Castaways safe after two nights in Otago cave

Press, 27 May 1985, Page 8

Castaways safe after two nights in Otago cave

PA Dunedin Two Dunedin men became castaways among the seals they were studying when a huge wave swamped their rubber dinghy off an isolated Otago Peninsula shore last Thursday. The men, Mr Michael Beentjes, a zoology student, and Dr Chris Lalas, a zoologist, were helped safely from the area on Saturday after Mr Beentjes climbed a 30 metre cliff face to summon help. Both have a few cuts and bruises, and memories of long nights spent with friendly seals, after the adventure, which began in heavy seas on Thursday morning. Among happier moments were the dark hours when the seals lost their fear and mothers and puppies came close to sniff them. Mr Lalas awoke one morning to find a puppy resting its nose on his leg. Besides being smelly, the seals were “really very cute,” said Mr Beentjes. “They were very inquisitive and friendly, and always about when we were sleeping there.”

Dr Lalas had made several visits to the seal colony between the Lovers’ Leap Chasm and Hooper’s Inlet and neither felt threatened by the sea conditions when they launched their inflatable Zodiac on Thursday morning.

However, a short time later, after paddling to the colony and heading in to

shore, the men were thrown from the dinghy by a “wall of water” which came from behind, said Mr Beentjes.

The men were washed into rocks, but managed to haul themselves and the boat to shore.

Mr Beentjes said, “We thought we would be sweet to get out, so we looked round the colony and looked at the seals."

When they tried to leave in the boat, they were twice beaten back by the waves, knocked against the rocks, and began to feel “a bit sore and a bit beaten.”

A short time later, watching their escaped dinghy cruising out to sea and heading north, they retired to dry ground to consider their prospects, Mr Beentjes said.

They realised that surrounded by rough seas and sheer cliffs their only way out was by rescue. After discussing who, back home, knew where they were it came as “a bit of a blow” to find that no-one really did, he said.

They set up a beacon of two oars in cross-bow fashion, gathered tussock for a sleeping mat, and took refuge in a huge cave where the seals were camped. “That night was fairly cold to say the least.” There was no sign of rescue next day. They spent it keeping warm by gathering more tussock for their bed, surveying the area and, for Mr Beentjes, attempting

to climb the cliff. Friday night was warmer. With only wet suits for clothing they made a nest of the tussock, ignoring the bugs sharing their bed, and waited out another restless night. By Saturday, troubled by thirst rather than hunger, and a shrinking likelihood of rescue, Mr Beentjes decided to try the cliff. An attempt at dawn to signal a passing ship by waving oars for an hour and using a smoke flare had failed and the water looked too dangerous to swim through. Mr Beentjes, an inexperienced climber, psyched himself up and edged up the cliff. “As it turned out it was easier than I thought and before I knew it I was at the top and laughing — literally.” Mr Beentjes traversed his way round to a beach to find that the men’s packs had been washed away, but subsequently found that the one with their car keys had beached nearby and he raised the alarm.

The Dunedin police, its search and rescue squad, Alpine Rescue, and the St John Ambulance Brigade spent 90 minutes winching Mr Lalas up the cliff and another 80 minutes carrying him by stretcher to the four-wheel-drive ambulance. The men were cleared after a brief admission to Dunedin Hospital.