Oh buoy…no buoy

“DISAPPOINTED” was the only word Clansthal Conservancy chairman, Keith Cunningham could use to express himself when he found out that the NSRI pink rescue buoy had been stolen from Clansthal beach.

“A rescue buoy is a necessity at our beach. The fact that someone purposely stole this life-saving device tells me a lot about people’s attitudes and values,” he said.

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The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) launched the Pink Rescue Buoy project in November 2017 in the hopes of saving more lives.

There are often cases where bathers enter the water where there are either no lifeguards, or the lifeguards are off-duty, and get into trouble.

In instances where the NSRI is unable to respond immediately, bystanders usually spring into action to assist and if there is no buoy available, they place their own lives at risk.

Thus the project was born.

These bright pink rescue buoys are strategically placed on signs in the hopes that they will remind people to take care when entering the water, and not to swim if lifeguards are not present.

Should a bather get into difficulty, the buoys can be thrown to them to help keep them afloat.

“We really hope to be able to create awareness about why these buoys are so important and why they should not be stolen,” said another Clansthal local.

These buoys are all sponsored, either by individuals, companies or families.

According to Andrew Ingram, NSRI’s drowning prevention manager, 45 lives have been saved around the country since the project began.

“We still have a long way to go with educating people, so it is critical that communities buy into this initiative in order to stop them from stealing the devices,” said Mr Ingram.

“We find that most buoys are removed either by young children looking for something to play with or teenagers/young men in their 20s, often under the influence of alcohol.

“While the latter may regard this as a harmless prank, they should understand the dire consequences.

“They sometimes do later return the buoys and we accept them, no questions asked – we are simply grateful to have them back.”

The NSRI team ensures that it is easy for everyone to use the buoys in an emergency, with clear graphics printed on the sign, along with the emergency number for the closest NSRI station.

“Even though this is a very popular beach, we haven’t had a drowning for a good couple of years. However, one never knows when disaster may strike so we need to always be prepared to save a life,” added Keith.

He explained that recently a group of people had gone swimming just after midnight.

Fortunately, nothing happened, but if things had taken a turn for the worse, due to the theft there would have been no buoy available to rescuers.

“We’ve had the buoy for about a year, and once we get a new one (which is being sponsored by the Clansthal Conservancy) we’re hoping that people will appreciate its importance and not steal that one too.”

It is very difficult to keep the buoy secure as it needs to be readily accessible in case of emergency.

“The pink buoy campaign has been so successful and helped many people. We would really appreciate it if anyone who spots the buoy being tampered with reports this, or asks the culprit to leave it alone as it could save a life one day,” said Mr Ingram.

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