Police divers to train at Astrolabe Reef

Photo/file

The New Zealand Police Dive squad will be here in Tauranga today to conduct training exercises at Astrolabe Reef.

Senior Sergeant Bruce Adams stated there had been nine dive fatalities across the country since the week before Christmas.

While the cause of these deaths are undetermined until Coroner Hearings we felt there was a need to raise safety awareness with the recreational scuba divers and spearo's in New Zealand, Mr Adams said.

We have held safety presentations over recent weeks include Wellington, Auckland (Lake Pupuke), and Rotorua last night, he said.

We will be presenting the dive safely presentation at the Tauranga Sports Fishing Club on Thursday evening from 6pm.

"Our aim is to highlight common issues we have found in the unfortunate diving fatalities and hopefully all involved in the sport can learn from these to ensure we all get home safe."