HAGATNA, Guam (9 August 2004) -- Three men who were scuba diving early yesterday morning were rescued after they were swept outside the reef by strong currents. At 2:05 a.m., the Guam Fire Department received a call of the stranded divers, said GFD spokeswoman Firefighter Phyllis Blas. "Four divers tried to do a dive from the Malesso Pier area. They got out into the Mamaon Channel and got caught in pretty strong current and started to get dragged out into sea," said Lee Putnam, a U.S. Coast Guard search-and-rescue specialist. "One of them was able to make it back to shore and called for help using the 911 system." Blas said several rescue units responded to the scene and rescued the men at around 3:30 a.m. "Guam Fire Department Rescue responded. They were able to launch a boat and luckily get out through the 8-foot or so swells that were out there in the channel and locate the three other divers and bring them back in," Putnam said. "We did ask HC-5 (helicopter squadron) to respond, but Guam Fire Department was able to locate the divers before (HC-5) lifted off." | | Putnam said the male divers, who were military personnel, were located outside the reef. None of the divers were injured during the incident. Be cautious "Mamaon Channel is just like any other break in the reef. If you got a bunch of water coming over the reef because of large waves, it has to go out somewhere, and so it looks for these natural breaks in the reef and creates strong currents there," Putnam said. "So anytime that you are swimming or diving, especially ... when the surf's up you have to watch for these places where there are breaks and avoid them because there is going to be strong currents." Putnam said the scuba divers got caught in very strong currents and were quickly pulled toward the channel entrance. Putnam warned: "Be even more cautious than normal when the surf conditions are up because the water is moving with a lot more force and you could easily get into a situation where the force of the water is much stronger." SOURCE - Pacific Daily News |
