Four teenagers have been found alive after going missing in waters off Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.
Two 18-year-old men and two women aged 18 and 19 were found across the bay on Swan Island off the Bellarine Peninsula on Tuesday morning.
They were taken to Geelong Hospital in stable conditions with no obvious injuries, Ambulance Victoria says.
The group were using two inflatable paddle boards off Rosebud Beach on Monday – about 30km away from where they were found.
They were swept by the tide, wind and current from Rosebud, straight across Port Phillip Bay to the Queenscliff area, Victoria Police Acting Superintendent Terence Rowlands said.
A local on a beach found the group on Tuesday morning as part of their routine walk, he said.
While Supt Rowlands didn’t know what the teenagers’ first reactions were when they were found, he suspected they were very cold and relieved to be on dry land.
“It’s a fair way,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
“You can see the smile on my face – (it’s) absolutely sensational that they’ve been found safe and well.
“Luck has had a lot to do with it.”
The teenagers’ disappearance was an important reminder for people to be wary of the dangers waterways pose, particularly over summer, Supt Rowlands said.
The group’s belongings including phones and IDs were found on the beach by a passerby at about 8pm on Monday, triggering the search.
The hunt for the teenagers was called off about 4am on Tuesday because of deteriorating conditions, before resuming at first light.
A man who said he was the father of one of the boys told Seven’s Sunrise program earlier on Tuesday the teens had just completed their final school exams and came to Rosebud for an end-of-year celebration.
