In the waters near Catalina Island in California, the Coast Guard is searching for a diver that disappeared from a commercial vessel earlier this week. The accident occurred when during an operation the diver suddenly sank after calling out for help. Numerous people were said to have seen him before he passed out of sight in the water, including the captain of the boat the diver originated from.
Precious few details have been released about this case. NBC has reported on the multiple agencies currently looking for the missing diver, whose name has not been made known: These include the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department and Baywatch Isthmus in the Emerald Bay area.
The search ended Wednesday evening without any conclusive evidence of what happened. The accident shows how police divers and other support helicopters and rafts needed to respond are sometimes activated for cases normally outside of their jurisdiction, especially when a case is ongoing with no clear end in sight.
Captain of the Coast Guard Jennifer Williams told local CBS affiliate about the unusual cases in which their services are called in.
"The Coast Guard doesn't regulate recreational diving but is generally called in to assist during diving emergencies," she said. "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."
Because responding to emergency cases needs to happen quickly, police and support divers do better when they have diving insurance that protects them when they are working outside of their typical bounds.