US citizen dies during Bahamas dive expedition
NASSAU, Bahamas (CMC) – A 21-year-old US citizen reportedly drowned during a dive expedition off the coast of Grand Bahama earlier this week.
The police report that the man, whose identity was not released up to late Wednesday, was a crew member on the Dolphin Dream, an 85 foot research yacht out of Lake Park, Florida.
According to the police, the man was found unresponsive in the water late Monday.
Dolphin Dream operates “unique Bahamas adventure cruises”, which includes wild dolphin encounters, shark diving, scuba-diving and custom trips to The Bahamas.
This is the second incident of this nature in recent months.
In July, US commercial dive operator Jim Abernethy Scuba Adventures lost a diver off West End during a shark diving expedition.
In that incident, Dr John Petty, 63, of Texas, was diving with several others when he disappeared.
A three-day search was called off for Petty, who is believed to have been the victim of a fatal shark attack after his camera and shredded dive gear were discovered at the bottom of the ocean.
As a result of the most recent incident, the Bahamas Dive Association (BDA) has raised concerns about dive operations conducted by US dive companies here.
BDA president Neil Watson, said the association has no control over the activities of US dive operators and the association is in discussions with government to establish guidelines and procedures to ensure proper safe diving procedures are followed by foreign-based operators.