Northland councils urged to fund more lifesaving services after two Christmas Day drownings

Kaipara District Council will consider employing lifeguards at Kai Iwi lakes over summer, but with more than 60 popular spots, will need to assess where to put those services. Pic/NA

A coroner has urged Northland councils to fund more surf lifesaving services for peak summer holiday times after two Christmas Day drownings.

Zhongyu Deng, 40, drowned while becoming entangled in his crab pot ropes at Uretiti Beach on December 25, 2019 – the same day Hanbo Bao, 44, drowned while snorkelling at Kai Iwi Lakes.

The drownings are among four in Northland included in a recently released report of coroner's findings and recommendations made between January and March this year.

The other two men included in the report were John Park, 51, and Biao aka Bill Zheng, 40 – both found to have drowned because they were unprepared for sea conditions.

In reports on the deaths of Bao and Deng, coroner Tania Tetitaha said each of the men's deaths might have been prevented if lifeguards were on patrol at those locations during December and January.

Bao, a Chinese national, was at Kai Iwi Lakes camping ground with his family when he went snorkelling in an area of the lake where there is a sudden drop into deep water.

After about half an hour, he was nowhere to be seen. He was eventually located dead at the bottom of a shelf about 20 metres under the water.

Bao's English language proficiency was not enough for him to have understood the specific hazards of swimming at the lakes which were only signposted in English, the coroner said.

He would not have been aware of the sudden change in water depth or the lesser buoyancy of lake water compared to seawater.

Northland's Kai Iwi lakes are an idyllic spot but pose a risk for swimmers not used to the difference in buoyancy between lake water and seawater and unaware of sudden deep water. Picture/supplied

In response to the coroner's enquiries, Kaipara District Council said it agreed with the coroner's recommendation to install supplementary signage in multiple languages.

When the lake signage was erected in 2018 a decision was made not to use a range of languages but to rely on picture symbols because of the multitude of nationalities of people visiting the lakes.

It agreed to consider employing lifeguards over December and January and would commission a report assessing options for various different locations. Lifeguards were not previously employed due to a perceived difficulty in availability and the sheer number that would be required.

Deng drowned at Uretiti Beach while trying to retrieve one of his crab pots. He was seen disappearing under a wave and later found submerged with his arm tangled in a rope from his crab pot.

Tetitaha noted that multi-lingual signage about the unpredictable rips at the beach was installed after a similar drowning on Christmas Day, 2014. But it did not appear to have been effective in preventing Deng's death.

Drowning records along the Ruakākā, Uretitii and Waipū Cove stretch of coastline showed that between 2010 and 2020 the majority of drownings were at Uretiti.

But only Ruakākā and Waipū Cove had lifesaving services during the summer peak period.

Both patrols were regularly called to incidents at Uretiti Beach, with the approximate response time for lifeguards from Ruakākā being five minutes during patrol hours and 15 minutes at other times.

A rescue jet ski regularly patrolled the Bream Bay coastline but it was not the same as a regular patrol presence, the coroner said.

Given the increasing numbers of residents and holidaymakers in the area, consideration should be given to a funded lifesaver service, Tetitaha said.

Her comments were directed at Kaipara, Whangārei and Northland Regional Councils, each of which had been given an opportunity to reply but none of which had done so.

The risks for crabbers at Uretiti Beach have prompted safety days like this one on December 14, 2019. Picture/ Northern Advocate photograph by Michael Cunningham

Other coroners dealing with Park and Zheng's deaths found those drownings were also preventable.

Coroner Alexander Ho said Park drowned at sea off the Tūtūkākā Coast on August 11, 2018, while solo paddling a surf ski in moderate to rough conditions. He was on the water for about 45 minutes when he capsized twice within about four minutes.

Unable to remount his craft, Park instead remained in the water holding onto it. About 53 minutes later he set off a distress flare. But he did not have a locator beacon so a rescue vessel had to search for him visually and was unable to find him before he drowned.

Ho said people should carry multiple, and at least two, emergency communication and signalling devices, of which at least one should be an emergency position-indicating radio beacon or a personal locator beacon. Those needed to be in a waterproof bag and secured to the person's body.

Park had a VHF radio to call for help but for reasons unknown had not used it, possibly because it was secured to his craft and out of his reach or had been washed away when he capsized.

His clothing was inadequate for the sea temperature and the risk of capsizing. Life jackets were only one essential item that should be worn on the water and as Park's death demonstrated, were no guarantee of safety, Ho said.

The Tutukaka Coast is a popular watersports playground but Surf Lifesaving New Zealand warns users to be prepared for sea conditions. Picture/Northern Advocate photograph by Michael Cunningham

Of Zheng's death, coroner Katharine Grieg reported that he got into trouble while swimming with his children in an unpatrolled part of Mangawhai Surf Beach, Mangawhai Heads, at about 10.30am on January 19, 2019.

Zheng's daughter said they did not go out far but there were big waves.

After about 20 minutes Zheng's son ran ashore and told his mother Zheng was missing. The woman took a surfboard to search for him but a member of the public had already seen him floating past face down and alerted a lifeguard.

Zheng was found unresponsive in waist-deep water and was unable to be resuscitated.

Grieg endorsed Surf Lifesaving New Zealand's comments about the need to swim between the flags and not to overestimate your or your children's ability to cope in sea conditions.

Surf Lifesaving NZ also warned about the risk of rip currents and what people should do if they find themselves suddenly caught in one.

There have been 387 drowning deaths deemed preventable in New Zealand during the past five years - many of them were Asian and Pasifika migrants.

Waipū Cove is routinely patrolled during summer months. Coroner Tania Tetitaha wants to see Uretiti further up the coast similarly watched. Picture/Merle Foster