South Africa’s polar replenishment vessel, S.A. Agulhas is en route for Marion Island in the Southern Ocean to carry out a casualty evacuation, according to the Department of Environmental Affairs.
Independent Online reported the department’s spokesperson, Carol Moses, said the casualty, whose name had not yet been released, had fallen into the freezing waters while taking research photographs. Moses said:
He was involved in research on marine mammals and was conducting photographic research when he fell into the very cold and icy waters
.
Moses explained that when he was rescued, he was unconscious and was suffering from hypothermia, but was now in a stable condition. The medical orderly and two military medical personnel on Marion Island had stabilized the patient, the report said, but the patient needed to be evacuated from the island.
Marion Island, in the tiny Prince Edward Island group, is part of South Africa, but is about 1,800 kilometres south of Cape Town. The SA Agulhas is expected back next week.
