A group of five divers were found “turning gray” by a couple boating off the coast of Hawaii after they accidentally wandered away from their tour group.
Camila Storchi and her husband Ryan Sullivan, of Kaneohe, were sailing toward Honolulu on Wednesday when Sullivan heard a faint scream near the China Walls cliff, they revealed in a instagram post.
“He heard screams for help and started scanning the ocean and we saw five little dots,” Storchi said. Hawaii News Now.
They found five divers clinging to each other to stay afloat after being accidentally separated from their excursion boat a few hours earlier.
One of them was already showing clear signs of hypothermia.
Camila Storchi and her husband Ryan Sullivan, of Kaneohe, were sailing toward Honolulu on Wednesday listening to Mihali’s Wise Man when the latter heard a faint scream as they rounded the Chinese Walls.
“He heard screams for help and started scanning the ocean and we saw five little dots,” he said. They found five divers, all clinging to each other to stay afloat, and one who was in the throes of hypothermia after they accidentally became separated from their tour boat.
“One of them was gray and was vomiting,” Storchi told the outlet. ‘My husband tried to pull him and he couldn’t even hold the ladder. We tried to lift them up, but the boat rocked back and forth.’
Unable to get the desperate divers aboard, they called the U.S. Coast Guard and surrounded the divers for 45 minutes until help arrived by helicopter.
Meanwhile, they offered water to the divers, who were not identified, and talked to them to keep them in “a good mood,” Storchi said on Instagram.
When the Coast Guard helicopter caught up with them, another boat appeared out of nowhere, picked up the divers and took off, which the couple found strange.
“When the helicopter was going down, this boat came quickly, picked them up and left,” he told Hawaii News Now.
Unable to get the desperate divers aboard, they called the United States Coast Guard. As the Coast Guard helicopter caught up with them, another boat appeared out of nowhere and picked up the divers. The Coast Guard said the boat belonged to the diving company, which was later identified as Aaron’s Dive Shop.
“When the helicopter was going down, this boat came quickly, picked them up and left,” Storchi told Hawaii News Now.
The Coast Guard said the boat belonged to the diving company, later identified as Aaron’s Dive Shop, which heard the sailboat reporting the stranded divers and headed toward them.
“The helicopter arrived on scene and transmitted the position to the Honey Ann (dive boat), which proceeded to the scene and picked up the divers,” the Coast Guard told Hawaii News Now.
Divers later told Storchi that there was a sixth diver who stayed on the ship and told them that “the captain wasn’t monitoring anything.”
It wasn’t until the lone diver noticed the Coast Guard helicopter that he told the captain, “Look, there’s a Coast Guard helicopter, maybe they’re there.”
Aaron’s Dive Shop told Hawaii News Now they are “grateful that all divers returned safely following last week’s incident.”
Divers told Storchi (pictured) that there was a sixth diver who stayed on the boat and told them “the captain wasn’t monitoring anything.”
“We are currently reviewing what occurred and our current protocols with our dive and boat staff to avoid similar incidents in the future.”
Shop owners said the dive location had been changed at the last minute and “protocol was not followed.”
“The dive leader took responsible steps to maintain safety, including having adequate surface marker buoys and keeping the group together while separated from the boat,” they said in a statement to the outlet.
“Aaron’s Dive Shop is proud of our excellent safety record and we remain fully committed to maintaining our high standards through ongoing training and rigorous supervision.”