KAIKOURA, New Zealand (17 June 2003) -- Missing Kaikoura diver and renowned whale rescuer Tom Smith believed whales knew if humans were trying to help them. Yesterday, Mr Smith was presumed drowned after he was hit by the tail of a 12m thrashing humpback whale he was working to free from craypot lines off the Kaikoura coast. The accident, about 11.40am, has shocked Kaikoura where Mr Smith, 38, was a much respected and loved identity. Sergeant Tony Yardley, of the Kaikoura police, said Mr Smith was struck with a blow of huge force by the whale's tail and he instantly disappeared beneath the water. He had been in the water for about five minutes attempting to cut the line away. The tragedy happened almost two years to the day after Mr Smith was photographed freeing another humpback whale tangled in crayfish-pot ropes. At the time, he told The Press: "I was pretty scared. "The first thing I did was make eye contact with its dinner plate-sized eye. "It let out a roar of distress. "It started whistling as I started to cut the loop of rope from around its head. I dumped the scuba gear back on the boat and hopped back in to cut the other tangled rope from the tail. "When it stopped moving, I approached. The whale dropped its head and raised its tail, waiting for me to do the cutting. They talk about how whales know you are going to help them – I believe it." Yesterday's accident happened about 1km off Sharks Tooth Point in about 50m of water on the South Bay side of the Kaikoura peninsula. The whale was still entwined in the fishing line last night. About 30 mainly British tourists in a boat belonging to tour operator Whale Watch Kaikoura saw the incident. People in a support boat with Mr Smith raised the alarm. Mr Yardley said a four-hour search by private and commercial boats, the Coast Guard, and a helicopter failed to find Mr Smith. The search was abandoned late in the afternoon because of bad weather. "The area was covered fully and it was clear he hadn't surfaced," Mr Yardley said. "We're now looking for his body." Several lines of fishing nets, each about 500m long, had been laid where the diver disappeared, in the hope his body would become caught. Last night, locals said the loss of Mr Smith, who operated Bounty Fishing Charters, was a huge blow to the small seaside community. | | Fishermen and other residents were visibly shocked as they stood around the boat ramp at South Bay, only minutes from Mr Smith's home, waiting for news. Resident Brent Thorpe said Mr Smith was "the best man and the best family man in Kaikoura". "It's the worst kind of loss for the town. He's been on the international news trying to save whales. When a whale was in trouble, Tom was who they called," Mr Thorpe said. He said people would have risked their lives if they could have done anything to help him. Thomas Kahu, of Whale Watch Kaikoura, said Mr Smith was a Kaikoura identity. "I've known him for as long as I can remember. Everybody who lives in the community knows of him." Whale Watch used Mr Smith, a commercial diver, to inspect the hulls of its boats. He was often seen with his three children, riding a four-wheel motorbike along South Bay. "All we can do is offer our prayers to Tom's family. He was trying to do a good thing." DOC South Marlborough area manager Dave Hayes said DOC had looked at a whale tangled in ropes in the area last Friday. He was not sure if it was the same whale that had struck Mr Smith. When Mr Smith and DOC staff had gone to help the whale, it was decided conditions were too rough to work with it. Mr Hayes said he knew of four occasions when humpback whales had become tangled in craypot lines along the Kaikoura coast. "The humpback is an inquisitive whale. All the incidents in the past have occurred this time of the year when they're migrating north from Antarctica." Police will continue the search this morning. Mr Smith's death is the fourth diving fatality on the Kaikoura coast in the last four and a half years. A man diving for crayfish off Black Miller Bridge, 20km north of Kaikoura, drowned in October 1998. In April 1999, a woman diver drowned at Sharks Tooth Point in moderate to rough seas and, in June 2000, a Japanese man died in a diving accident off Pinnacle Rock, south of Kaikoura. SOURCE - Stuff, CDNN |
