The navigator and the skipper, the crew chief, and any crew member who's using his grey cells should have said: What is this about? AND, then looked into it?

One lesson which seems too obvious to have to explain: If you're sailing in 1000's of feet of water and the depth drops explicably along your path, then become familiar with what's there. If for no other reason that to get an idea what's going on.

The word "shoals" is justification for not knowing what's going on because you assumed what?

Even if you're an airliner, don't you want to know that mountain range is something you could either hit -- or at least have a the likelihood of localized wind conditions? At 40,000 FT, a mountain range can cause issues as you pass over the Rocky Mountains.