In too deep (2011) - The deadly risk of cave diving | 60 Minutes Australia

you're deep under water it's ice-cold pitch-black and the walls are closing in on you it sounds nightmarish but believe it or not for some this is a sport a very dangerous one cave diving offers the thrill of exploration discovering places that no other person has ever seen that certainly what attracted Agnes maloca but in this remote of the world any mistake can be deadly at first you have absolutely no idea what you in for in ponds near Mount Gambier South Australia the water is as clear as June and soon its mysteries start to be revealed a limestone chasm formed by fresh water bubbling to the surface over millions of years [Music] to send this NGO enter the Cathedral [Music] it's so spectacular so supernatural you must remember the first rule of diving keep breathing for me it's a sense of flying and being in crystal clear water and being able to move through the cave and hover in the middle like you're hanging in space my guide through this hidden wonder is cave diver and Explorer these Rogers it's about finding out what's around the next corner because you really don't know and if you come off the end of the tunnel and you know maybe there's a low section there and you find your way through and then it opens out into a massive chamber on the other side that feeling is just amazing but all this thrilling beauty can come at a price underwater caves are very unforgiving places or everyone who enters finds their way back out my name is echos maloca and I'm an explorer and I'm going to take you on a series of underwater adventures that you will never forget 29 year old Melbourne woman Agnes my loca was a shining star in this dark world tragically earlier this year she died while exploring the famous Ted cave near Mount Gambier extensively mapped over 40 years all it's easy secrets have been revealed but Agnes instinctively felt there was more to discover despite the dangers I guess especially in virgin expression there is always a danger because you don't know where you're going and you don't know what's ahead of you and anything could happen I mean your bubbles could dislodge an avalanche if you're lucky you'll make it out if you don't you want it on Sunday February 27th Agnes didn't make it out diving alone she became disoriented and ran out of there [Music] we knew why she was there she was there because of who she was and diving was what she did in cave exploration was what she was good at so she always knew that death was a risk and it's something you consider in cave diving when you consider your equipment configuration and how are you going to do the dive and what decompression schedule you might be using so she knew the risks she was taking Agnes died more than half the kilometer underground and it took divers three days to bring her body back to the surface Liz Rogers was in the rescue team what will you miss most I miss having my dog buddy back how hard was it for you and her parents turned up um what can you say to people we are parents that lost the child I will take a long time to recover I think maybe we never recover Agnes was chris malukas only child he's shattered of course but he's also proud that his daughter had the courage and conviction to enter such an alien world Agnes was never happy to go to the end of the line and stop was she no she was always wondering what is what is there what more could being could be done there was nothing that could stop her would she have listened if he had told her to stop that's the point she would probably ignore it we do not want children get to the end of the line I really can take it to the next level to push harder for the smallest sort of restrictions to go or no one's been before [Applause] before the accident Agnes was on the cutting edge of exploration in one cave system in Florida she discovered a massive three kilometers of new terrain never before seen by man or woman she was becoming a Grand Master as a underwater cave Explorer you would have loved AG I mean she was just so full of life and but she'd have you sitting here with story after story after story someone have your hair standing on end anything my god you're a gutsy woman and she absolutely was Andrew white is one of Australia's most famous cave explorers in 1988 he led the panic and plains expedition in the Malibu which almost ended in catastrophe after half of his team was caught by a cave collapse well you know to the uninitiated it seems crazy I must admit you're going is there it's dark it's wet it's cold and you might die and you think that's fun but it's a but it's very seductive and enticing because it's like Pandora's box go around one corner you open up another door another door and suddenly you're drawn drawn into this environment and Rufus Magnus on the set of his cave diving epic sanctum which he produced last year she played the stunt double for Jude's the female lead in the movie in a pivotal scene Jude's and her dive buddy leave behind their sphere tanks to force their way through a tight passage what divers call a squeeze [Music] finally they make it through by God [Music] but then disaster jude's dies after rupturing her airline she had no backup air supply well no one yet knows exactly what happened to Agnes in tank cave she too left behind her spare air tank to push on so the decision to leave behind your spare air and continued exploration for you know that thrill of being able to be the first person to see something that no one's ever seen before that's exactly what Agnes was doing when she was exploring a man Gambia there's been some criticism that she was reckless in what she was doing is that fair she wouldn't have deliberately stuffed herself into the back of a cave to kill herself you know anyone that's a high achiever is going to push themselves and unfortunately the consequence is a yeah I'm not great in an underwater cave mistake means death well I I mean people think I'm trivializing but I often say there are no accidents in cave diving just fatalities and the gravity of that is really meant to shock newcomers to the sport into what they're really dealing with despite all the risks there have been only four cave diving fatalities in Australia over the past twenty five years it's a credit to the training regime all divers must undertake before they can tackle what lies beneath and to exhaustion it's challenging but then so too is the environment I'm about to enter at that point of time what's going to happen is that one of you will lose an air-supply I'm not going to tell you which one and at that same time both masks are to be removed as well so you're going to lose visibility and you're going to lose an air supply the only thing out is that line okay so don't drop this with Liz Rogers as my dive buddy John Daly Zoo Anna is my trainer it's called a stress test okay good good name for it the water in Gordon sinkhole is cold and virgin and without warning my stress test begins my regulator is taken from me and while I'm going for my backup air supply my mask removed the number-one rule here is never let go of the guideline in caves it's so easy to kick up silt you can very quickly lose visibility your guideline is your lifeline [Music] okay great excellent you know exactly what was going on you were really chewed with what you were doing you realize why they call it a stress test though I didn't realize you're gonna do it to us so quickly thanks to these training deaths in Australia are the exception not the rule and it's impossible to imagine what it would have been like for Agnes running out of air all alone lost hundreds of meters from the surface would she have known at the end there what was going to happen oh yeah yeah yeah she was very yeah she she knew the ins and outs of cave-diving very intimately and you know you know what's going to happen it's not a mystery it's just a matter of how long it takes I believe something terrible happened that she couldn't control and she couldn't predict is it hard looking at these pics it is a reminder that she was very happy and doing things she loves that must touch you sometimes is hard bridge it would be criminal for me to say that there are no risks associated with the support of cave-diving and see you dead dialogue there's no gentle trigger [Music] agnus leaves behind a stunning archive of her exploits and is only when you cave dive yourself you begin to realize why people like Agnes and Andrew and Liz do it in the first place the euphoria of discovery is mixed with the thrill of survival it's an adrenaline rush come in the back of the cave with the Sun lights coming in through the weeds and the blue water that's why you do it reason we go again [Music] [Applause] hello I'm Tara Brown thanks for watching to keep up with the latest from 60 minutes Australia make sure you subscribe to our channel you can also download the 9 now app for full episodes and other exclusive 60 minutes content

Channel: 60 Minutes Australia

Views: 604,745

Keywords: 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes Australia, Liz Hayes, Charles Wooley, Tara Brown, Liam, Bartlett, Allison Langdon, Tom Steinfort, Cave, diving, exploration, adrenaline junkie, Agnes Milowka, thai cave, rescue, cave rescue, thai soccer team

Id: dDm5raBRiXI

Length: 14min 3sec (843 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 10 2018

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[u/The420dwarf]

Thanks!