I'd probably say they probably were spotted... but only by other tourists who along with the victims wouldn't have had any idea of the gravity of the situation. Same old story of another massive error of judgment

You know, I try to be compassionate when things like this happens, but sometimes it simply pisses me off.

I never cease to be amazed by the lack of respect that some people pay to the ocean.
Things like this and the countless times I've seen people who cannot even swim at all, go in the ocean and get sucked out in a rip...it's astounding.

When did common sense become...well....uncommon?

I don't want to seam heartless but it's just so frustrating. Last month I was at Kuta Beach in Bali and had to perform a number of half assed rescues with my long board because people who could not even doggy paddle, where going out in extremely rough waters. Isn't there some kind of inbuilt program in our brain that allows us to asses the risk and make appropriate decisions?

Guess you only have to watch Bondi Rescue on Fox to see what I mean