"dead body" floating along the coast today

zagmund

Did anyone else see the bloke floating along the coast (between Blackrock & DL) yesterday & this morning? For all intents and purposes he appears to be a dead body floating in the water. I saw him yesterday when I was in swimming at Seapoint. There was a crowd of people gathered at the edge of the water looking concerned, but you could at least see his head moving on occasion so he wasn't actually dead.

I saw him again this morning and he wasn't moving at all when I checked with binoculars and a telescope No head movement, no legs, no arms. Dead in the water. I rang the Coast Guard to call it in, but they tell me that they "know" this guy. He likes to float and float and float apparently.

I could see from the peoples faces yesterday that they were concerned at this (apparently) dead body in the water. I was concerned again this morning when I saw him. I think it's irresponsible of him to be out like this though - he must generate many 112/999 calls and cause a fair bit of upset to people who think there's a dead body out there, not to mention people who go out to his aid assuming he is in difficulty.

It's not advisable to say "if you see someone who looks to be dead in the water just ignore them because they are OK", since there's no way to know they are OK without checking.

z

ted1

I believe that he has has the helicopter and RNLI boat out several times

brocky

Out of interest the sar has passed over my house in ballybrack about a half hour ago. Looked like it was heading to bray though

jimmycrackcorm

He should be getting bills from the search and rescue services for sending a helicopter out to pay for his hobby.

One day he will be in difficulty and the coast guard will just say, sure he likes to float. A case if the boy who like to cry float.

beyondbelief67

Is there something distinctive about him that if a person were to phone up and say there's a body in the water they are told ah no leave him at it he's ok ?
Or that if a person saw him and were worried they could remember ah its just the one who likes to float hes ok ?
Surely be better if there were posters up in shops In the area to save the coast guards time ?

Larbre34

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

He should be getting bills from the search and rescue services for sending a helicopter out to pay for his hobby.

One day he will be in difficulty and the coast guard will just say, sure he likes to float. A case if the boy who like to cry float.

He didnt ask anyone to call out the coastguard. Odd as he might be, Im pretty sure swimming, diving and/or floating for leisure is a free pastime off the coast.

homer911

I presume he was face up? Dead bodies will always float face down.

galwayjohn89

My worry would be someone actually being in genuine trouble but they just presume it's him.

zagmund

Larbre34 wrote: »

He didnt ask anyone to call out the coastguard. Odd as he might be, Im pretty sure swimming, diving and/or floating for leisure is a free pastime off the coast.

Other than organised sailors with radios onboard, nobody asks someone on land to call for help for them. Swimmers don't. Kayakers don't. People on inflatable lilos don't. They still need help though.

He's not swimming, he's floating and is indistinguishable from a dead body when seen from the land.

z

[edit] playing dead on the side of the N11 is also a free activity. Nobody is going to say it's a good idea though.

mrbrianj

Presumably he calls the coast guard himself before going for a float.

mrbrianj

mrbrianj wrote: »

Presumably he calls the coast guard himself before going for a float.

That's not much use to the poor unfortunate who's actually in difficulty and being ignored though.

What a weird situation.

nc19

jimmycrackcorm wrote:

He should be getting bills from the search and rescue services for sending a helicopter out to pay for his hobby.

Ridiculous

He has no obligation for other people's opinions which lead to 999 calls


If I was practicing my parkour, jumping off tall structures, should I have to pay when someone rings 999 to report me for attempting suicide?

zagmund

nc19 wrote: »

Ridiculous

He has no obligation for other people's opinions which lead to 999 calls


If I was practicing my parkour, jumping off tall structures, should I have to pay when someone rings 999 to report me for attempting suicide?

But you are (presumably) visibly in control of your environment. He isn't.

What happens if you fall and injure yourself and are left incapacitated in a hard to reach location? Would you be happy for people to look out their window and go back to watching telly saying "ah, that's just yer man, he must be having a break" or would you prefer them to call the services to come to your help? After all, you aren't in a position to call them yourself and you aren't in a position to ask people to call for help for you. You are (when incapacitated) reliant on others to come to your help. He (from the shore) appears to be incapacitated and not moving.

z

ted1

nc19 wrote: »

Ridiculous

He has no obligation for other people's opinions which lead to 999 calls


If I was practicing my parkour, jumping off tall structures, should I have to pay when someone rings 999 to report me for attempting suicide?

If you were lying down at the bottom of a building , not moving and looking like you fell, then they may call emergency services