A body was found in Catalina Island’s Emerald Bay where a diver was reported missing Monday night, a U.S. Coast Guard petty officer confirmed today.
According to published reports, the body was found in about 100 feet of water, marking at least the third scuba diving death in Southern California since lobster season opened Sept. 27.
A Los Angeles County coroner’s spokesman said the body of the man recovered in Emerald Bay was that of a man in his 40s. His name, however, was withheld pending positive identification.
Bodies also were recovered off Anacapa Island and in Long Beach’s Los Alamitos Bay Wednesday.
Off Catalina, the diver, part of a group on the dive boat Sand Dollar, surfaced Monday night, yelled helped, then went under, the captain of the boat told authorities.
“Diving is a sport that leaves little room for error and we urge everyone who is in the water to make safety a top priority,” Coast Guard Capt. Jennifer Williams said Wednesday.
Emerald Bay, one of the region’s top snorkeling and scuba diving spots, is on the west end of the island, about 2 miles northwest of Isthmus Cove at Two Harbors.
