STEINHATCHEE, Florida — Just days after Florida's failed "Dive Flag Awareness Week", another boat hit and killed a diver who deployed a dive flag. Authorities told CDNN that local diver, Charles David Sheppard, 60, of Cross City, Florida, died after being hit by a boat while diving for scallops off the coast of Steinhatchee. A friend who remained onboard Sheppard's 15-ft boat told investigators the victim deployed a diver down flag. Witnesses said a 21-ft pontoon boat carrying 12 passengers hit Sheppard. The boat stopped and the people onboard pulled Sheppard onto the deck of the vessel, started CPR and called 911 as the boat operator sped back to shore. Paramedics who responded to the 911 call took over CPR when the boat reached shore but Sheppard never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead at the scene. In the past five years, at least 25 people have been injured or killed after they were hit by boats while diving in Florida waters. Too little, too late On June 27, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) launched a feel-good campaign called "Dive Flag Awareness Week". FWC officials said they wanted to make both divers and boaters aware of "what a dive flag is and how it should be used". On July 5, as if to make the FWC aware that "Dive Flag Awareness Week" was a failure, a boater hit and injured two divers off Hollywood Beach. On January 11, CDNN reported that a boat hit and injured two divers off Boca Raton. Two days earlier on January 9, CDNN reported that 26-year-old Rob Murphy lost both legs after he was run over by a boat near Sandsprit Park. | 
