Lobster diving fatality - Marquesas Keys, Florida

[DandyDon]

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/florida-keys/article233710487.html

A Treasure Island man died Thursday night after he collapsed on a boat after surfacing from a 40-foot dive near the Marquesas Keys about 20 miles west of Key West, police said.

Raymond Paul Smith, 67, was pronounced dead at the Lower Keys Medical Center at 7:06 p.m.

Smith was with three other men, ages 23, 56 and 63, in a 30-foot, twin outboard center console for lobster season.

The men told Monroe County sheriff’s deputies they left Conch Harbor Marina at the Historic Key West Seaport at about 1:30 p.m. to go snorkeling and diving.

They snorkeled first for lobster in five to eight feet of water and then went to a different spot that was about 40-feet deep where they began diving using compressed air tanks.

Smith dove at that depth for about 15 to 20 minutes and then surfaced.

He said he had chest pains and needed to go back to shore. He then collapsed and lost consciousness.

The other men began CPR as they went back to the marina, where they were met by Key West Fire Department paramedics and Key West police who took Smith to the hospital on Stock Island.