KEY LARGO, Florida (17 Mar 2007) -- The bodies of two dead scuba divers from New Jersey have been recovered by the Key Largo Fire and Rescue dive team from the Spiegel Grove scuba diving theme park. The team included 14 expert divers who recovered the bodies of the victims from the pump room of the ship on two separate dives spaced three hours apart. Jonathan Walsweer, a 38-year-old Wall Street stockbroker, and Scott Stanley, a 55-year-old carpet store owner, died after they apparently became disoriented and could not find their way back out of the 155-meter (510-ft) wreck. A body of a third diver, Kevin Coughlin, a 51-year-old real estate entrepreneur , also from New Jersey and diving with the group, was recovered on Friday. A fourth diver, Howard Spialter, a 52-year-old lawyer and former municipal judge, was also diving with the group but did not penetrate the wreck and safely resurfaced. Although it is still not clear how the divers died, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office criticized the divers for not having a dive plan, not having enough 'stage tanks' placed in appropriate areas and not utilizing dive reels and safety lines, which help wreck divers to find their way back out of sunken vessels. "It doesn't take very much movement to kick that silt up and cause problems with your ability to see," said Detective Mark Coleman. "Without a line to follow out, and with lots of silt in the water, it would have been virtually impossible for them to find their way out of the wreck." According to unconfirmed reports, the victims, who were diving from the Scuba-Do dive boat, were exploring a section of the wreck at a depth of about 135-ft that is supposed to be off-limits to divers. So far this year, eight divers have died scuba diving in Florida. | | On March 17th, divers from Key Largo Fire/Rescue and the Monroe County Sheriff's Office recovered two bodies still trapped in the wreck. This photo is of one of the bodies being brought to shore by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. It is being transferred from the FWC vessel to a vehicle belonging to the Medical Examiner's Office, for transport to Key West for an autopsy.. Since the Spiegel Grove was sunk in 2002, six divers have died exploring the wreck including Eunice Lasala, who died in 2003 and was also diving with the Scuba-Do dive boat. © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORKSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba ForumCDNN Related NewsFLORIDA - Three divers dead in Spiegel Grove wreck diving accidentFLORIDA - Scuba diver dies after ascending from Spiegel GroveFLORIDA - Leading kidney specialist dies in Spiegel Grove scuba accident |
