Volcanic eruption today...

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

"passengers should be aware that there is always a risk of eruptive activity regardless of the alert level".

Full stop, end of.
Vulcanologists are still guessing. Scientific, better-than-nothing guessing, but guessing.

[OFSO]

Just seen on news, no signs of life on the island. Suppose most would have suffocated. We have a dormant nest of volcanoes near us. (The Garrotxa region, 26 volcanoes and the city of Olot is built on top of them). Area is well overdue for an erruption. Last time I was up there the air was pretty sulphurous.

[Woody]

Visited White Island about 14 years ago, can’t remember any specific warnings, but was told not to go overboard near the island as the seawater was extremely acidic

[Pontius Navigator]

Why didn't the ship send a tender? They should have enough breathing apparatus for the crew.

[1DC]

A report i read said that the risk level had been raised from 1 to 2 which in volcano terms is not very high. The report also said that the eruption looked like a steam eruption rather than magma. The island is privately owned and not covered by the government volcano monitoring group.

[4mastacker]

Radio Lincs reporting one of the missing is from our town.

[llondel]

Chances are there's a disclaimer on whatever agreement was signed that noted that volcanoes are dangerous places to visit and that they can erupt without warning and so you go at your own risk.

I've walked on the Kilaeau Iki crater, but I also suspect that if there'd been any hint of activity then we'd not have been able to get near it.

[Karearea]

Why didn't the ship send a tender? They should have enough breathing apparatus for the crew.

The cruise ship Ovation of the Seas was at the port of Tauranga, ~90km away.

[G-CPTN]

Why didn't the ship send a tender? They should have enough breathing apparatus for the crew.

The cruise ship Ovation of the Seas was at the port of Tauranga, ~90km away.

How did the passengers reach the island?
Presumably a small boat?

[Karearea]

^ may have been helicoptered, I'm unsure.

[Pontius Navigator]

We have certainly done a one hour cruise from the ship. Other ship tours, especially in exotic locations can obviously be more. One from St Petersburg was to Moscow so I guess this tour was laid on for those who wanted something different.

[Karearea]

This website gives some information on the island and the tours available:

https://www.bayofplentynz.com/experiences/white-island

[Pontius Navigator]

I see the latest is 5 dead, 8 missing, 31 in hospital but some critical.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

And no mention at all of any risk, as far as I can see, either on that website or the tour companies linked to.

White Island Tours (website down) has stated elsewhere that it sends more staff to "assess conditions" when the alert state is higher, but it is not possible to assess the risk of eruption by any means currently available to science, so it's a token effort. All they can assess is that a particular route is safe from existing steam vents and suchlike, not the risk of eruption. And the NZ Government knows this full well.

[Karearea]

From that website:

Gas masks and hard hats are provided as this active volcano is still very much alive. Its seismic activity is closely monitored although the island is usually on an alert level rating of 1 or 2 on a scale from 0 to 5.

Before yesterday I had really no idea that tourist-parties were visiting the island.
If you'd asked me, I'd have expected maybe a very few visits by geologists and scientists with protective gear.

[Karearea]

Link to latest Police news release:

https://www.police.govt.nz/news/release ... naccounted

[fin]

This is a tough one! Far from being a "bubble baby" and expecting Da Gummint to keep me totally safe from anything on earth including words that might hurt my feelings, I am sure that had I been on that cruise I would have signed up to go.

I was not specifically aware of the facts mentioned by Fox. My "feelings" would have been that any 'danger' was more "Disney" than 'Real" and just part of the fun. I would have thought that a reputable cruise line like Royal Carib would never subject their passengers to real known danger, and that the folks running the tours there every day would not be putting their own lives in danger if they felt it was unsafe.

I will be curious to see how the legal end plays out (if it doesn't take a dozen years or so to sort). I cannot imagine the feelings of the guy who got off the island 20 minutes earlier and took the, almost undoubtedly now viral, video.

[ribrash]

Don't know if its been mentioned,but just seen a pic of a tour helo covered in ash.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

The ability of humans to perceive risk is highly affected by frequency and immediacy. If it's never happened before, and especially if it's never happened where you are, then there's a tendency to assume it won't.
And on the information side, how many people have actually ever learned that vulcanology isn't able to predict eruptions? In my experience, I am the only teacher I know who included this in school lessons. Further to that, if one presents people with a risk scale and a Government approved station to assess it, people will naturally assume that the risk scale covers the risk of eruption, but it can't.
So, Fin is right, it doesn't feel unsafe, but that's because people don't know it's unsafe, and the factors above reduce the tendency to feel unsafe.

Ribrash Apparently all aboard that helicopter were taken off by boat, according to the operator. None dead, injuries unknown.

[Alisoncc]

Probably good for business. Some years ago an American tourist, whilst hanging over the side of a tourist boat up north Australia, was taken by a croc. In subsequent years tourism boomed as thousands of Americans came to see where it happened. So next year might be a good time to be running tours of the island.