A 66-year-old man has died after going missing during a shore dive off Manasota Key Beach on Florida’s Gulf Coast, while searching for fossilised shark teeth.
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office identified the diver as Gail Smith, who had entered the water on Monday morning with a friend about 400 metres from the shoreline to a depth of approximately 6 metres (21 ft).
According to local media reports, Smith and his dive partner, Daniel McAtee, planned an hour-long dive and had agreed a general compass heading and depth for the dive, but did not intend to work as a buddy team or maintain visual contact underwater.
McAtee told officers from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office that he last saw Smith at around 9.30am, shortly after they entered the water.
Unable to locate his partner after he surfaced, McAtee searched the surrounding area before calling emergency services at around 12.15pm to report Smith missing.
Sarasota County lifeguards and sheriff’s deputies launched a search, later joined by the US Coast Guard, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and other local agencies.
Lifeguards located Smith’s floating dive marker flag a significant distance from his last known position, but said it was not attached to anything when it was recovered, suggesting it had been carried away by wind or current.
Witnesses on the beach later reported seeing a body floating in the water at around 3.30pm. The man was pulled ashore by responders and identified as Smith, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officials said Mr Smith’s next of kin have been notified of the tragedy, and an investigation into the incident is ongoing. No official cause of death has yet been released.
Manasota Key and nearby beaches are known for their prehistoric fossil deposits and are popular with scuba divers and beachgoers searching for shark teeth.
