Unfortunately, myself and KLJ witnessed this awful event from the beach this afternoon. We are both pretty shook up. We werent on the boat so cant confirm the identities of those involved. Below ill give what i know from what we witnessed. Our hearts and wishes go out the the families involved.
San Carlos Beach/ Breakwater (BW) was really busy this morning with what appeared to be several large groups of students in classes. Myself and KLJ had just come out from a fairly typical dive- conditions were ok- vis was down to about 7-10 feet along the wall, entry and waves were easy- maybe 1 1/2 - 2 foot waves, although there was the occasional larger 3 foot. Maybe 1-2 foot of surge at the wall which disappeared at around 15 foot of depth. water temp was 54-56oF.
While talking over the first dive, we noticed a dive boat going right to left, pretty slowly, right off the BW. They looked to be out only as far as the end of the breakwater, going towards metridium fields- so pretty close in. We tracked them go left as far as maybe hidden beach- assuming they were making plans to go to Hopkins Deep or that area. At this point there where a lot of divers in the water. Pretty soon after, we noticed several other boats converge in the area- 6 or 7 boats where clearly visible off to the far left from BW and appeared to be searching for someone. Pretty soon, the Coast Guard boat also joined, at one point coming really close in to the kelp beds off the middle of BW and doing a search pattern. It searched that area for 10-15 minutes before rejoining the other boats. At this time, a pair of Coast Guards came on foot and informed the various groups that there was a search situation but that they had very little info about the diver or divers involved (ie black wetsuits, yellow masks and fins). Fire crew on an extended ladder where elevated above the parking lot doing visual scans, as were a number of police department and Coast Guard officers as well as several bystanders on the BW. The coast guard plane joined the search running a large circle around the area and was joined 20 or so minutes later by the helicopter, which performed a low level sweep across BW (west to east) and out towards the outer Aquarium area. Unfortunately, at this time, the Coast Guard boat peeled away from the group and made a high speed run to the boat ramp next to the Deli, just as EMT and Fire crews arrived at the BW. Coast Guard were visibly working on both divers on the boat and up the ramp to the waiting EMT bus.
I cannot confirm the ages or the identities of those involved, but i hope that these extra details about the extensive search (the search was going on for 2- 2 1/2 hours) will help clarify the situation.
We are both so sorry for the families involved and our heartfelt wishes go their way.
