Tag Archives: oceania

Body of missing diver found weeks after going missing off Victorian coast

A man's body has been found on rocks about two weeks after he went missing on Victoria's south-west coast.

Police said the body was found at Moonlight Beach, near the Devils Kitchen tourist area, in Gellibrand Lower just before 11am.

The man was one of five people who were swept out to sea while diving for abalone on April 30.

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The group of friends from Melbourne's west were camping at Gellibrand Lower when they decided to go into the water.

Two men and a woman were located on a cliff face between Wreck Beach and Devils Kitchen later that afternoon and were not injured.

The body of Long Do was found on rocks a day later by rescue crews.

Police will prepare a report for the coroner.

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One of Australia's biggest maritime mysteries solved after 50 years

The 50-year-old mystery of an Australian ship that capsized, killing three crew members, has been solved.

The CSIRO said today it had found the wreck of the MV Blythe Star, a coastal freighter that disappeared off Tasmania five decades ago.

It was sailing from Hobart to King Island on October 13, 1973, when it suddenly capsized and sank off the south-west coast of the state.

READ MORE: Wreckage from Australia's worst maritime disaster found after 80 years

All 10 crew members were able to escape the sinking vessel into an inflatable life raft, but three died before the survivors were rescued 12 days later.

Tasmanians thought the crew had all died and were stunned upon hearing the survivors' ordeal.

Despite a major maritime search, no sign of the 44-metre-long vessel was found for decades.

But last month, a research team from the CSIRO and University of Tasmania studying a submarine landslide uncovered the MV Blythe Star wreck about 10.5km west of Tasmania's South West Cape.

The researchers confirmed its identity by using multibeam sensors and underwater camera systems.

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Seafloor mapping technology showed the shipwreck was lying in water about 150m deep.

The MV Blythe Star had been carrying fertiliser and kegs of beer and was headed towards King Island on the day of its ill-fated voyage.

While the crew managed to escape the sinking vessel on a life raft, they were left to the mercy of the drifting ocean currents off south-west Tasmania.

They drifted up and down the coast and always had the shore in sight but were never able to find a safe place to land.

They eventually landed on a small beach at the bottom of steep cliffs on the rugged Forestier Peninsula.

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A few days later, on October 24, 1973, three of the remaining seven survivors climbed the steep cliffs and struggled through dense bush to find help.

They eventually found help and identified themselves as the crew from the MV Blythe Star, only to be told: "Nah, you're all dead."

Following the tragedy, major improvements to maritime safety laws in Australia were introduced.

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Wetsuit material found in search for shark victim

A piece of wetsuit material is among the items found during the search for a missing surfer, who is presumed dead after he was attacked by a shark in South Australia over the weekend.

The search has entered its third day for Simon Baccanello, a much-loved teacher who was surfing at Walkers Rock Beach on the Eyre Peninsula about 600 kilometres west of Adelaide, when he was attacked just after 10am on Saturday.

Police said they also found small pieces of white polystyrene in the water today, which could be surfboard material.

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Simon Baccanello is believed to be the missing surfer, feared dead, off the SA Coast

Baccanello was at the back of a group of about a dozen surfers on Saturday when he was attacked, with no one else injured.

Extensive searches over the weekend turned up nothing but a surfboard with a large bite out of it, as locals began mourning the 46-year-old Elliston Area School teacher.

Support is being offered to his students and colleagues, who will return to school today.

Elliston is an isolated coastal town about 600 kilometres west of Adelaide with a population of less than 400.

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Still no sign of missing teacher feared dead in SA shark attack

The area is well-known for the high number of sharks off the coast.

However, this would mark the first fatal shark attack off the coast of South Australia since 2014, when another teacher was taken in the waters off Yorke Peninsula.

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University professor 'Dr Deep Sea' sets record for living underwater

A US university professor broke a record for the longest time living underwater without depressurisation this weekend at a Florida Keys lodge for scuba divers.

Joseph Dituri's 74th day residing in Jules' Undersea Lodge, situated at the bottom of a 30-foot-deep lagoon in Key Largo, wasn't much different than his previous days there since he submerged March 1.

Dituri, who also goes by the moniker "Dr Deep Sea," ate a protein-heavy meal of eggs and salmon prepared using a microwave, exercised with resistance bands, did his daily pushups and took an hour-long nap.

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Unlike a submarine, the lodge does not use technology to adjust for the increased underwater pressure.

The previous record of 73 days, two hours and 34 minutes was set by two Tennessee professors – Bruce Cantrell and Jessica Fain – at the same location in 2014.

But Dituri isn't just settling for the record and resurfacing: he plans to stay at the lodge until June 9, when he reaches 100 days and completes an underwater mission dubbed Project Neptune 100.

The mission combines medical and ocean research along with educational outreach and was organised by the Marine Resources Development Foundation, the owner of the habitat.

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"The record is a small bump and I really appreciate it," Dituri, a University of South Florida educator who holds a doctorate in biomedical engineering and is a retired US Naval officer, said.

"I'm honoured to have it, but we still have more science to do."

His research includes daily experiments in physiology to monitor how the human body responds to long-term exposure to extreme pressure.

"The idea here is to populate the world's oceans, to take care of them by living in them and really treating them well," Dituri said.

The outreach portion of Dituri's mission includes conducting online classes and broadcast interviews from his digital studio beneath the sea.

During the past 74 days, he has reached over 2500 students through online classes in marine science and more with his regular biomedical engineering courses at the University of South Florida.

While he says he loves living under the ocean, there is one thing he really misses.

"The thing that I miss the most about being on the surface is literally the sun," Dituri said.

"The sun has been a major factor in my life – I usually go to the gym at five and then I come back out and watch the sunrise."

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