Free diver drowns attempting anchor retrieval - Key Largo Florida

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DandyDon

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North Miami Beach man dies after diving for anchor off Key Largo | News - Home
KEY LARGO, Fla. - A man has died after he jumped into the water off Key Largo after a boat anchor, Monroe County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Becky Herrin said.
Damian Deandre Smith, 41, of North Miami Beach, was found dead on the ocean floor near the anchor, Herrin said.
According to deputies, Smith was on board a boat with a group of people late Saturday afternoon when someone threw the anchor into the water near Molasses Reef in about 50 feet of water.

Herrin said the anchor was not secured to the boat and both the anchor and line went overboard.

Witnesses said Smith put on a mask, snorkel, fins and a heavy weight belt to retrieve the anchor.
People on the boat told Detective Vince Weiner that they saw Smith surface once and then go back underwater. They said he never resurfaced again.
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission authorities and the U.S. Coast Guard assisted in the search for Smith. Divers from Key Largo Fire Rescue, who were on board a private boat in the area, found Smith's body on the bottom of the ocean floor near the anchor.
 
oh boy.....sad news.....enough said!
 
Very sad...and completely avoidable.
 
Retrieve an anchor? Was everyone sober when this happened?
 
Retrieve an anchor? Was everyone sober when this happened?

Was anyone sober? Starting with the person that tossed the anchor without checking whether it was tied off to the boat.


Bob
 
That's not excessive depth at all for a freediver... but who would plan on swimming UP with an anchor? Maybe he dived with a rope and some horrible mistake happened? Do we have more information?
 
Other than the title - not sure the person diving was a "freediver"... More like someone that wanted his anchor back and did not think about the consequences - my guess is he has done this before and got away with it.
 
Other than the title - not sure the person diving was a "freediver"... More like someone that wanted his anchor back and did not think about the consequences - my guess is he has done this before and got away with it.

I always have the same feeling when I see a headline that says "Cyclist killed..." etc. Sitting on a bike doesn't make you " a cyclist" any more than lack of a scuba tank make you "a freediver."
 

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