Northlander Pat Millar took it upon herself to put flotation devices at beaches nationwide after Wairongoa "Magoo" Renata drowned at a Far North beach.
Video / Michael Cunningham
While four people lost their lives in Northland waters in 2023, the numbers represent a striking turnaround in drowning rates for the region.
Water Safety New Zealand provisional data shows 90 people drowned across New Zealand in 2023, including four in Northland - a plunge from 18 href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/northlands-high-drowning-water-injury-rates-prompt-call-for-pause-before-going-in-on-or-near-the-water/JQHSM7EVUZFNTNABTI3LTFXDPE/">drownings in 2022 and significantly lower than the 10-year average of 10.7.
Water Safety NZ chief executive Daniel Gerrard thought the good rate in Northland was more than just a fluke.
“I’m never going to commit to one data point being a trend, but this is dramatic. It’s a significant drop-off, so something is going on,” he said.
Local water safety initiatives and a strong local push to drive behaviour change were starting to have an impact, Gerrard believed.
Water Safety NZ has been focusing on Northland as a drowning hotspot, and held water safety hui in Hokianga, Kaitāia and Whangārei with the help of Coastguard NZ and Surf Life Saving, he said.
There, local people could discuss problem areas and what they thought was going wrong.
“I think there’s now heaps of initiatives that have come out of those info-gathering sessions ... It will be the start of something that will be replicated around the country.”
“In the Hokianga, it was just accepted as normal that some people might capsize on the bar,” he said. “The challenge was to smash that norm.”
Coastguard ran bar-crossing and day skipper courses to help improve boating knowledge in the area. Other programmes have normalised the use of life jackets and installed life buoys on the wharf in case kids jumping into the water get into trouble, Gerrard said.
“In Northland, I think there’s a real movement,” he said. “If we can get that message out, we can hopefully get some of that behavioural change.”
A crab fishing safety programme at Uretiti Beach has helped turn around drowning numbers in a notorious area. Photo / Kath Manning
Waipū Cove Surf Life Saving Club captain Kath Manning was also hopeful local education initiatives were having an impact.
“We haven’t had any incidents with crab fishing this season, so hopefully the message is getting through,” Manning said.
The club also runs surf safety programmes for schools and is currently running Northland Nippers in Waipū and Matapōuri - an intense holiday programme for juniors who might not live near the beach but are holidaying there, she said.
Manning said the club is also trying to fundraise for a van so it can take its water and surf safety programmes to other Northland communities.
On the beach this summer, people have been heeding the lifeguards’ advice to swim between the flags and for surfers to stay out of the flagged area, she said.
Pat Millar says Operation Flotation is about helping people successfully rescue their loved ones from the water, and goes hand-in-hand with education. Photo / Michael Cunningham
The operation was started by Doubtless Bay woman Pat Millar after a relative, Wairongoa “Magoo” Renata, drowned at Cable Bay in 2018 while saving his children.
Magoo - like 100 per cent of those who died while attempting a bystander rescue between 20212 and 2022 - did not carry any form of flotation.
“When I thought really hard about it, I realised that if it’s a parent or a close relative, they’re going to go into the water - no amount of community education that says ‘don’t go into the water’ is going to work,” Millar said.
“I thought, ‘If they’re going to get into the water, let’s give them something to prevent them drowning and help them do the rescue’.”
The designs for the rescue buoys have changed over the years, and Operation Flotation has since worked with Surf Life Saving to help develop New Zealand standards for public rescue equipment.
The aim now is to work with Surf Life Saving to get more rescue buoys out into communities that are asking for them, Millar said.
“It’s really a combination of setting them up with devices at their beaches, [and] also educating the community about the use of the devices, how to recognise rips and general water safety education.”
Kai moana key link in Northland drownings
The search for a diver missing at Ahipara was still under way at edition time.
Of the four people who died in Northland waters in 2023, three were diving and one was kayaking.
On February 15, experienced fisherman Jean Mahara Latimer, known as “Johnny” to many, went missing after going out on his kayak at Aurere, at the southern end of Tokerau Beach, in Doubtless Bay.
He never returned home, despite an extensive search.
On October 23 - Labour Day - an 18-year-old man was swept out to sea while diving with two others at Ōwhata in Herekino Harbour.
On December 21, a male diver went missing from Waihihi Bay, near Russell in the Bay of Islands. His body was found later that night, after an extensive search involving 18 private boats.
The search for him continues, with police search and rescue staff and family members continuing shoreline patrols on Thursday, and a rāhui is in place from Te Kōhanga/Shipwreck Bay to Waitārehu, at Herekino Harbour.
Gerrard said Water Safety NZ would like to acknowledge all the drowning fatalities in 2023: “Our thoughts go to their whānau, family and friends.”
Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years of experience in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference to Northlanders.
