Tragedy in Tank Cave: Remembering Agnes Milowka’s Final Dive

Incident Location	Diver Full Name
Australia, Mount Gambier, Tank Cave	Agnes Milowka

The story of Agnes Milowka is heartbreaking, but we can find consolation in the fact that she lived her dream of being a cave explorer. Tank Cave stands out among the best of all the caves around Mount Gambier. Agnes was exploring the mysteries of the cave till she met her untimely demise. [Music]

Description of Tank Cave

Tank Cave got its name from a water tank that sits directly on top of the entrance. It’s located in Mount Gambier, South Australia. To enter the cave, you have to climb down a short ladder because the entrance is underground. The Cave Divers Association of Australia strictly controls access to this entrance. Tank Cave is a rare gem, and diving through it gives divers joy.

The cave, which has a small surface, leads to an extensive maze-like system with over twenty-three thousand feet (seven thousand ten meters) of passage that cavers can dive through. It also has numerous side channels. The cave is relatively shallow, with a maximum depth of around sixty-five feet (twenty meters). Its water is crystal clear, and you can dive through the water with utmost clarity and little or no hindrance. Tank Cave is one of the longest underwater caves in Australia, and a fixed line runs throughout most of the cave.

The Complicated Nature of Tank Cave

However, one prominent feature made the cave dangerous—the system of the cave is quite complicated. It looks like a wild spider web. To guard against mishaps, cave divers must go through a step-by-step guide to familiarize themselves with the cave before they are given access. All diving protocols must be properly adhered to for a successful dive in Tank Cave. It’s amazing to know that many things have been discovered in Tank Cave, yet there is still endless exploration to be done. It’s just like the old saying, “The more you look into this cave, the less you see.” As you go deeper into this cave, you will begin to discover that there is more to know about it. Divers who are up for an interesting yet dangerous adventure always visit the cave.

Challenges and Risks in Tank Cave

The cave had tight restrictions, and it could get hard to see while inside due to the limited body space available. Some parts of the cave are so enclosed that some explorers may be required to pull their tanks before they can pass through without hindrance. The enclosed nature of the cave is not so great because the insides of the cave roof and wall are so soft and squishy. Therefore, big roof parts fall on divers as they breathe air, disrupting the clarity of the water resulting in an inability to see clearly.

Agnes Milowka: A Passionate Explorer

Agnes Milowka was a woman of passion and an international cave explorer. She was born on December 23, 1981, in Australia. Agnes was a highly qualified diver with certifications such as PADI Open Water, Advanced Open Water, and Rescue, CDAA Advanced Cave, TDI Advanced Tri-Mix, and much more. She never wanted to be a technical diver, but she said everything happened spontaneously. Her passion took her into the deepest waters and caves, and she experienced the best of her feelings, becoming a technical diver. Furthermore, she was an underwater photographer, author, maritime archaeologist, and cave explorer.

Agnes was part of many international diving projects and documentaries. It wasn’t a surprise that Agnes gained international recognition as a diver because she always launched into deeper cave systems across Australia and Florida. She went far beyond the places other divers had previously gone, and she was always successful at it. She was also a public speaker and author in her profession of diving and maritime archaeology. Agnes’s life journey revealed that she was dedicated to her passion.

Agnes’s Exploration and Achievements

During the summer of 2007, Agnes completed an internship program at Saint Augustine, Florida, with the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP), which was the research house of Saint Augustine Lighthouse and Museum. Agnes participated in the archaeological excavation of historic shipwreck sites. This work introduced her to Florida diving, where she explored extensive cave systems.

Cave exploration became more of an obsession for Agnes because she was constantly captivated by the sight of unknown passages and where they led to. She was known for exploring, mapping new cave systems, pushing boundaries, and most importantly, returning home with images from her adventures. She displayed these images to the world so they could have a look at what their own eyes couldn’t have seen.

Agnes Milowka, a Gliders University graduate, was drawn into the world of cave diving after seeing a hole at the bottom of Picconnini Ponds near Mount Gambier in 2004. Agnes and James Arendale explored the Elk River Streamway cave system, which has 4,600 feet (1,400 meters) of passages.

This cave has the potential to become the longest continuous stream passage in Victoria, Australia. Agnes had the record for the longest cave dive in Australia for a female after she reached the midpoint of Craig Challen’s 2008 line on an expedition near Kakubiti.

In 2009, she worked with some TV channels such as Discovery Channel Japan and the National Geographic Nova TV Expedition. In 2008 and 2009, she was part of the expedition that looked for sinkholes in Queensland, Australia. Agnes also worked on the National Geographic Magazine expedition to the Bahamas caves as a photographic assistant. She laid more than thirteen thousand feet (four thousand meters) of line across several cave systems, the most significant of which was Baptizing Spring, a.k.a. Mission. She and James Tolen added more than 9,800 feet (3,000 meters) to make the connection between Peacock Springs and Baptizing Spring.

Because of her passion, she started a TV series called “Agnes Milowka Project,” where she featured underwater cave footage shot by Wedge Smiles and Karst Productions. She worked as a cave dive instructor to the actors during the production of James Cameron’s film. She won the award of Dive Right Ambassador in 2011, and lastly, she worked for the Trimip fashion label in their short film titled “Birth” as a diving supervisor. The movie was dedicated in her name to honor her demise.

Agnes’s Perspective on Diving and Risks

Before the Tank Cave incident, Agnes had an interview with the Polish radio station. When she was asked if the death of a fellow diver scared her a little, she replied, “I am not scared of diving. Anyone, at any point, can pass away, so you have to live your life as if tomorrow could be your last day. I love diving, I am passionate about it, and I don’t think anything will stop me from doing it. Unfortunately, there are risks in every extreme sport. There are dangers. It doesn’t always work out, but you do everything possible to not only do that one dive but to keep on diving over many years. That’s what it’s all about—after all, longevity. You have to dive safely but live as if every day is going to be your last.” This shows the heart of a woman that even the fear of death couldn’t stop her from her passion, and she lived true to it till her last breath in diving.

The Tragic Incident in Tank Cave

After getting to hear about the unfortunate incident, many would conclude that it was Agnes’s first time in the Tank Cave. However, it wasn’t. She had explored the Tank Cave several times in the past, and she also wrote about the cave system, calling it the crowning jewel of all the caves in the region. However, she stated that the cave system was so complicated that it could be likened to a spider web gone wild. This, in essence, was to warn intending cave divers to be extremely careful while navigating the Tank Cave.

During her expedition to Tank Cave, which she tweeted about on Friday, February 25, 2011, Agnes was exploring the extensive labyrinth of caves. Agnes ran out of air and suffocated after she became disoriented. Her body was found about 1,800 feet (550 meters) away from the entrance, submerged under 66 feet (20 meters) of water in a tight section of the cave. But she was not trapped. Before her death, Agnes died as a result of the silt she stirred up from the cave walls and floor after she got separated from her diving partner. It was as if she remained calm until her last breath while she was trying to extricate herself. She couldn’t see anything and was unable to get out of the cave before she ran out of air.

Her death could also have been a result of her aggression in the winding and narrow tunnels. After diving into a very narrow rocky passage, which took divers about an hour to reach, she was left alone because the place she dove into couldn’t occupy two divers at a time. Consequently, it’s not against the rules to dive by yourself under these certain conditions. The victim was reported missing at about 1:45 pm on Sunday, February 27th.

Her fellow divers worked very hard before they could recover her body. A video of the past she took was recorded, which gave the retriever team the hope of finding her body without drilling through the earth above, as some suggested. The divers paired themselves using a guideline from the entrance of the cave. They positioned emergency tanks along the path they found to their deceased friend. Several hours after the missing report, her body was recovered about 1,970 feet (600 meters) into the cave system by the retriever team, which included her diving buddy, Dr. Harris.

The tragic incident of Agnes Milowka serves as a reminder of the risks involved in extreme sports like cave diving. Despite the dangers, Agnes pursued her passion with unwavering dedication and made significant contributions to the field of cave exploration. Her legacy lives on through her achievements, writings, and the inspiration she continues to provide to divers and adventurers around the world.

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