Filmmaker Disappears While Diving Off Florida Keys

Rob Stewart may have passed out while diving near a shipwreck
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 1, 2017 4:04 PM CST
Underwater Filmmaker Missing Off Florida Keys
Canadian underwater filmmaker Rob Stewart is missing in the Florida Keys.   (GoFundMe)

A well-known underwater filmmaker from Canada is missing in the Florida Keys. CBC reports 37-year-old Rob Stewart was filming at the site of a shipwreck for a sequel to his 2006 documentary Sharkwater on Tuesday evening. Stewart and his diving partner were using closed-circulation rebreathing devices, which are good for filming wildlife because they don't create bubbles but are more dangerous than traditional scuba tanks, the Miami Herald reports. The two surfaced after their third dive of their day, but Stewart's diving partner passed out as he was getting into their boat, and the boat's crew lost sight of Stewart.

The crew thinks Stewart likely also passed out and floated away. The Coast Guard and multiple other agencies are currently searching for the filmmaker. "If we're going to find him on the surface ... it's going to be today," Stewart's sister told CBC on Wednesday. She says people have been known to survive for up to three days while in the water off the Florida Keys. "We have hope," she tells the Toronto Star. Meanwhile, Stewart's family is asking anyone with the ability to join the search, which friends are funding with a GoFundMe page. (More Florida Keys stories.)

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