A scuba diver has died in the waters off Whytecliff Park in West Vancouver, marking the second such fatality at the popular dive site this year.
West Vancouver police said the diver, a man in his 60s, became distressed in the water at approximately 10:45 a.m. on Sunday. Fellow divers, West Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services, and B.C. Emergency Health Services Air Ambulance responded to the scene, but the man could not be revived and was declared deceased at the scene.
“While the circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation, there are no early indications of suspicious circumstances related to his sudden death,” a police spokesperson said in a news release.
The identity of the diver has not been released, and the investigation into the exact circumstances of his death is ongoing.
Sunday’s death comes just over two months after a 50-year-old scuba diver died at the same location on May 24. In that earlier incident, multiple agencies, including the Canadian Coast Guard, responded to reports of a diver in distress but were unable to save the man.
According to figures cited by West Vancouver police, Sunday’s fatality brings the total number of diver deaths at Whytecliff Park to four since 2016.
Whytecliff Park, located near the Horseshoe Bay neighbourhood, is one of British Columbia’s best known shore diving destinations and Canada’s first Marine Protected Area. The District of West Vancouver notes that the site draws both beginner and advanced divers, in part because of a feature known as The Cut, an underwater rock channel that offers deep diving conditions close to shore, allowing divers to reach significant depths without a long surface swim.
The park’s accessibility and variety of depths have long made it a favoured training and certification site for dive shops across the Lower Mainland, as well as a regular stop for recreational divers exploring the marine life of the Strait of Georgia.
Police have not released further details on the diver’s training background, equipment, or the specific dive profile involved in Sunday’s incident. Investigators, including the BC Coroners Service, are expected to examine the circumstances of the death, consistent with standard procedure following diving fatalities in the province.
West Vancouver police extended condolences to the man’s family and friends and encouraged anyone affected by the incident to reach out to Victim Services.
The recurrence of fatalities at the same site within a short span is likely to renew attention on diving safety practices at popular shore access points, though authorities have so far given no indication that site conditions, rather than individual circumstances, played a role in either of this year’s deaths.
Diventures will provide updates as further information becomes available from West Vancouver police and the BC Coroners Service.
Sources: City News & Vancouver Sun
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