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Two divers rescued off Grotto
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Posted on Jun 03 2005
Police rescued two Russian divers who were stranded off the Grotto cliffline Thursday night.
Dive instructor Vekliov Alexander and diver Surovitskiy Vladimir sustained no injury from the incident. They managed to keep themselves afloat until Boating Safety personnel arrived at the scene.
Department of Public Safety spokesman Eric David said that the two Russians went on a night diving session with four others. The divers went underwater for about 30-35 minutes when Vladimir began ascending to the surface.
“At the surface, the group tried to assist Mr. Vladimir back down but they couldn’t due to his lack of weights,” David said.
The group attempted to swim to the Bird Island, but strong current prevented them from doing that, according to David.
“The only option was to try and flash their flashlight to the Grotto cliffline and try to get somebody’s attention. As they did that, someone responded to the flash, so they floated and waited for assistance,” David said.
Police received a call about the stranded divers at about 10:28pm Thursday and immediately responded to the scene. Boating safety personnel aboard the ZODIACK rescue vessel arrived shortly and found the two stranded divers at around 11pm, David said.
