The stab of a finger on a hand-held counter sealed the fate of two young Americans abandoned on the Great Barrier Reef this week.When it is time to go, most of the dive boats working the reef use the same procedure: a blast on a whistle to get people out of the water, a head count to make sure everyone is on board, and then the ride home after the sort of fun-in-the-sun day described by another satisfied American tourist as "better than mango and bourbon".
But could they see them from absolute water level? Had either of them even bothered to make a mental note of their direction? Most people paying $160 for the day may reasonably assume they are paying others to worry about such things. Thomas Lonergan was described by one of his brothers as "a regular Joe". He was a balding chemical engineer; his dark-haired wife was a teacher. They loved the outdoors and were big on camping and bushwalking.
Scuba divers are supposed to be logged into and out of the water; a notice is supposed to be taken of the depth to which they dive and the air level in their tanks. As the boat sails from reef to reef, there is supposed to be a head count before it moves on. He told 'The Sunday Age' that the crew had the right number of bags and assumed that whoever owned them had disembarked at Port Douglas, leaving the bags behind. This was why the bags were thrown in a corner: surely their owners would be back?
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