Odd things will happen at sea despite intentions

Not every Dunedin Marine Search and Rescue job went according to plan and some blunders were kept in the confidence of the group and police.

One tool used by the squad was the scoop net, which was attached to a helicopter and lowered into the water, allowing the pilot to scoop people or things out of the water safely.

The piece of equipment was responsible for a fair share of mistakes.

In one event, in which details have been left scarce, the net was used to recover floating bodies off the Otago Peninsula.

A body was scooped up into the net, but did not sit well.

It was raised up into the air, only to fall back to sea while TV1 was filming from the sidelines.

Dunedin Marine Search and Rescue stalwart Rowan Leck wrote that police "had a dialogue" with the film crew and "the footage was lost" [ to respect victim’s relatives].