The Police Dive Squad will share information on diver safety at two marae meetings on Sunday.

The seminars have been organised by senior constable Matt Akuhata of Rural Response Te Kaha.

They will be held at Ōtūwhare, Omāio, from 10am to 12 noon and at Kauaetangohia Marae, Whangaparāoa, Cape Runaway, from 2-4pm.

Mr Akuhata said Senior Constable Aaron Wynyard from the dive squad was concerned about the number of incidents their team had attended on the East Coast.

“Aaron has reached out for help to facilitate these seminars so that they could spread the message around diving safely, especially leading into summer,” Mr Akuhata said.

He added that there were a large number of divers on the coast, where gathering kaimoana was obviously an important part of everyday life.

“While many experienced divers operate safely here it always pays to maintain your skills. These marae meetings will be a great opportunity to discuss safety with highly qualified specialists.”

Water Safety NZ figures showed that before 2020, there were around six diving deaths a year.

Water Safety NZ said over 60 percent of fatalities involved divers over 45, with poor heart health and lack of physical fitness being major contributing factors. Causes included insufficient training and inappropriate skill levels.

Pre-existing medical conditions, particularly heart issues, played a role in many of the deaths.

Divers often failed to take crucial safety steps, such as ditching weight belts when in trouble, a habit that had led to fatalities.

Many scuba dive accident victims were diving alone or become separated from their buddy.

Preventative measures included divers over 40- getting medical check-ups before diving, as poor health can lead to fatal consequences.

Divers also needed to ensure they had the correct training and that their skill levels were appropriate for the dive.

“It is essential to maintain good physical fitness for the demands of diving, have a safety plan and use dive flags to alert other boat users to the diving locations to avoid collisions,” Water Safety NZ said.