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Grim task to retrieve lost diver Agnes

Megan Levy
February 28, 2011

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Melbourne woman dies in cave dive

Melbourne woman who died in an accident in Australia's longest underwater cave system in South Australia.

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Police divers have begun the grim task of recovering the body of a Melbourne woman who died in an accident in Australia's longest underwater cave system yesterday.

Agnes Milowka had dived many times previously in Tank Cave near Mount Gambier in South Australia, exploring and mapping its unknown passages.

The 29-year-old was well-known in diving circles both in Australia and around the world, and had worked as a stunt diver on James Cameron's 3D diving film Sanctum.

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Agnes Milowka, as she appeared in a video she posted on Youtube.

On Friday, she tweeted of her excitement about her impending diving trip to South Australia.

"Another w-end of cave diving in Mt Gambier ... fabulous! Can't wait to get underground," she wrote.

Police are still trying to piece together what went wrong in Tank Cave, a maze-like system with more than seven kilometres of underwater passages.

At some time during yesterday's dive, with a group from Victoria, she was believed to have left her buddy, and never returned.

Her fellow divers reported her missing at 1.45pm, with one able to identify an area within the cave system where Ms Milowka was last seen.

Her body was found overnight about 600 metres inside the cave system.

Officers have now sealed off the sinkhole and are devising a plan to retrieve the body.

In an article published on her website in November, Ms Milowka wrote of her experiences in Tank Cave, describing it as "a spiderweb gone wild" and "unlike any other in the Mt Gambier region, it is a real gem and it is a joy to dive".

"The cave is stunning, it is relatively shallow (a max depth around 20m), there is no flow to fight and the water is crystal clear - you can't go wrong really," she wrote.

She also wrote of a new passage in Tank Cave she had discovered with a colleague, and described numerous "tight bits" where some divers may have had to take off their tanks to squeeze through.

"The walls and roof to begin with are quite soft and squishy, which means that large chunks of the roof rain down on you as you exhale and the visibility is quickly reduced to zero," she wrote.

"This is not only a hazard when coming back out through the small restrictions but it also means that this section of the cave is particularly fragile and needs to be handled with a bit of tender love and care."

She also said she would continue to explore the unmapped tunnels and passages in Tank Cave, which was "top of my list when heading over to Mt Gambier".

Ms Milowka is believed to have attended Caulfield Grammar School in Melbourne, before completing a Graduate Diploma in Maritime Archaeology at Flinders University.

Her website says she holds the current female penetration record for diving in Australia, and had dived extensively in Florida in the US.

Last year she was part of a National Geographic Team on a project to the Blue Holes of the Bahamas and worked as a stunt diver on the 3D cave diving feature film Sanctum.

Superintendent Trevor Twilley from the Limestone Coast police says police won't know what went wrong in Tank Cave until they recover and test Ms Milowka's equipment and diving umbilical cords.

He said cave divers are helping police plan the recovery today because of the complexities of the almost eight-kilometre stretch of twisting underwater passages.

Police divers will join members of the tight-knit Cave Divers Association of Australia today to assess how to retrieve Ms Milowka's body.

The planned dive is expected to take up to three hours, before the situation will be reassessed.

Superintendent Twilley said the association's members, despite mourning the loss of their colleague, would help guide police through the complex, narrow system.

"That is something we have certainly discussed at length this morning - the emotional side of asking them to do that and particularly when they do reach the deceased what impact that may have on their emotions and what risk that may add to their safety," he told ABC radio in Adelaide.

The cave is located on private property on the Princes Highway near Tantanoola, with access to the cave controlled by the Cave Divers Association of Australia.

The woman is the second Victorian to die in cave diving accidents in south-east South Australia in the past year.

In March last year, Melbourne doctor Robert McAlister died in a sinkhole at Mount Schank near Mount Gambier.

The 51-year-old was diving with a friend when he is believed to have become tangled in a rope. His friend tried to free him as both ran low on air, however he was unable to be saved.

The Cave Divers Association of Australia has been contacted for comment.

Speaking to the Knox Weekly newspaper four days before her disappearance, Ms Milowka spoke of her passion for exploring.

"In this day and age when you think that everything has been found and you don't even have to get off your chair to see the world, it's amazing to think there are still places human eyes have never seen before," she said.

"It's a phenomal feeling - the rush, the thrill of exploration, it totally hooked me."

Reflecting on the dangers of cave diving, she said she had experienced many close calls.

"Everything that could posibly go wrong for me has.

"I've been stuck in stupid places trying to push the envelope a bit, but when that happens you have three choices. You can panic and die, give up and die, or control your thoughts, feelings and emotions and give yourself the best chance of coming out alive."

She also spoke of her work on Sanctum, released this year.

"It sounds glamorous but it was very hard work," she said.

"We worked very hard. There were 12-hour days, night shifts and it was quite challenging - but I loved it.

"Seeing the process of making a movie and watching the end product was just a fantastic experience.

"Because the movie was so full-on, I thought my grandparents may panic a bit. After they saw it, they said they were scared to death for me, but proud."

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This is not only a hazard when coming back out through the small restrictions but it also means that this section of the cave is particularly fragile and needs to be handled with a bit of tender love and care.

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