Officials Still Mum on Diver's Identity

The Coast Guard is still not releasing the name of a 63-year-old Pennsylvania man who about 20 miles off the coast of Manasquan.

The Coast Guard is investigating the incident, with the backdrop of two prior incidents involving the same dive boat, the Gypsy Blood, out of Brielle.

"The Coast Guard is actively investigating the incident and will evaluate all information gathered (including from the older cases) to best determine the cause of the incident," said Petty Officer Cindy Oldham of Coast Guard Public Affairs on Tuesday.

"Any information would be only speculation until the investigation is complete," Oldham said. "The time required to complete the investigation depends on the complexity of each case, right now they are in the information gathering phase."

A crew member of the dive vessel Gypsy Blood contacted the Coast Guard station at 10 a.m. Sunday to report the diver was unresponsive, a Coast Guard release says.

The ship stationed 20 miles off the coast of Manasquan was met by a Coast Guard 47-foot motor life boat crew, including two emergency technicians, who performed CPR on the unnamed diver as he was transported back to the station, the release says.

The man was brought ashore in Point Beach, the site of the Coast Guard station, where he was transferred to local EMTs and pronounced dead, officials said.

This was the third accident — second fatal — involving the Gypsy Blood since 2008, Oldham said. The vessel is owned by Brielle-based Gypsyblood Dives, a full-service dive charter operation, according to the company website.

Calls to the company were not immediately returned.

In July 2010, a 30-year-old woman died after she failed to resurface during a dive 15 miles off the Shark River, according to a Coast Guard release.

The woman, who had been missing for 35 minutes, was medevaced by a Coast Guard helicopter after a Gypsy Blood crew member lacated her under water, the release says.

In July 2008, a 32-year-old woman was rescued off the coast of Barnegat after losing consciousness during a dive, according to a Coast Guard release.

A Gypsy Blood crew member had said at the time that the woman was unconscious when she resurfaced but came-to once brought aboard the vessel, the release says.

Point Beach Police, the Point Pleasant First Aid and Emergency Squad, Monoc paramedics, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, the Ocean County Sheriff's Department and the Ocean County Medical Examiner's office also responded to the scene, Point Beach Police Det. Clint Daniel said.