A male scuba diver in his 60s has died at Whytecliff Park in West Vancouver, British Columbia, the second fatality at the well-known site in little more than two months.
Whytecliff Park, close to Horseshoe Bay on the eastern side of Howe Sound, is one of the Vancouver area’s most popular shore-diving locations.
West Vancouver Police Department (WVPD) officers responded to a report of a diver in distress at about 10.45am yesterday (26 July).
Other divers, West Vancouver Fire & Rescue Services personnel and paramedics from the BC Emergency Health Services Air Ambulance attempted to resuscitate the man, but he was pronounced dead at the park.
Police said that there were no initial indications of suspicious circumstances. The man has not been identified, and the cause of his death has yet to be established. The BC Coroners Service is investigating.
Whytecliff Park (Luke Lawreszuk)
Whytecliff Park is a coldwater site offering everything from a sheltered training cove to walls that descend beyond the 40m mark. Divers enter from the park beach after carrying their equipment down a steep paved path, while a more advanced area known as the Cut can also be reached by a steeper trail.
The central bay is generally protected, but the outer walls and Cut can experience strong currents during tidal exchanges. Visibility varies widely and is usually better in autumn and winter than in summer.
Fourth incident
The incident at the weekend occurred two months after a 50-year-old scuba diver died at the same site, as reported on Divernet. It is the fourth publicly reported fatal diving incident at Whytecliff Park in the past 10 years.
On the afternoon of 24 May this year, police received a report of a diver in distress. West Vancouver Fire & Rescue Services, BC Emergency Health Services and the Canadian Coast Guard attended, but the man was declared dead at the scene.
The police described the death as non-suspicious, but released no information about what had happened under water or whether other divers had been accompanying the man.
Park sign (Luke Lawreszuk)
On 30 December, 2020, a 64-year-old Vancouver man with more than 30 years’ diving experience was brought out of the water unconscious at the site at around noon. Bystanders and paramedics were trying to revive him when police arrived, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
And on 9 October, 2016, Michelle Norman, a 44-year-old woman from Surrey near Vancouver, was taking part in a deep-water speciality scuba course in the Cut. According to the BC Coroners Service she became distressed during the dive and regained the surface but could not be resuscitated.
No cause has yet been announced for either of this year’s incidents, and neither of the earlier deaths appears to have been the subject of a public inquest, while the conclusions of the coroners’ investigations, including the causes of death, do not appear to have been published.