay away from there. The intestines. The birth canal. "The shaft". " yeah let me go down the 'shaft' " doesnt sound right to me
The real hero’s here were the Rescue teams and particularly the Pathology staff who although unnamed had the grimmest duty of recovering the bodies and extricating the decayed human remains from wet suits in which the bodies were encased to determine the cause of death. A job that that is unimaginable. As one who has witnessed several autopsies following normal and traumatic deaths, I cannot guess how awful that task must have been for those professionals involved.
Love the channel, just subscribed! Have you done the MS Estonia, by any chance? That's my absolute nightmare scenario.
👍🏻 thanks. Yes I have done Estonia.
ruclips.net/video/EJW61NXKPzU/видео.htmlsi=jtRA1fwC6J5tnrGu
Cape diving is the most dangerous type of diving when I took my advanced classes. They taught us the proper way to die first you take your knife scratch your message on your tank then start swallowing water.
До чего же стрёмная ситуация. Жуть.
Some people think the earth is flat
Some people go cave diving
"the shaft" long and hard
Oh my 🤭
Cave diving is so much more dangerous than even technical diving. I love getting your technical viewpoint on this. Just curious, have you done any cave diving yourself?
Mate (in respect to Christeen being definitely much older than myself) ripper voiced Aussie Accent! ❤.... ohh christ this episode is damn tragic..😔
Drunkenness has always been a very bad way of describing narcosis. You'll go through a whole series of necessary procedures, swim through caverns, take pictures only to realize that you've been standing still doing nothing for the past 15 minutes. If you get warned by a dizzy spell consider it a personal favor from God Himself. It is more like sleepwalking and your dreams are possessed by a cat.
There have been air mixtures since the late 90s that completely do away with nitrogen narcosis.
I loooove these videos!!!!
🤣👍🏻 thanks
I was diving in Piccininni Ponds and Ewens Ponds in 1970-1971, perfectly safe. Then heard about the Shaft accident. So awful and so sad but shows the need for safety measures at the highest level.