KEY LARGO, Florida — A tourist from North Carolina is dead after a scuba diving accident at French Reef. The victim, Joanne Page, 51, and her boyfriend, Eugene Jackson, were diving with It's A Dive off the Sea Star dive boat. On their second dive the couple resurfaced about 100 meters from the Sea Star dive boat but the dive boat crew could not see them as they struggled in big waves and strong currents. Jackson told authorities he and Page desperately attempted to swim back to the boat but could not make any headway against the strong current. After about a half an hour, Jackson noticed that Page had fallen behind and appeared to be unconscious with her head face down in the water. Meanwhile It's A Dive crew on the Sea Star were counting divers as they returned to the dive boat. When they finally realized that two divers were missing they called for help and started searching. The Coast Guard and Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) responded to the missing diver emergency and FWC officers found the missing couple. Officials said when FWC officers found the missing divers, Page was struggling at the ocean's surface to revive his girlfriend. | A scuba diving accident killed a tourist from North Carolina who was scuba diving with It's A Dive off the big Sea Star dive boat. Rescuers rushed her to shore but she never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead. Often referred to as a "cattle boat" the Sea Star is one of several large Corinthian catamaran barges owned and operated by several dive shops in the Florida Keys. Dive shops in the Florida Keys fill the boats with as many as 24 - 40 divers and snorkelers per dive trip. | 
