A Louisiana man died while diving in the Dry Tortugas Saturday.

67 year old Paul Wimberly of Natchitoches, Louisiana was in the Dry Tortugas snorkeling from the commercial vessel Playmate, operated by Sea-Clusive Charters.  Wimberly’s dive partner said it appeared Wimberly panicked while underwater. She said he grabbed her and pulled her to the bottom with him. She was able to shed her dive equipment and do an emergency ascension to the surface.

Once on the surface, she yelled for help. She was taken on board the boat and a rescue diver from the vessel then retrieved Wimberly from the water as well. There was a physician and a physician’s assistant on board the vessel. They performed CPR on Wimberly, but were unable to revive him.

The vessel returned to the Key West Harbor Yacht Club at 10:30 p.m. Monroe County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Detective Dawn Agusto was assigned to investigate the case. An autopsy will be done to determine the cause of his death.