British tourist dies while diving on Great Barrier Reef days after French couple

A British vacationer has died whereas scuba diving on the Nice Barrier Reef, the third demise on the world well-known dive spot this week.

The 60-year-old man - who had a sophisticated diving qualification - was discovered unconscious on the seabed some 15 metres under the floor at Agincourt Reef, 100 kilometres north of Cairns on Friday afternoon.

His demise got here two days after two aged French vacationers died inside minutes of one another whereas snorkelling.

Their deaths had prompted hypothesis they have been stung by Irukandji jellyfish, a tiny clear creature.

This has raised fears there could also be lethal jellyfish within the waters in the mean time which can have brought about the British sufferer's demise.  

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A British man, 60, has been killed whereas snorkeling on the Nice Barrier Reef on Friday. Efforts by crew onboard the Silversonic boat, owned by Quicksilver (pictured) to revive him have been in the end unsuccessful

The incident occurred whereas the person was on his second dive of the day at Agincourt Reef (pictured), 100 kilometres north of Cairns

The British vacationer was on his second dive of the day when the incident occurred.  

Crew onboard the Silversonic boat, operated by tour firm Quicksilver, known as emergency companies and unsuccessfully tried to revive him with a defibrillator.

ONE OF THE MOST DEADLY CREATURES ON EARTH 

Irukandji jellyfish are the smallest and most venomous field jellyfish on the planet -- and some of the venomous creatures on Earth.

Its toxin can take as much as 20 minutes to ship the physique into cardiac arrest.

In 2002, a 58-year-old British vacationer Richard Jordan was believed to have been the primary individual to have died after being stung by an Irukandji.

They inhabit the marine waters of Australia and are about the identical measurement as slightly fingernail.  

A health care provider was flown to a helipad on the reef the place he met the dive boat and assisted with CPR however was unable to save lots of the person, who was travelling together with his spouse. 

'CPR was carried out on a male affected person in his sixties by a nurse on board a vessel and subsequently by a physician,' a Queensland Ambulance spokeswoman stated.

The Affiliation of Marine Park Tourism Operators (AMPTO) stated the alarm was raised when the diver was noticed with out a regulator in his mouth 15m (49ft) under sea degree on the ocean flooring. 

The incident comes simply two days after two aged French vacationers Jacques Goron, 76, and Danielle Franck, 74, died whereas snorkelling on Wednesday at Michaelmas Cay, additionally close to Cairns.

Each had pre-existing medical situations and it's believed each suffered coronary heart assaults. 

The person, 60, was killed in Agincourt Reef which is about 100km (62 miles) north of town of Cairns, and about 60km north of Michaelmas Cay

Nonetheless an Australian heart specialist, Ross Walker, had speculated whether or not they have been stung by extremely venomous Irukandji jellyfish.

He stated: 'Irukandji are the scale of your little fingernail, they're very small, you may't see them. Let us take a look at reality and chance. It is extremely unlikely that two individuals are going to die inside minutes of one another simply because they have underlying medical situations.'

Peter Fenner, an skilled on the jellyfish, agreed the French couple could have been stung, telling The Cairns Put up: 'The likelihood does exist that it could have occurred, with the sting creating very hypertension, which might then trigger injury to the center and arteries.' 

However tour operators insisted there was no signal of jellyfish on the scene. 

Alan Wallish, from the agency which operated the Passions of Paradise vessel on which the French pair died, stated: 'We do not get Irukandjis presently of 12 months and the 2 events have been very separate.

'The girl was 15 metres away from the boat… [She] had a full stinger go well with on. I actually cannot see how jellyfish or stingers would have contributed in any manner.'

Affiliation of Marine Park Tourism Operators govt director Col McKenzie stated it had been nearly three many years since there had been a number of fatalities on the reef in the identical week

AMPTO govt director Col McKenzie stated the week was as dangerous as he may bear in mind.

'I am unable to bear in mind how way back it's since we have now a number of fatalities on the similar time,' Mr McKenzie advised Every day Mail Australia.

'It may need been 1988 and even 1987 after we had a number of fatalities in the identical week. 

'On this occasion they have been all older individuals, this diver is 60, the opposite two have been of their mid-70s - what are the chances of one thing like this occurring?' 

The Silversonic dive boat has operated for 11 years and carried 230,000 divers throughout that point with no diving fatalities. 

The demise of the British man on Friday means ten individuals have been killed within the water of Far North Queensland since February.

A spokesman for the International Workplace advised MailOnline: 'We're involved with the native authorities following the unhappy demise of a British nationwide on the Nice Barrier Reef in Queensland and we're offering help to the household at this troublesome time.' 

'We're unsure as to what has occurred at this stage,' a Quicksilver spokeswoman added.  

DEADLY DIVING COINCIDENCE? 

Since mid-February 2016, ten individuals have died whereas diving or snorkelling in waters off far north Queensland. Eight of them have been vacationers:

 - February 14: Pakistani vacationer, 39, dies whereas snorkelling off Moore Reef 

 - February 16: Native tourism operator, 54, disappears whereas scuba diving

 - February 23: English vacationer, 64, dies whereas snorkelling off Moore Reef

 - April 5: Cairns lady, 38, dies after leaping off boat to retrieve tender

 - Might 31: United States vacationer, 60, dies whereas scuba diving off Lizard Island 

 - October 19: Japanese vacationer, 67, dies snorkelling off Inexperienced Island 

 - November 1: German vacationer, 75, dies snorkelling Moore Reef 

 - November 16: Two French vacationers, 76 and 74, die snorkelling Michaelmas Cay

 - November 18: British man, 60, dies whereas scuba diving at Agincourt Reef

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