KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent (CMC) — The lead scientist monitoring La Soufrière volcano, Professor Richard Robertson, Monday described as “dotish” (stupid) and not an act of bravery, the decision by a man to climb the erupting volcano on Sunday.
“It is absolutely foolish… it is absolutely dotish to do that. People talk about bravery and to me somebody is brave when you are aware of the risks that you put yourself through because of some positive job or they need to contribute to society in a fundamental way and you still take the action to save your family or something like that,” Robertson told listeners to the state-owned NBC Radio.
“So you are aware of the risk. You know you could be killed or you know you could be hurt but you still do it. That’s a brave person. A brave person is not somebody who goes up to the mountain, putting themselves and their parties at risk and the people who might have to rescue them,” the volcanologist added.
A video has been circulating on social media showing the man, later identified as a “our guide”, going to the summit of the volcano which has been erupting since April 9 and has forced the evacuation of more than 16,000 people in the Red Zone area.
In the video, the person is seen, without a face mask, taking video selfies at the smoldering crater and describing the scene, while a strong wind blows, and steam rises from the cauldron.
He also captures video of a person climbing.
Robertson said that person “is not brave; to me that person is just simply dotish.
“I would suggest that action like that is not sensible. At this time I think for me, people in St. Vincent need to be brave, be brave to what we have to face. We have to face a country in which we will have tremendous devastation because of the volcano
“We have to be very brave to face the circumstances. If we want to live in this land that is really beautiful, we have to deal with the volcano, we have to deal with the hazards. You have to be brave to protect your family that is brave.
“Going up the mountain at this point in time where you could be killed or where you could get people with you killed or you could inspire people who saw you that is a sensible thing to do the same thing, that is not brave, that is dotish, that is what I would call it. I am sorry if I offend anybody with that type of language,” he told radio listeners.
On Sunday, the volcano continued its pattern of explosions with the Seismic Research Centre (SRC) of the University of the West Indies (UWI), saying that the episode of continuous seismic tremor generated by explosive activity at La Soufriere, lasted until about 9 p.m. (local time/Atlantic Standard Time).
In its latest bulletin, the SRC said that following this, small long-period and hybrid earthquakes started to be recorded again, at a rate similar to before the explosive activity. It said that this rate dropped significantly during the early hours of Monday.
“No volcano-tectonic earthquakes were recorded in the last 12 hours. One rockfall was recorded, at 1:39 a.m. Rockfalls can be generated by a growing lava dome, but this cannot be confirmed without visual observations,” the SRC said, noting that the continuous GPS (Global Positioning System) network has shown a change in horizontal and vertical movement since the initial depressurization noted immediately following the April 9 explosive phase.
It said that the continuous GPS network is used to track changes in ground shape on and around the volcano. As magma moves beneath the volcano, changes in pressure cause the volcano to change shape (inflate/deflate).
“These changes may suggest magma influx from deep within the sub-volcanic system, however more investigation is needed to confirm this interpretation,” the SRC said, adding, “the volcano continues to erupt. Its pattern of seismic activity over the last few days is typical of the growth and destruction of lava domes”.
Robertson told radio listeners that the volcano in its current state can erupt explosively without warning.
“Anyone on the volcano at the time is at risk of dying horribly from blunt trauma to the body, from excessive burns, and from asphyxiation. Anyone at the summit as you were today will certainly be killed if it has one of the kinds of eruptions that it had on the very same day that you visited.
“Stop putting yourself, your co-hikers, and potentially the search and rescue team that would come to get you if something happens. This is neither brave or useful but simply dotish.”
As i have been told a million times SOME Vincentians are a SPECIAL TYPE OF DOTISH
The man should be arrested and locked up he is a jerk.
I suppose we all have our definitions of what and who can be called “doltish”. It is true that this hiker and his friend(s) went up there for no real purpose except maybe self-aggrandisement. It is maybe equally “foolish” to not wear respiratory protection. But in my opinion it is just as “doltish” to have been running around Saint Vincent, OUTDOORS (before we had volcanic ash dust) with masks when all scientific studies before and after Corona Virus prove that it serves no purpose except, as Dr Fauchi has admitted, to prove that we are stupid manipulated sheeple. (people that follow like stupid sheep). THERE IS NO LAW …YET…IN SVG SAYING THAT WE MUST WEAR MASKS OUTDOORS…MAYBE NOT EVEN AT OUR EVEN MORE POSITIVELY DOLTISH CUSTOMS OUTDOOR AREAS AT THE PORTS. Even wearing masks indoors has been proven to make no sense, but it is known that the virus spreads indoors and generally not outdoors under almost any circumstances. so wearing indoors is at least an attempt at seeming effective. It is also a proven fact that children under the age of 19 are at ZERO risk of death from Corona Virus, (and the death rate in this age group is globally at ZERO, even though we close the schools and spread the misinformation that we are “saving” our children when it has been undeniably proven that keeping children out of school and continuing their education is doing REAL DAMAGE TO THEM and actually increasing their risks in other ways far more than a virus that has been proven to be even more mild than the seasonal flu unless the infected person is of advanced age and/or often possibly obese or a few other health factors.
So, before calling someone Doltish” maybe we should first look into the mirror before opening our mouths.
These really sicenctest all I Read is abusive language take out Glen for a vaccine. He needs to be vaccinate
I don’t agree with the Professor that this man is dotish, I have a very high rest for the work of the Professor in regards to the volcano eruptions.
I think Americans going to moon in those early days was risky and dangerous. They risked their lives.
I think in today’s world climbing mountains such as Mount Everest is dangerous and some climbers die.
Life is not risk free. There is an element of risk in almost every thing we do but some actions are more risky than others.
They are few people who will always challenge the “unchallengable.” Like the first people to fly planes. It is this kind of bravery or stupidity that move us forward in the world.
Where the Professor has a point. Is this man’s action could encourage many to believe that the eruptions are not a danger to life.
The man put his life at risk and survive and have a story to tell the world. He might even make some money out of the journey . He needs a good agent.
Alyo shut […] if not for the man aryo nah know way really gine on
If you watch reality Tv today, you’ll notice the popular shows are mostly about people doing crazy things, some of it are pretty well shot but the effect is always the same, ‘wtf’! There’s a movie named “Jackass” (2002). Initially it was a series on MTv. The action is a stupid almost crazy thing to do but in the end you get rare footage. So far there hasn’t been casualties in SVG (so) we good still. You can’t fight the youth. They never loose control.
This kind of behavior suggest that psychiatric evaluation is needed. This is not normal behavior.