Watch to hear about Clayton’s own close call and learn how to stay safe while free diving for kai.
The West Coast Rock Fishing Safety project is a programme to help educate rock fishers on how to keep themselves and others safer when rock fishing. This project began in 2006 due to a spate of rock fishing fatalities on Auckland’s West Coast in 2005 (5 drownings in 4 months) which needed immediate attention to prevent further drownings.
This year will see the West Coast Rock Fishing Safety project head in to its sixteenth year and the longevity to this is based on effective collaboration by Auckland Council, Drowning Prevention Auckland and Surf Life Saving Northern Region.
The project focuses on the interventions aimed at reducing rock-based fishing fatalities and promoting a safety culture among this high-risk group of aquatic recreationalists.
With the inclusion of an Asian aquatic educator to DPA we are able to purposely target Chinese and Korean rock fishers who have been identified to have the highest representation of fishers on Auckland’s West Coast and unfortunately have the highest number of rock fishing fatalities. As Covid-19 is still playing a major role in how we live and the unfortunate increase in job losses, more families may be under pressure financially and therefore seek new ways to source food. Rock fishing may become a more viable option with this activity which only requires a fishing rod, bait and somewhere to fish.
Anecdotally, over the lockdown periods in 2020 (March – May and August) there had been an increase in fishing activity on the West Coast, further increasing the risk of drowning highlighting the importance of the West Coast Rock Fishing Safety project.
Venue: NZ Marine Conference Room, 85 Westhaven Drive
Date: TBC, 2022
Time: 8.30am – 3.30pm
Cost: $50 + GST
(To contribute to costs including refreshments. This PLD is subsidised from various funding sources.
Developing our competence to teach aquatic education will be unpacked in 3 ways:
In New Zealand, people of Māori and Pacific Islander ethnicity record higher drowning rates compared with the European population.
We’re pleased to be able to share with you the presentation that Teresa Stanley gave at our 2021 Mid-Winter Forum.
Join us for our 2021 mid-Winter Form, where this year we are excited to share Teresa Stanley’s journey of research and the doctorate she has achieved. The findings of this thesis have implications for all drowning prevention education to keep people safe in open water.
Come along to hear about the far-reaching benefits we believe this has for the water safety sector. We look forward to sharing this with you.
Please RSVP to info@dpanz.org.nz by clicking the button below.
Drowning Prevention Auckland
85 Westhaven Drive
Auckland
Our latest lifejacket hub is now established in partnership with Bethells Surf Lifesaving Club. This is in response to our Rock Fishing project and our knowledge that many fishers still do not wear life jackets. One of the barriers to wearing lifejackets is the cost. The intention of the lifejacket hub is to give people access to lifejackets at no cost, or for a gold-coin donation if they wish.
We also have many other lifejacket hubs across Auckland where you can loan a lifejacket for yourself or group for up to two weeks at a time free of charge. Click to find a lifejacket hub close to you.
Many thanks to Maritime New Zealand whose funding enabled the establishment of these hubs.
Recently, two fishermen went fishing at 5am in the morning with no lifejackets and wearing unsuitable clothing. It was still dark outside and they used head torches to navigate around the rocks at South Piha, on Auckland’s West Coast. The surf conditions on this day were not suitable for fishing from the rocks, with 3m plus swells hitting the coastline and strong onshore winds generating further swell. As they navigated the dark and large waves surging up against the rocks, one fisherman fell into the water and drowned, presumably due to the large surf conditions and lack of a lifejacket that could have otherwise provided flotation. The callout squad from SLSNR was notified just after 5am and a land-based only search was conducted as conditions were unsuitable for lifeguards to attempt an in-water search.
With compassion for the family, we would like to highlight that fisher drownings are preventable and can be avoided by following key safety messages;
Drowning Prevention Auckland, Surf Life Saving Northern Region and Auckland Council are delivering their 15th year of the West Coast Rock Fishing project. This collaborative programme provides further education, awareness and workshops on Rock Fishing safety for our communities. Please contact Harry if you have a group interested to learn more: Harry.Aonga@dpanz.org.nz
If anyone knows just how important that is, it’s Graham, who survived hours in the water after the boat that he and his son were fishing on capsized last summer in the Firth of Thames.
The Manurewa resident has been boating and fishing in Kawakawa Bay and surrounding areas his whole life and thought he’d pop out for a quick fish with his son David last March.
At about 6:30pm, as they were getting ready to head home, “an unlucky set of circumstances” began in which a wave swamped the boat just as Graham was pulling up anchor, at the same time, the boat turned and slipped onto it’s left side, it was upside down within seconds.
But being safety conscious boaties, Graham and David were wearing lifejackets which they inflated straight away.
With his cellphone now under water, Graham and his son tried righting the boat to no avail and so made the decision to stay with the boat until help arrived.
But as it grew darker and the current stronger, they made the decision to swim to Ponui Island, about 30 minutes away. “If we had stayed with the boat we would have ended up in the Firth of Thames!” Graham says.
At around midnight, after an intimidating and tiring swim, they lay down exhausted on the beach of Ponui Island, it was then they saw the police spotlight searching for them.
“We used our life jacket reflectors to catch their attention, they told us they put the lights out over the water to give us hope.”
While so many incidents like this can turn fatal, Graham and David’s did not due to their strong adherence to safety.
“To all boaties and rock-based fishers, lifejackets will save your life, wear them all the time you are out. What happened to us, happened so quickly there would have been no way I could have got the lifejacket on so you got to put them on the whole time you are out.” Graham says.
Now with his boat fully recovered, Graham is looking forward to heading out onto the water this summer. He’s not been deterred by his experience but has since purchased stabilisers for his boat and personal locator beacon.
One fine Sunday morning in November 2021, the family were at their home in Flat Bush. In a bid to stop her teenage sons from sleeping in all day, Radjeep accepted an invitation from a friend to join them for a walk in the Waitākere Ranges.
After the walk, Rajdeep, her husband Gurdeep, sons Manveer and Puneet, along with their friends, headed to Karekare Beach to rest and relax on the beach.
Despite it being early evening, and after the lifeguard patrol had finished, the boys decided to go for a quick swim. After some initial reluctance, Gurdeep decided to join them to keep an eye on his sons.
Both Rajdeep and Gurdeep grew up in India and had only swum in swimming pools. They were not very experienced with Auckland’s West Coast beaches. Radjeep describes her husband as “fit and strong” and her boys as “healthy and active”, both being involved in local football teams and swimming at North Shore and East Auckland beaches.
Not long after the boys, Manveer and Puneet, entered the water, they were caught in a rip and found themselves unable to touch the ground. Their dad swam out to assist but found himself in trouble too.
Fortunately, Shalema Wanden-Hannay, an off-duty lifeguard, spotted the family in trouble. By the time she was able to reach them, she found Gurdeep unconscious in the water and the two boys were encouraging each other to stay calm and stay above the water. Shalema was joined by fellow Karekare lifeguards and together managed to get the family back to the beach where they administered CPR. The boys were checked and monitored by St Johns Ambulance staff and Gurdeep was flown to Auckland Hospital by the Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter in a critical condition.
Gurdeep would spend ten days in hospital with a lung infection.
Once Radjeep arrived at the hospital, she recalls “Gurdeep was asking me about his boys, were they safe? It was the most important question to him. He asked me, have the boys drowned? I said no, he didn’t believe me. Police brought the boys to him, he didn’t believe me until he saw them in front of him,”
The whole family is full of praise for the Karekare lifeguards, police, St Johns Ambulance and rescue staff who helped on the day. They received counselling afterwards but it has still been a long road to recovery. Puneet was initially hesitant to return to the water but both boys have now been back to the beach helped in part by the water safety lessons Manveer took with the Karekare lifeguards. They are now actively promoting water safety within their Sikh community.
Rajdeep explained “We had never been taught about beach safety, rips and things like that. I would just say, swim between the flags, a lot of people go into the water after the flags have gone down and I want to educate them not to do that.”
~ Rajdeep Kaur, November 2021
Family friend Diane Lee remembers Changho as a laughing, friendly young man who was well-liked by the other students. He spent Christmas with Diane and her family where he excitedly told her of his parents upcoming visit to New Zealand and his plans to return to Korea soon after.
After Christmas, Changho visited Auckland with friends then returned to Hamilton on December 27th. On their return trip, he and his friends stopped at a swimming spot on Cambridge’s Lake Karapiro called Keeleys Landing. It is believed Changho jumped into the water with his friends, despite being unable to swim.
Diane still vividly remembers that night. “It was almost dark….it was raining… I got a phone call….. it was from New Zealand police. My heart broke and I did not know what to do. I still can’t forget the dizzying feeling of that night, Roger had left us just like that.”
In the days that followed, Changho’s parents arrived and police searched frantically for his body. Diane and his parents were present when he was found and they were able to gently transport him home to Korea.
Changho’s death left so many questions for his New Zealand friends. “He hated water so much, why did he jump from that high diving point? Did he make the mistake of thinking he was a good swimmer like his friends? Was he trying to blend into the surrounding atmosphere even with his unfamiliar knowledge of the water?” Diane wonders.
For many years Diane returned to Keeley’s Landing every Christmas to remember Changho and throw flowers into the water.
“Even now, New Zealand’s waters have swallowed up more young Koreans, I earnestly pray there will be no more sad news. I pray for that,” she says.
During a moment of distraction, Andy did not see Neko, then six years old, follow an older child into the deeper end of the pool. Suddenly, Neko was going under the water with his arms above his head, desperately trying to push off the bottom of the pool with his feet.
“I rushed to him so fast and beat the lifeguard who was closer to him,” Andy says.
The incident had a significant and long lasting impact on Neko and his attitude to water.
“It was really traumatic for while,” Andy explains. “He had been confident before but afterwards that confidence was gone. He would not go back in the water, in a pool or at the beach or even fishing. We went from going to the pools almost every weekend to not going at all.”
“I was really worried about it because I wanted him to enjoy water, especially as he got older, and I didn’t want him to miss out on doing things in the water with his friends.”
Six years later, Neko’s grandfather came across Drowning Prevention Auckland’s SPLASH holiday programme and Neko, with much hesitation, signed up at West Wave Pools this past April.
The Year Eight Rangeview Intermediate student loved the water competency course, learning a range of different water survival skills such as propulsion through the water, safe entry and exits, survival strokes and lifejacket use.
“The staff and the environment was so positive for him” Andy says. “No one talked down to him, they taught him on his level and made him feel more confident. They were able to push him and encourage him at his level. I wish I had done this course sooner”
Neko was named Most Improved Student at the end of the course and his dad has already noticed the impact of this. “He feels like he can now go in the deep end and not drown, he is so much more confident. Taking him to SPLASH is one of the best things I’ve ever done for my child.”
Neko is now a keen soccer player, representing Auckland at various age groups, but after the SPLASH programme he’s now feeling ready to swap the football field for the odd trip to the beach with his dad again this summer
