On 29th January 1972, two divers visited Piccaninnie Ponds, a deep and spectacular rift with small passages off it at shallow depths. Starting their dive with only 1/3 supply in their tanks, the two divers completed an investigation of The Cathedral to a depth of 30m and returned to the surface after their air supplies began to run low. They then spent a little time in shallow water exploring various minor offshoots of the larger cave to use up their remaining air.

Finding his air supply nearly finished, the victim switched over to "reserve", which lasts for probably 5-10 minutes of shallow diving. Both continued to explore the main rift and entered a small side cave about 3m below the surface with a small chamber and a very dark silt floor. The victim was holding on to the left foot of his buddy when almost immediately the cave completely silted up. The diver lost contact with his buddy and died as a result of running out of air in his attempts to find his way out through the small entrance. His companion was luckier and found daylight soon enough to escape.

Subsequent investigations found that the diver and his companion were novices and that the victim had purchased his SCUBA equipment only a short time before his death, possibly as little as a fortnight.

If the diver had decided to use the guideline that he had brought on the trip, he probably would have survived after mastering the initial panic that comes with sudden and unexpected silting.

The fact that neither person was particularly experienced in SCUBA diving is not the reason for the accident as has been suggested. It was unfortunately a matter of non-familiarity with the cave environment (particularly silting hazards) and a consequent lack of alertness for such hazards.

The same safety precautions would probably have saved more lives in the tragedy of the following year.

Accident Analysis
Cause of Death - drowning after running out of air
Major Contributing Factors - inadequate gas for the dive, inadequate training, inadequate equipment, failing to run a continuous guideline

More information on Piccaninnie Ponds

Piccaninnie Ponds | Photo: Richard Harris