AIBU to question recovering divers’ bodies

I’m not sure why you think bodies from ship wrecks and small boats are just “left to nature”. There’s usually a proportionate search for any bodies. If anything in this situation it makes more sense to go and get them because they know where they are.

This New York Times article about the retrieval of bodies from Everest is fascinating (it is also very graphic so don’t click if you might find it too upsetting):

Deliverance from 27,000 feet

For the families it gives them a body for burial and also to try and answers as to what happened by post mortem examinations, inspection of dive computers and equipment etc. This might help to prevent future similar accidents, which in turn may help the family feel something positive has come out of it.

Most bodies are retrieved by volunteers or by people being paid to do so. Similarly on Everest, some families will pay specialist teams to retrieve bodies of loved ones if it is possible to do so.

My brother travels remotely a lot and has always said not to pay to retrieve/repatriate his body if he dies abroad because he doesn’t want us to have the stress and what he feels is unnecessary expense.

My husband and son are divers so we've been watching this story and it appears they wanted to recover the bodies and the equipments which includes cameras to determine what happened. There was a theory that a current may have dragged them into the caves and if that's the case then knowing this they can warn other divers of the dangers of that area. I also second what others have said because in diving you have to have a buddy who could save your life if it went wrong there is a strong mentality of no one left behind. It does seem like the group who were experienced made a lot of wrong decisions and sealed their fate.

This is a really interesting article and fairly contemporary: https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/everest/mount-everest-dead-bodies-2024/

The use of industrial/commercial drones is really important for Everest and the transportation of equipment and removal of waste - but you still need people to load/offload. Even though drones can fly in the death zone - you'd still require humans to go up there and risk their own lives. It's not a fully automated process. Not that most people who perish are in the death zone, but there is a significant percentage and it would require human intervention to retrieve them.

I think they will be cleaned up probably within the decade.

They are already starting to use drones to take supplies up Everest, and on the way down they carry rubbish etc.

My mum and I regularly have this conversation about the bodies on Everest - there are circa 200 bodies up there, the world's highest graveyard.

I would assume the Maldivian government is paying for it. Does it really matter, the money isn’t important.

I assume someone knew that was their plan. Either a member of the boat crew or the 6th diver who pulled out at the last minute.

I don't think it is something that rescue divers are forced into. It's something they do as part of their job, and as part of being a community, and maybe also what they would like to happen if an accident befell them. They are aware of the risks they undertake and the choice is their own.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

I admire your determination to do something so constructive.

But did anyone know they had even gone into the cave until they recovered the bodies?

Up until the bodies were found, presumably they had just failed to return, and could have been anywhere? (Including surfaced away from the boat alive but lost)

I do wonder if it is because recreational diving originated from WW2 Italian navy “frogmen” - there’s the whole armed forces “no man left behind” brothers-in-arms stuff. You wouldn’t be a very effective marine commando squad if you dumped your team-mates at the first sign of trouble! And then that has carried over into recreational diving.

They were all experienced divers who were highly educated. I’m sure they would have known how to check the equipment.
An investigation is crucial, to avoid further death but I don’t feel a body recovery mission is worth risking lives for under dangerous circumstances.
It’s not about money, it’s the secondary tragedy, a rescuer died trying to recover them.
If it was me, I’d rather be left there, in a place that I loved.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to wonder who funds this sort of rescue operation.

I read that they left in such a hurry they had to stop at a supermarket to buy shorts.

I don’t really agree with you, they were dead the minute they decided to enter that cave. Even if they’d not gotten lost in the dead end (this is the prevailing current theory) they would have run out of air before they could make it out and back to the surface.

I’m struggling to comprehend your focus on money here, you’re repeatedly asking.

if it was your child or spouse would you leave them down there, or would you want to give them a proper send off and understand what happened.

try to have some empathy and not focus on money.

The Finnish team volunteered to do it but it was not an overly difficult recovery with the right skills and equipment and planning.

They will always attempt to recover bodies in shipwrecks etc if it is possible. The MV St Thomas Aquinas ferry disaster in the Phillipines. Teams of divers worked under very difficult conditions to recover the bodies of the victims, many of them children. There are videos of the recovery dives on YouTube, it’s a hard watch. I’m sure their families were supremely grateful.

@Tigerbalmshark

That is very interesting to read. I’ve learned something there. I’ve wondered a little since this diving accident why there seems to be such a difference between climbers and divers and now I know.

They do it to recover the bodies for burial to give family closure and also as part of the investigation into the cause of death to learn and to prevent reoccurrence. Despite your assertion in your OP no one knew exactly where they were or how or why they died. “The company clearly didn’t have the right equipment” is your ignorance talking and not true. No one is forced to go after them it’s voluntary.

I don’t think anyone is suggesting we routinely just leave bodies. It’s only in cases where locating and moving the body would present such danger to others that this may be the most pragmatic choice. It’s awful for the families of course but broadly speaking I do agree with the OP.

i agree with you. A diver lost his life in the rescue mission.
Search and rescue shouldn’t have risked it.
Rescue missions that risk the lives of the crew should be exclusively used for live missions.
I would feel the same if it was me or my child down in the underwater cave.

It’s a bit like when there’s an aeroplane crash and investigators have to recover and examine what remains of the plane in order to establish what went wrong.