A male scuba diver has died during a dive on Lake Huron’s Cedarville wreck, one of the best-known dive-sites in the Great Lakes of North America.
The fatal incident occurred at 10.15 on the morning of 29 May, according to a report by Cheboygan County Sheriff’s Office, which is conducting an investigation.
The unnamed 62-year-old, described as an experienced recreational diver from Sylvania, Ohio, underwent an emergency during a scheduled dive from a charter-boat.
Several other experienced divers who had been with him “immediately initiated life-saving efforts and assisted emergency responders on returning to the surface”, stated the sheriff’s office. Despite their efforts, the man was pronounced dead.
Neither dive-gear malfunction nor “charter-service operations” were believed to be factors in the incident, according to the investigators.
At 184m long, the Cedarville is ranked among the largest and most impressive Great Lakes wrecks, alongside vessels such as the Edmund Fitzgerald and Carl D Bradley.
Built in 1927 to carry limestone, the ship sank in 1965 after colliding with another vessel in dense fog near the Straits of Mackinac, with the deaths of 10 crew.
The wreck lies on its starboard side at depths between 12 and 34m and is well-known for its size and intact condition, but can be challenging to penetrate because of its extent, orientation, cold waters and sometimes poor visibility. It is not known whether the diver had been exploring the exterior or was inside the wreck when the incident occurred.
The Cedarville lies within the Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve in Michigan – the straits connect Lakes Huron and Michigan.
Death in Channel Islands
The previous day (28 May) a 73-year-old male scuba diver died near Inspiration Point on Anacapa Island, part of California’s Channel Islands National Park.
Ventura County Sheriff’s Office was called at around 9.45am by a diving company to report that a customer had suffered a medical emergency. A dive professional had recovered the man to the dive-boat but despite attempts to revive him he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Ventura County Fire Department and the US Coast Guard attended the incident.
