FIRST and foremost, your heart goes out to the families and friends consumed by unimaginable grief, on the beach and in the carpark, at Forrest Caves on Phillip Island on Wednesday evening this week following yet another tragic drowning.
Three more tragic drownings and a fourth person, a woman believed to be in her 20s, airlifted to hospital in a critical condition.
And enormos thanks to the first responders too; the people on the beach who started CPR, the police, ambulance, Surf Lifesaving Victoria, SES and CFA personnel called to the scene, not only providing urgent first aid and health care, but also comfort and support as the scale of the incident unfolded. They do an incredible job.
It follows a disastrous day on Bass Coast beaches on Friday, January 12 when two more people drowned, one at Surf Beach during the day and another at Kilcunda in the evening. A diver also drowned off Port Welshpool on the same day.
It’s been an horrific summer.
There have got to be many issues to be considered following this tragedy and the last and we’re told a local safety committee, including all relevant authorities has been activated but the issue of more and more people swimming at dangerous, unpatrolled beaches on Bass Coast, has been developing for years.
Local surfers have assisted or rescued dozens and dozens of people at these beaches over the years, hundreds probably, no doubt covering over the scale of the problem.
There were few, if any, surfers at Forrest Caves on Wednesday afternoon, however, with a stiff onshore wind blowing.
Another issue that may have been a contributing factor is the fact that the warning sign, on the entrance to the walkway up and over the Forrest Caves sand dune, is woefully small.
Two tiny patches on the sign highlight that there is “no lifesaving patrol” and another warning of “dangerous current”.
It’s a fact that the “no dogs anytime” sign, erected underneath the “general warnings” sign is almost 20 times larger than the “dangerous current” warning.
Local lifesavers have told us that plenty of people ignore the warnings and signs to swim wherever the like on the beach.
But surely, a big, fat sign saying: “Don’t swim here, dangerous risk of drowning” with a map and a QR code directing would-be swimmers, in a 100 languages, to safer and/or patrolled beaches would surely make a difference.
And the time to act on those signs is now!
If people refuse to be warned and go swimming anyway, at least we can say we’ve done our best.
But right now, with those frankly, pathetic signs providing a limp caution, we can’t say we’ve done our best.
Signage 'quite clear', says Mayor
Speaking on Gippsland ABC, Bass Coast Mayor Cr Clare Le Serve first offered her support to the family and friends impacted by the tragedy, and also the first responders and emergency services personnel who couldn't help but be affected by the incident.
“It's just a tragedy. It's something that just saddens our whole community and it deeply affects our community.”
Cr Le Serve was asked what message she had for those coming to “so many beautiful beaches” around Bass Coast.
“We've got about 97 kilometres of beaches or coastline around Phillip Island and a lot of that is ocean facing. So, they are very dangerous beaches and we would really encourage people to do their homework first, look up on the Surf Lifesaving Victoria and go to the beaches that are patrolled and swim between those flags.
“It's you know, an incident like this just such impacts everybody, and especially, you know, the family and friends, but also the people, the first responders and those beachgoers who tried to save these people yesterday and you know, it's our heartfelt thanks to them for you know, taking action when they did.
“We know that there was a multi-agency operation of all the responding agencies coming together, but you know, those people that are there at that moment, those people just having a good day, and then this tragedy unfolds in front of them. It's, you know, it's just such a sad incident.
“And it probably could have been preventable if the people had been swimming at the patrolled beaches, either side of Forrest Caves, and Forrest Caves is very dangerous area, and the signage is quite clear about that.”
Cr Le Serve stressed the importance of finding out which beaches are patrolled and when, before you go.
“You can go on the website, and they’ll tell you which beaches are patrolled and what dates and times they are patrolled. And so that's really important, people come to this area as tourists, with their family and friends, to have a good day out and we just want to be able to make sure they will get home safely.”
Go to https://beachsafe.org.au/ and find the map of Victoria’s coastline listing the patrolled beaches, click on the flags for the patrolled times that day, but it’s better to download the Beachsafe app from the app store on your smartphone.
Either way, though, the information isn’t easy to find and it’s far from clear.
Official statement from the Mayor
The Bass Coast Shire Council issued an official statement from the Mayor Cr Clare Le Serve on Thursday morning:
Our community is deeply saddened and affected by the drownings in our region. Whilst we live in a beautiful region surrounded by beaches; this is sadly a tragic reminder of how dangerous the ocean can be.
We extend our deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the remaining victim in hospital.
We extend our thoughts and sincerest thanks to the first responders and other beachgoers who tried to save these victims in a major multi-agency operation.
As always, we encourage all beach users to assess the environment and take precautions to prevent tragedy by swimming on patrolled beaches, checking signs and swimming between the flags.
If you are unsure about conditions on a beach; do not swim there. Please only swim on patrolled beaches where there are lifeguards.
We want everyone who comes to enjoy our beaches to go home safely.
Official police report
Police will prepare a report for the coroner following the death of three people at Newhaven on Phillip Island this afternoon.
Emergency services responded to reports of four people in the water and in difficulty about 3.30pm.
Three women and a man were pulled from the water and were unresponsive.
CPR was administered on all four but three were pronounced deceased at the scene.
At this stage the deceased are believed to be a man in his 40s and two women in their 20s.
A third woman, also believed to be in her 20s, has been taken to hospital in a critical condition.
The deceased have not been formally identified and their deaths are not being treated as suspicious.
