White Island erupts on 9th December last year. Courtesy Twitter/Michael Schade.
Island Tragedy Nigel Benton considers whether the deaths of 21 people that occurred when New Zealand’s White Island erupted could have been avoided
M
ore than two months have passed since the afternoon of Monday 9th December, when New Zealand’s White Island/Whakaari erupted while people were visiting the live volcano - with tragic consequences. At the time of writing 21 people are confirmed dead, including two whose bodies have never been found, while 25 people remain in hospital with burn injuries requiring complex surgery. With information emerging about how the situation unfolded, the wisdom of allowing the volcanic island to be a tourism destination has been questioned. Raymond Cas, Emeritus Professor at Monash University’s School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, told the Australian Science Media Centre that he always felt White Island was too dangerous for excursions, advising “White Island has been a disaster waiting to happen for many years. Having visited
it twice, I have always felt that it was too dangerous to allow the daily tour groups that visit the uninhabited island volcano by boat and helicopter. “It has a very active geothermal system with many steaming gas vents and varying numbers of hot water filled crater lakes in the floor of an amphitheatreshaped large crater.” Associate Professor Derek Wyman, a Geoscientist at Sydney University, said he was surprised tourists were allowed so close to the site, given its recent history, telling SBS News “I certainly wouldn’t be recommending tourists be approaching a site that has recently been throwing material up 30 metres into the air.” Professor Wyman went on to say the eruption was “relatively minor”, noting “New Zealand sees things like this quite frequently. “Usually people don’t die from
Tourists on White Island (Wikimedia commons/Kimberley Collins).
A woman photographs the 9th December eruption (Twitter/Michael Schade).
56 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 137
these kinds of eruptions, but that is likely because they are not usually inappropriately close.” With around 18,000 people a year, according to 2018 estimates, making daily trips to White Island, promotional material emphasised it as being “one of the world’s few accessible live volcanoes” with “amazing geothermal activity”. Another website advised that tours operate “through varying alert levels but passengers should be aware that there is always a risk of eruptive activity”. Significantly, unlike other volcanoes in New Zealand, White Island, situated in the Bay of Plenty, 48 kilometres offshore from the North Island, is distant from emergency services and has no easy means to escape an eruption. In addition, documents released since the tragedy have revealed that an emergency management plan dealing with an eruption at White Island had not been finalised when the volcano erupted. Information revealed among documents released in early February by the Whakatane District Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council shows that White Island Tours, owned by Ngati Awa Group Holdings Ltd (a Maori tribalbased corporation and the exclusive operator of boat-based excursions to the island) had 38 boat passengers and five crew on the island at 2.11pm on Monday 9th December, when the first eruption occurred. The other people on the Island were three passengers and the pilot of private helicopter tour company Volcanic Air. That eruption created an ash plume of about 4,000 metres and there were further eruptions at 4.30pm and 5.49pm that afternoon. According to the documents, one Westpac Rescue Helicopter, two Kahu NZ helicopters and one from Volcanic Air, all landed on the island after the eruption to help survivors, most of whom had burns and respiratory injuries. Others were triaged on White Island Tours’ boat Phoenix on its way to Whakatane Wharf where a cordon and further triage and staging area was in place. All known survivors were removed from the island within four hours of the first eruption. A Volcanic Air helicopter left on the Island.
