They were on vacation. But doing what they loved? I’m not so sure about that. It was a cruise ship excursion. Sure they (or their parents) chose the excursion, but maybe the other choice was to go shopping in Auckland, and maybe they thought a visit to White Island would be the more interesting choice. That’s how a lot of excursions are picked.
The Government and taxpayers of New Zealand will pay for all medical costs, through the NZ no-fault personal injury compensation system.
For the plane trips to Antarctica, people do know that it’s possible to book a trip to actually go to Antarctica, right? As in, walking around on the continent itself? Granted, it’ll be by boat, not plane, and thus a bit slower, but hey, you get to say that you’ve walked around on Antarctica!
Yup, and some of that confusion is due to different volcano types. In the Pacific Northwest, the big volcanoes like Rainier, St. Helens, and Hood, are closed systems. This means the magma chamber is sealed off with a hard cap. You don’t get a spontaneous eruption with a closed system; the pressure needs to build for a while before it can break through, and that pressure build-up can be detected as increased seismic activity and gas venting. So in the PacNW, we’re told that there will be some warning before a big eruption.
White Island is an open system, so there’s a direct route to the surface for the magma and therefore much less warning for eruptions. I can envision someone familiar with a well-monitored closed volcano making very poor assumptions about the predictability of other volcanoes.
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
― Fred Rogers
Remember that the boat people were right there–while for emergency services it probably would have been close to an hour to get ready and get there by boat. With respect to helicopter services both of the helicopter companies were involved in helicopter trips to the island. Conversely only fairly large emergency service agencies have helicopters–which would be some distance away. So even if they wanted to emergency services couldn’t have gotten there immediately. I expect emergency services did ask the boat people and helicopter pilots if there were people likely left alive on the island. Both would have answered “not to their knowledge”. It’s one thing to take chances to rescue people you know are alive–and quite another when the answer is “probably not”.
PS: Authorities have recovered 6 bodies, thus 14 dead in total–leaving 2 still missing and presumed dead.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/12/asia/new-zealand-volcano-bodies-recovered/index.html
I grew up 30km inland from Whakatane, and Whaakari/White Island was a constant source of interest (from a distance). I was never interested in visiting, and having grown up with a constant series of tremors attributed to the ongoing eruptive nature of Whakaari in the 70’s, I have never once considered visiting. I’d probably fly over, though.
In fact, my concerns were of a different nature - if she decided to seriously blow (Whakaari is a stratovolcano similar to Krakatoa or Vesuvius), I worried about the impact of a tsunami on the extremely flat and low-lying areas round that coast.
But why do people go and land there?
Maybe, it’s because it’s in Whakaari’s nature to draw people there.
…this is a pretty despicable retelling of events. The official government position is that it was too dangerous to return for body recovery. We know the people that were left on the island were dead because we were told by the civilian rescuers who left them there. It wasn’t too dangerous for rescue workers because there was nobody left to rescue.
On the state of the island:
More at the link. The official government position was and is the correct one. There was no urgent need to recover the bodies: in fact a delay to a allow proper recovery (to aid in the identification of the bodies) was preferable. That doesn’t mean those that acted in the moment at great risks to themselves stop being heroes.
This feels so… childish? I really don’t mean to be insulting, but that’s the best description I can think of. It’s like when I was a kid (with a permanently messy room*) that my mom haaaated and would make me clean it.
And occasionally I would feel like hey, I want to get this room clean, I’m gonna do it without mom telling me to! And right as I was about to start, she’d make a snide passive aggressive comment and tell me to go clean it. That instantly changed my attitude to “SCREW THIS, I DON’T WANNA DO IT ANYMORE!”
- Just cluttered with stuff not put away. My ADHD brain still defaults to horizontal surface == a shelf for stuff!
Thanks for that. Once again the Mandela effect strikes. Even now as I’m looking at the photo in your links I’m seeing a smiling guy in my mind. I must have the GCNP pic conflated with one of Jim Fixx or something.
…some more information about the body recovery effort:
These were our special forces elite and they **barely **managed to accomplish their mission. Incredibly bravery and strength shown by everyone involved from the first responders to the paramedics and the doctors and the nurses and to Ngai Te Rangi, the police and the people involved in the recovery effort. Aroha to the families and those still in hospital.
This inspires a tangential point, beginning with an admission of my own bias or agenda: I’m not athletic, outdoorsy, compelled to seek thrilling or challenging physical ordeals, or possessed of wanderlust.
That said, as a proud rational slug I don’t begrudge tourists and adventurers to go whither they will, and do as they wish. I’m even resigned to conceding places like Mount Everest to alpha-types turning it into a filthy trash-dump for the sake of personal glory. Ah, wilderness!
But I have long believed that persons undertaking any risky outdoor activity in wild or remote areas, especially a purely recreational activity, should be required to purchase “rescue insurance” to pay for any and all rescue efforts. No tickee… wait, can’t say that anymore. No insurance, no adventure!
I think it’s commendable that government agencies and private parties rally to speedily rescue endangered tourists, hikers, spelunkers, etc. I appreciate that the public is transfixed by rescue stories, and that protracted, difficult rescue operations are regarded as heartwarming object lessions in compassion, empathy, altruism, and conviviality-- especially if the parties are eventually rescued alive.
I don’t wish to deny intrepid explorers their rendezvous with destiny, or the public their captivating melodramas. But I see no reason why taxpayers should foot the bill; I think the risk-taker should be fully responsible for the ultimate cost of their self-indulgence, regardless of how noble and socially acceptable it is.
There are two problems with that:
- underwriting that is going to be a bitch. How do you figure out how much premium to charge for a boat trip to White Island?
- There’s an element of morale hazard – people who have paid “insurance” to be rescued are more likely to expect someone to come rescue them, and are likely to take dumber risks. And what do you do about “non emergency rescues”? What about the guy who goes hiking, and sprains an ankle. Without “insurance”, he has no expectation anyone will come for him. If he’s not an idiot, he took a companion or two, and the group of them will support him as he hobbles out. But if he bought “rescue insurance”, does he expect someone to extract him? Does he go without companions because he has insurance?
What is a reasonable risk that tax payers should pay for? Driving a car? walking? riding a bike mountain biking? mountain biking on a sealed path? Mountain biking on a dirt path? Doing a jump on a bike? Skiing? Skiing on a groomed trail? Skiing off piste? Etc. Walking on a volcano is a tame activity provided it doesn’t erupt. What if it erupts properly and takes out the surrounding towns? Is living near an active volcano an unacceptable risk? Why/why not?
Things like an Everest climbing permit are hardly free, more like tens of thousands of dollars, but it does not seem like the prices are based on any risk-based calculation (indeed, with activities that extreme, if anything goes horribly wrong you should not expect anyone to be able to save your life, no matter how much “insurance” you pay for. They will probably not even be able to retrieve the body). If they can get you, though, they will: they would not leave anyone injured to die in order to save some money.
An update.
WML was the only defendant left after charges against six other entities – including personal charges against the brothers – were previously dismissed by a judge…
The verdict on Tuesday ends what started as an ambitious undertaking by WorkSafe, the country’s workplace safety regulator. Investigators from the government agency originally charged 13 parties, including science agencies and tourism firms, with health and safety law breaches after the disaster. However, Worksafe’s case crumbled as the judge dismissed the remaining charges except those against WML.