Two articles about the same incident. One from News 10 and the other from the Press of Atlantic City:
News 10:
http://www.nbc10.com/news/16599480/detail.html?taf=phi
The victim was diving from a boat about 38 miles southeast of Cape May when something went wrong.
Authorities said they believe this was the first time the victim had gone diving.
The distress call came from the "Bubble Trouble" around 10:15 a.m. Friday indicating 35-year-old Nicholas Papageorge, of North Wales, Pa., floated to the surface and was not breathing.
"This was his first dive and he wasn't diving that long for this day. He surfaced after a short period of his dive and he was unconscious," U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Christopher McLaughlin said.
At the time, Papageorge and others on board the boat had been diving in the ocean about 40 miles off the coast of Cape May. Another boat in the area brought Papageorge to Coast Guard rescuers who responded by water and air.
"They were conducting CPR, we lowered our rescue swimmer on board the boat, he conducted CPR as well, hoisted into the helicopter," McLaughlin said.
Efforts to revive Papageorge were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at a Cape May County hospital.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the gentleman," McLaughlin said.
"There are a lot of wrecks out there they could dive on, sometimes people go down and fish for scallops themselves by diving down and collecting scallops that way," U.S. Coast Guard Ben Heinze said.
The Coast Guard launched an investigation into the tragedy to try to figure out what went wrong.
"It is hard because we have a lot of cases where the outcome is we save people and there's also the times where the situation doesn't work out as everyone would want to," McLaughlin said.
The "Bubble Trouble's" homeport is in Cape May. The Coast Guard said where they were Friday, seas were calm and winds light
Atlantic City Press:
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/185/story/182343.html
4 p.m. Update - A 34-year old scuba diver has died after coming up to the surface unconscious following a dive, according to Coast Guard Petty Officer Chris McLaughlin.
The diving boat Bubble Trouble, out of Cape May, was 38 miles southeast of the city when a crew member radioed for help at 10:17 a.m., the Coast Guard said.
The diver had been hoisted on board the pleasure craft Baroness after he surfaced, McLaughlin said, and a helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City soon arrived on the scene.
The man, whose identity was not released, was choppered to Cape May County Airport in Lower Township and taken to Cape May Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead hours later.
According to coordinates given by the Coast Guard, the Bubble Trouble was near the location of the wreck of the USS S-5, a U.S. Navy submarine that sank in 1920.