British graduate dies on first ever scuba dive in Great Barrier Reef

British graduate dies on first scuba dive in Great Barrier Reef

A British graduate has died after drowning on her first ever scuba dive on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

Bethany Farrell, 23, died during a dive at Blue Harbour Bay in the Whitsunday Islands.

The English literature and media graduate had signed up for an introductory session with friends a week into her trip around Australia.

Her parents Patrick and Caron Farrell, of Colchester, Essex, are now demanding answers after it emerged she drowned after allegedly becoming separated from her instructor.

According to the Standard, dad Patrick Farell said: "The instructor had three students - one of them was Bethany. One of them decided she didn't want to dive and we haven't got the exact reasons why, so she remained on the boat, which left the instructor, Bethany and one of her friends.

"At some point, the diving instructor lost sight of Bethany, then realised he couldn't locate her, returned the other student to the surface, sought help and went back down, presumably with other people, to help and they found Bethany dead 11 metres down.

"They were meant to be diving in a depth of five metres.

"It is devastating. There were weeks I was just hoping I had gone insane and got it wrong."

An investigation has been launched, led by the Office of Fair and Safe Work and the Australian Police.

Mr Farrell last spoke to his daughter two days before the tragedy.

According to the Daily Telegraph, he said: "She was on a supervised activity - she should have been safe.

"Bethany was a pure and gentle soul - she was at a point in life where everything was in place."

Bethany had been planning to spend a year in Australia working and travelling with friends. She had been uploading pretty pictures of her trip on Instagram in the days before she died.

It's a beautiful day down under.. #airliebeach #australia #travel #whitsundays
A photo posted by Bethany Farrell (@bethanyemily91) on Feb 11, 2015 at 10:04pm PST

An afternoon stroll by the harbour ⚓️ #Coverdale #Whitsundays #boats
A photo posted by Bethany Farrell (@bethanyemily91) on Feb 14, 2015 at 1:27pm PST

Mr Farrell added: "Lots of her friends had been out in Australia and she had been wanting to join them.

"She had gone to spend a year travelling and to work as well. A lot of her friends said they had never seen her so happy."

Her funeral will take place in Colchester this week.