The body of a 65-year-old cave diver has been recovered following a major operation involving specialist teams.
Emergency services were called to Tank Cave, near Tantanoola in South Australia, at around 10.30am on Sunday after reports of a drowning. Gary Gibson, a diver from Victoria, sadly died that same day.
His body was retrieved at about 3.30pm on Monday after efforts by officers from the South Australia Water Operations Unit and specialist divers from the Cave Divers Association of Australia. Mr Gibson had been diving with two other “experienced cave divers”, who were left “understandably traumatised”, Superintendent Trent Cox said.
Before the body was found, Supt Cox told a press conference on Monday that another dive was either underway or scheduled to take place in the afternoon. “Fatigue for divers will quickly become an issue for them, so while we hope that we retrieve his body today, it’s not guaranteed,” he added.
Retired anaesthetist and cave diver Dr Harris – known for his role in rescuing 12 young football players and their coach from a flooded cave in northern Thailand in 2018 – also assisted in the search, ABC Australia reports.
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Supt Cox said that the circumstances of Mr Gibson’s death would be investigated. “The cave system … is extremely complex. It’s a labyrinth of tunnels – big, small, of varying degrees of accessibility,” he added.
Mr Gibson’s body was found at a site known as P7. The cave, around 15 miles from Mount Gambier, is one of 32 diving spots in the region.
Tank Cave’s “extensive maze-like system” contains nearly 4 miles of diveable passage, according to the Cave Divers Association of Australia, making it “one of the longest underwater caves in Australia”.
Cave Divers Association of Australia director Grant Pearce said Mr Gibson was “very funny” and a “very energetic chap”. He claimed that Mr Gibson became separated from his group after being unable to fit through a tight gap and never reached their planned meeting point.
“He was a very solid diver,” Mr Pearce said. “He had quite a lot of experience diving here. It was quite a shock to hear that Gary wasn’t coming back. Our thoughts immediately went to Gary’s wife.”
