Diver dies in Manatee Springs

[SoFlaDiver954]

Diver Dies at Manatee Springs State Park

The Levy County Sheriff's Office tells WCJB TV20 that a diver has died at Manatee Springs State Park.

Lt. Scott Tummond, with the Levy County Sheriff's Office, tells us that they first got the call about the diver on Sunday, November 25, at 5:00pm.

Dive teams have been working since to recover the body of the diver.

At this time no other information is available, as the family of the diver have not been notified yet.

 

[rjack321]

The current rumor is they were attempting the traverse from catfish to the headspring and the deceased got caught in the restriction at the headspring. The flow there all necks down to a small area and is crazy strong.

 

[d1v3]

Very sad. The exit at headspring is some people's favorite place. It's a waterhose jet, very powerful, and I'm very curious how small the opening has gotten lately, in order to get stuck. Terrible.

 

[helodriver87]

I've never tried to exit the headspring, but I've been told it's sketchy even in good conditions. Flow is up right now and that cave will absolutely have its way with you in certain areas. Unfortunately, it's not hard to imagine how this played out if the rumors are true.

 

[Manatee Diver]

I was kind of hoping that we would make it through 2019 without a cave death.

 

[Marie13]

Screen shot from the local sheriff department’s FB page.

 

[cerich]

One of the recovery divers is active on SB and this will be not easy I suspect. Let's wish the recovery divers the best. Prayers for passed diver, family and friends.

 

[Diver below 83]

Any pictures of the exit?

 

[PfcAJ]

I've got hung up exiting from the headspring before. It can definitely be a challenging exit and I can totally see how someone could end up in a situation in there that's not recoverable.

 

[wgw04024]

After a quick search, are there manatees in the spring? If so, how do they get there? Terrible tragedy.