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Scuba divers survive 48 hours stranded at sea in shark-infested waters

The two men were part of a group of five divers enjoying themselves off the island of Malpelo when a current swept them out into the open Pacific.

shutterstock_433280431 Malpelo Island Shutterstock / Cristian Laverde79 Shutterstock / Cristian Laverde79 / Cristian Laverde79

TWO COLOMBIAN SCUBA divers who were swept out to sea by a rip tide and spent 48 hours adrift surrounded by sharks and jellyfish have survived to tell their tale.

Jorge Morales and Dario Rodriguez were part of a group of five recreational divers enjoying themselves off the Colombian island of Malpelo when a current swept them out into the open Pacific.

The search continues for two members of the group who are still missing.

Morales and Rodriguez, separated from the others, huddled together and urinated on each other to stay warm, sometimes curling up into a foetal position as they floated, they told journalists.

Morales said the first nightfall was one of the hardest moments. But it made them realise they had to stick to their survival training, tying themselves together with special cords to avoid being separated.

Sharks began circling them, as well as jellyfish – which turned out to be worse.

“They attacked us,” said Morales.

What pain. Very intense. I don’t know how many jellyfish there were, but it was a very tough moment.

He said by the second day they were delirious and shivering with cold, even as the sun burned their faces just above the surface.

“Thinking about our families kept our hope alive,” he said.

Help finally arrived in the form of a search plane. They heard its engine, then saw it approach.

As it closed in on them, they saw the crew waving to them. A navy boat was then dispatched to rescue them.

They were plucked from the water last Friday, then spent the next four days aboard the boat recovering and trying unsuccessfully to help rescuers locate the remaining two divers, fellow Colombians Erika Diaz and Carlos Jimenez.

The fifth member of the group, Australian Peter Morse, was rescued the day before Morales and Rodriguez.

Morales said he had no plans to return to Malpelo to dive.

© – AFP, 2016

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    Mute James Pelow
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    Oct 25th 2021, 12:14 AM

    Can we please stop propagating the lies of the English media? Brexit did the damage, not the protocol.

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    Mute Vonvonic
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    Oct 25th 2021, 6:42 AM

    @James Pelow: Very well said. They’re actually using it as a distraction. And it’s drawing us into something that has nothing to do with us. Brexit is the problem. End of story.

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    Mute Colm A. Corcoran
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    Oct 25th 2021, 7:00 AM

    You can’t hold a poll asking people if they think the Protocol is good for Northern Ireland without clarifying what the alternative is.

    That’s like asking a child if they think the settlement that their parents agreed to after divorce is good.

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    Mute Oisín Dunne
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    Oct 25th 2021, 8:40 AM

    Let’s be clear… article 16 does not end the protocol. It can suspend a part of it for a short period of time. When the UK says it will trigger A16, call it out for what they want to do….they want to scrap it and force a border on the island of Ireland or a border between Ireland and EU. That’s their plan and I believe it’s been the plan all along. This mess has been made by the UK and the protocol is a plaster. The GB companies that send those goods that will never end up back in the EU (including ROI) need to be better catered for. The issue is that there is no trust between the UK and EU as, so far, the UK hasn’t implemented main parts of the protocol so all at risk goods must be considered guilty until proven innocent.

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    Mute Stephen Campbell
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    Oct 25th 2021, 10:08 AM

    Ok theJournal…. Time to correct your headlines… “Is Brexit bad or good for firms in Northern Ireland?”

    The protocol is a workaround to the main issue, Brexit..

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    Mute Gerard
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    Oct 25th 2021, 8:54 AM

    While I’ve no doubt it has caused some legitimate disruption for businesses heavily linked to GB, how did the study take into account costs (for consultancy etc) that would’ve been incurred without the procotol because they also trade with the EU?

    Or how did it take into account all the paperwork NI businesses save because they can trade with the Republic and the rest of the EU freely?

    All these analyses seem to assume that trade with Ireland was either insignificant, or its continuity was a a given (neither of these are true) and that any disruption with GB is a cost without any quantifiable benefit (again not true).

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    Mute John Vectravi
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    Oct 25th 2021, 10:50 AM

    It’s not the protocol that’s not working. It’s brexit that’s not working.

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    Mute lelookcoco
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    Oct 25th 2021, 11:09 AM

    How dare the EU break away from the United Kingdom. They’ve made things very difficult for everyone, especially the Brits!

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    Mute John Sullivan
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    Oct 25th 2021, 3:22 PM

    By leaving the CU and SM and going for a Sharia Brexit GB turned itself into a legal and regulatory Kaliningrad. Their call-their choice…If they hadn’t CHOSEN that there would be no protocol. They want a hard border in IRL or IRL out the the EU-they will get neither but what they will get is humiliation.

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    Mute andrew
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    Oct 25th 2021, 10:38 PM

    It is improving trade between north and south.

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