FEMALE TOURIST MISSING AT SEA IN PONTA DELGADA

Tobi Hughes·
Madeira News

It seems now everytime we get bad weather the stupidity of people heightens.

The nationality is yet to be confirmed as different reports are stating different nationalities.

Rescue operation is underway and SANAS has already been mobilized. The strong sea agitation is not helping with the search, as JM found.

A couple of  tourists, who were walking this afternoon by the sea, in Ponta Delgada, close to the church in this town, ended up being caught by a stronger wave. It should be noted that an orange warning for bad weather was in effect this Sunday morning, which, at this time, turned yellow.

The man ended up leaving the sea by his own means, but his companion is reported missing.

The rescue operation is supported by ground surveillance from the Volunteer Firefighters of São Vicente and Porto Moniz, and from SANAS, which is also already searching.

From Jornal Madeira

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Tobi Hughes

6 Responses

  1. I think that the comments made by the author are insensitive; to call someone stupid when they could have lost their lives is in extremely poor taste.

    1. Sadly she did die, the island has bad weather, and warnings in place, which they probably didn’t know about, but they could see the size of the waves, and still they took risks, we see it everytime, and still people do the same. Mother nature always wins.

    2. … I think using the word Stupidly was in reference to their actions by taking unnecessary risks ,, not a personal slur ,, (he didn’t call her stupid) !! …

  2. Stupidity to describe a person’s actions is an editorial comment not for use in a news article. Writers report the facts and let the reader draw their own conclusion.

  3. This was a tragic occurrence. I would be cautions in inferring a relationship between the weather and the stupidity of a person or their actions. Some tourists, either those visiting Madeira or those from Madeira visiting other lands are compromised in their decision making ability.

    There are many potential reasons for this and while the decision may seem stupid (and it often is) it is not a reflection of the person- even when clarified as such; but the compromised decision making that affects many while on vacation; But many are often left with a summarized opinion of the person as a “stupid tourist”. An insult to them and potentially some of us when we are traveling.

    One of the root causes of this compromised decision making are referred to as “ brag factor”- there are well-publicized fatal accidents (259 by one count) involving people trying to take extreme selfies around the world.

    Another is “optimism bias” where, despite warnings and even posted statistics, some feel “Well, not me I’ll be careful” or “Well, that’s a small amount considering how many have been here; those people were just not careful”

    Ross Otto, professor of Psychology studies at McGill University notes “A robust pattern, which you see across a lot of laboratory studies and the real world, is that people in positive mood states, under certain circumstances, tend to accept more risky propositions; So if you’re just in a better mood from being on vacation, you might be marginally more likely to take a risky option.”

    So, are the actions stupid? Invariably yes most of the time.. but many of us when in “tourist mode” are equally susceptible. So referencing the root cause instead of the stupidity of tragic action may help us all with a greater awareness to retain when we travel so we may keep a balance between the joy of traveling and the guard let down causing us to do things we would never consider in our daily lives.

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