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Every year experienced divers die in diving related avoidable accidents that should not have happened because the victim was "always so careful". One of the more common examples is a failure to analyse gas before diving, but there are many different types of avoidable accidents. The usual explanation put forward is a lapse in following their training, typically as a result of complacency. The victim is blamed for becoming complacent, the dive community is again reminded to be vigilant against complacency, and then another avoidable accident occurs. Perhaps a different way of explaining the cause of these predictable accidents could help effect a change in this unfortunate cycle.
The concept of Normalisation of Deviance has been used to describe the cause of NASA's flawed decisions that led to the Challenger space shuttle disaster. Normalisation of deviance from dive safety begins when the diver has a lapse in one or more safety protocols (often as a result of time and/or financial pressures) and nothing bad happens. The lapse reoccurs without incident and slowly the diver grows more accustomed to the deviant behaviour. Eventually the diver becomes so accustomed to a deviation from dive safety standards that they consider their unsafe behaviour to be acceptably normal. Ultimately one or more safety protocols are permanently deleted from their routine; enabling the diver have a serious, perhaps fatal, accident. To other divers, the accident is bewildering because the behaviour seems obviously unsafe and the victim had enough training and certainly enough experience to "know better".
It's clearly not productive to keep blaming the victim for these avoidable accidents. We can't solve this complex problem in a Tech Tip but a step to addressing this dive safety issue is to begin a discussion within the dive training community. Do we need a different educational approach that formally recognises and addresses normalisation of deviance as an underlying cause of many avoidable accidents among experienced divers? If you are an experienced diver, or dive professional, The Scuba Doctor urges you to raise awareness of this issue among your peers.
Fenwick Bight
Reef Dive | 
Boat access
Depth: 10 m (33 ft) to 30 m (98 ft)
Level: Advanced Open Water and beyond.
Fenwick Bight is an interesting dive site at the southern end of Wilsons Promontory, with South Point marking the western end of the bight. It faces south into the often wild seas of Bass Strait, and is located within the Wilsons Promontory Marine National Park. It's a very rewarding boat dive site for adventurous divers.
Fenwick Bight was named after Frederick Fenwick, an early settler (Inverloch Historical Society).
Diving at Fenwick Bight
At Fenwick Bight the diving is on a fringe of granite boulders along the shoreline, ending in sand in moderate depths.
The eastern end of Fenwick Bight offers a little shelter and easy diving in good weather, but is still exposed to southerly and south-westerly winds. Out toward the point it is a little deeper with vertical walls and interesting small caves. The dive is a good place to see Barber Perch, Boarfish, Leatherjackets, Sea Carp (Marblefish) and Wrasse.
It's a very remote dive site location, only accessible with a dive boat.
Ideal Conditions: Fenwick Bight is best dived with calm seas, no swell and no wind. Light offshore south-westerly to westerly winds may be acceptable. Avoid diving with moderate to strong onshore south-easterly to south-westerly winds. Because of the depths that can be reached here, plus the sometimes strong currents, Fenwick Bight is best dived at slack water. See WillyWeather (Fenwick Bight) as a guide for the tide times and the height of the tide.
Bass Strait Warning: Always keep an eye on sea conditions throughout any shore or boat dive in Bass Strait on Victoria's coastline. Please read the warnings on the web page diving-in-bass-strait before diving or snorkelling this site.
Wilsons Promontory Marine National Park
This site lies in Wilsons Promontory Marine National Park, Victoria's largest marine sanctuary. There is a huge diversity of marine life within the waters at the Prom. Brilliantly coloured fish are present such as the Red Velvetfish, Eastern Blue Groper and Wrasse as well as Leafy Seadragons and schools of Barber Perch. Intertidal molluscs such as limpets and snails, as well as anemones, brittlestars and seastars, are also common within the waters.
Divers will experience fascinating sponge gardens which consist of a techni-coloured assemblage of sponges, sea tulips, sea whips, lace corals and seafans. Octopus emerge at night whilst sharks and rays roam the sandy areas.
The offshore islands support many colonies of fur seals and oceanic birds such as Little Penguins, Fairy Prions, Silver Gulls and Pacific Gulls.
See also, Parks Victoria: Wilsons Promontory Marine National Park,
Park Note: Wilsons Promontory Marine National Park, and
Wikipedia: Wilsons Promontory Marine National Park.
You are not permitted to carry a spear gun while snorkelling or scuba diving in Wilsons Promontory Marine National Park.
Boon Wurrung / Bunurong country
Traditional Owners — This dive site is in the traditional Country of the Boon Wurrung / Bunurong people of the Kulin Nation. This truly ancient Country includes parts of Port Phillip, from the Werribee River in the north-west, down to Wilson's Promontory in the south-east, including the Mornington Peninsula, French Island and Phillip Island, plus Western Port. We wish to acknowledge the Boon Wurrung as Traditional Owners. We pay respect to their Ancestors and their Elders, past, present and emerging. We acknowledge Bunjil the Creator Spirit of this beautiful land, who travels as an eagle, and Waarn, who protects the waterways and travels as a crow, and thank them for continuing to watch over this Country today and beyond.
Fenwick Bight Location Map
Latitude: 39° 7.885′ S (39.131416° S / 39° 7′ 53.1″ S)
Longitude: 146° 23.242′ E (146.387364° E / 146° 23′ 14.51″ E)
Datum: WGS84 |
Google Map
Added: 2022-04-23 09:21:02 GMT, Last updated: 2022-04-23 09:50:38 GMT
Source: Google Earth
Nearest Neighbour: South Point, 1,336 m, bearing 245°, WSW
Wilsons Promontory Marine National Park.
Depth: 10 to 30 m.
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DISCLAIMER: No claim is made by The Scuba Doctor as to the accuracy of the dive site coordinates listed here. Should anyone decide to use these GPS marks to locate and dive on a site, they do so entirely at their own risk. Always verify against other sources.
The marks come from numerous sources including commercial operators, independent dive clubs, reference works, and active divers. Some are known to be accurate, while others may not be. Some GPS marks may even have come from maps using the AGD66 datum, and thus may need be converted to the WGS84 datum. To distinguish between the possible accuracy of the dive site marks, we've tried to give each mark a source of GPS, Google Earth, or unknown.
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