Posted on 07/03/2018 6:51:18 AM PDT by BenLurkin
A top Thai official said Tuesday that heavy rains forecast for the coming days could worsen floods in the mountain cave where 12 boys and their soccer coach were located after being missing for more than a week, forcing authorities to speed up their extraction.
... Officials said Tuesday that the boys, aged 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach were mostly in stable medical condition and have received high-protein liquid food.
Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda, a member of the country's ruling military junta, said Tuesday that the boys may need to swim out using diving equipment ahead of bad weather forecast for later in the week. He said the boys would be brought out via the same complicated route through which their rescuers entered. While efforts to pump out the floodwaters would continue, Anupong said it's clear some areas of the sprawling cave cannot be drained and that in order to get out, the boys may need to use diving gear while being guided by two professional divers each. He conceded that if something went awry, it could be disastrous.
"Diving is not easy. For people who have never done it, it will be difficult, unlike diving in a swimming pool, because the cave's features have small channels," he said. "If something happens midway, it could be life-threatening."
...
Cave rescue experts have said it could be safer to simply supply them where they are for now, rather than attempting to have the boys dive out. That could take as long as months, however, given that Thailand's rainy season typically lasts through October.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Cave diving has claimed the lives of instructors and trained technical divers. The possibility of panic in a confined area could take away Viz. That alone will kill you.
That is precisely why I put that caveat in there.
Why did they keep walking into that cave for 2 miles?
Rock is rock.
or 3.8 miles...
Remember that time we were over 2 miles into a cave and it flooded and we were trapped for months and there were no video games?
Remember that time we were over 2 miles into a cave and it flooded and we were trapped for months and there were no video games?
It would be life altering for anyone.
When they finally get out, it’s going to feel like electing Trump after decades of uniparty rule.
The bigger problem is that you really can’t rely on the assistance of a dive buddy in confined spaces. Cave & wreck diving emphasize self-rescue techniques.
They’ll have to divert or pump out the water, drill a rescue shafts (as they did in Chile) or wait months for the waters to recede. None are attractive options.
That’s actually a good idea. Hopefully they consider doing something like that.
That’s not a bad idea either.
As to barracudas, if you're not wearing anything anything shiny and don't panic, they will leave you alone. At least the ones I've been around have left me alone. No trouble from the sharks, turtles, lobsters, lion fish, and other "dangerous" sea creatures I've been around.
But, I did have a pesky icthus obnoxiata, aka shark wah-nah-bee, give me a rough 15 minutes. He, all nasty creatures are "he", kept circling, and circling, looking for an opportunity to attach himself to my poor, tiny body. I whipped out my dive knife and kept jabbing at him. A time or two I grabbed him around the caudal pedestal and attempted to sling him away. Do you have any idea how hard it is to sling a fish underwater? My dive buddy was worthless. He was having a little trouble himself because he was laughing so hard. Choked on the air in his regulator he did. Served him right if he had drowned. Anyway, after a tense hand-to-fin combat, the icthus obnoxiata took himself off and looked for whale shark or some other creature to attach to.
That is the worst trouble I've had in the deep blue. I usually swim off the northern coast of New Guinea, Pantain Harlin, outside of Depapre.
I was on the Great Barrier reef on some tour boat. They even gave us scuba diving lessons.
“Okay - this is the breathing thingy. The breathing thingy goes in your mouth. Don’t breath through your nose! Breath through your mouth. Have fun!”
Stupid I suppose - but it was pretty cool. Even saw a big shark and tried to swim towards it (!?) and saw one of those huge GIANT clams like in the Popeye cartoons. Of course you could see forever and no crawl spaces to get through.
Snorkeling on the shallow reefs was prettier though - about the only thing I’ve ever done that I was really in awe of.
Most of the time I’m like “Huh - the Grand Canyon has a lot more color in the photographs.”
An answer from the daily mail...
“It was apparently a local initiation ceremony for boys to run to the end of a cave tunnel and write their name on the wall before running back.
While they were all inside, however, a flash flood sealed off the exit forcing the boys to head further into the mountain.
Armed with a single functioning torch, they managed to reach the spot where they have subsequently been discovered.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5915565/How-terrified-Thai-boys-there.html
Thank you.
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