Emergency crews searched the water along Ontario Street in Kingston after receiving a call about a scuba diver in distress around 3 p.m. on April 13, 2025. (Dan Taekema/CBC)
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Provincial police say the body of a scuba diver who was in distress and went missing in Kingston, Ont., Sunday afternoon has now been recovered.
Steve Flaherty was on shore yesterday, watching over a pair of scuba divers he'd known for years, when suddenly one of them came out of the water shouting for someone to call 911.
The second diver also surfaced briefly, then sunk back down into the water.
"He disappeared underwater and then ... there were no bubbles anymore, either," Flaherty said.
Flaherty, an experienced diver himself, said the man who drowned was passionate about diving and had been doing it for more than 25 years, visiting every wreck he could find and even travelling as far as the Red Sea to do it.
"He was a full instructor," Flaherty said, adding the man knew all of the different kinds of diving rescue. "He knew what he was doing and he knew how to do it."
Police have not released the identity of the man who died. The Ontario coroner's office is investigating what caused the incident.
Emergency responders continued the search Monday morning, after searching the water for hours Sunday. (Dan Taekema/CBC)
Flaherty said Sunday was a warm, calm day and both divers were comfortable in the water near where the St. Lawrence River meets Lake Ontario, despite a water temperature of only around 4 C.
When the first diver came to the surface, Flaherty said he knew right away there was a problem.
"His dive buddy actually called for 911 and a water rescue," he explained. "They came quick. There was no time at all before the fire department showed up."
Crews searched for hours
Emergency crews were called to the water along Ontario Street around 3 p.m. Sunday, following reports of a diver in distress, according to Frontenac OPP Const. Rob Martell.
Firefighters managed to find one person about 15 metres from shore and haul them into a boat. Martell said that person was treated on scene then transported to hospital with minor injuries.
A second diver wasn't able to recover and went missing, according to police.
Martell confirmed both people in the water yesterday were "experienced scuba divers" who were checking out a popular dive site — wreck of a barge near shore.
The OPP's underwater search and recovery team was still at the scene of the drowning in Kingston on April 14, 2025. (Dan Taekema/CBC)
The coast guard, fire department, Kingston police and OPP were all on scene and could be seen scanning the water from boats, but the search was called off around 11 p.m.
The OPP's underwater search and recovery unit was back at the site this morning to continue the search, but shared an update saying the body had been recovered just after 10:30 a.m.
Martell said next of kin have been notified and factors from a medical episode to malfunctioning equipment will be considered as part of the investigation.
Flaherty said he's spoken with the family of the man who died, describing what happened as "terrible" and offering his condolences.
"It was just a tragedy," he said, adding the place where the drowning happened has ropes divers can follow to wrecks and other interesting sites underwater.
"It's a dive they've done many, many times over the years."
