Diver found unresponsive near Florida Keys shipwreck, Coast Guard says

The Coast Guard rushed a man to the hospital who was found unresponsive in the ocean Wednesday morning near a shipwreck that is popular with scuba divers.

The Coast Guard said the diver, in his mid-40s, was found in the area of the Eagle shipwreck, a 287-foot cargo vessel that was intentionally sunk in 1985 to serve as an artificial reef.

The man was struggling to breath when crews from Station Islamorada reached him around 9:20 a.m., said Eric Rodriguez, a Coast Guard spokesman.

A Coast Guard boat crew took him to shore, where paramedics with Islamorada Fire Rescue took him to Baptist Health Mariners Hospital in Tavernier.

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said on Thursday that the man, who has not been named, is expected to recover and be released from the hospital.

The Eagle wreck sits in about 110 feet of water, about six miles off the coast of Lower Matecumbe Key in the Upper Keys.

The Florida Keys Dive Center, a dive shop in Islamorada, says on its website that only advanced divers should explore the wreck.