A female diver from the city of St Petersburg has been rescued after spending 24 hours drifting in the cold waters of the Tatar Strait, off the eastern coast of Russia
According to Russian media, the woman – who is described as ‘elderly’, although no age is reported – was part of an excursion organised by Russian scuba diving magazine Predelnaya Glubina (Ultimate Depth).
During the dive, her guide reportedly surfaced early due to insufficient weights, expecting her to tag onto another team that was in the water at the same time.
Unfortunately, the woman became separated from the other divers and was left to surface and drift alone.
She was sighted the next day by cadets training on board the Russian search-and-rescue vessel Otto Schmidt, and was recovered from the water and given immediate treatment for her ordeal.
The Tatar Strait (also known as the Strait of Tartary) separates the Russian island of Sakhalin from the Asian continent, connecting the Sea of Okhotsk to the Sea of Japan.
The water is shallow, reaching a maximum of around 200 metres with an average surface temperature between 8 and 12°C during the summer months, and sea conditions described as sometimes ‘unforgiving’.
