December 12, 2010 | 6:01 pm

A Palmdale man died Sunday afternoon after failing to surface from a recreational dive off the coast of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, U.S. Coast Guard officials said.

The victim was diving in the Flat Rock area 100 yards off the coast from a private boat with two friends when he failed to surface, said Capt. Abby Balderas with the L.A. County Lifeguards in Redondo. Redondo Beach Harbor Patrol and L.A. Country Lifeguards launched a search and found the unresponsive diver about noon.

A Coast Guard helicopter took the diver and a Los Angeles County paramedic to a hyperbaric chamber at Two Harbors, Catalina Island, where the diver was declared dead sometime after 1 p.m., said U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Ana Thorsson.

The L.A. County coroner’s office identified the victim as 58-year old Steven Dinsdale of Palmdale.

“The conditions were perfect for diving and lots of people were out there,” said Balderas. “It was just an unfortunate dive accident.”

–Jason Felch

The original article from The Los Angeles Times can be found here.

From the Daily Breeze:

Diver Rescued Off PVE Dies

From news services
Posted: 12/13/2010 07:01:49 AM PST
Updated: 12/13/2010 07:26:46 PM PST

A diver who stopped breathing in the ocean off Palos Verdes Estates died after being flown to Catalina Island for emergency treatment.

Steven Dinsdale, 58, of Palmdale failed to surface from a dive Sunday near Flat Rock, on the northwestern side of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The Redondo Beach Harbor Patrol began searching for him, and the Coast Guard sent a boat crew.

Dinsdale was found unconscious in the water and rushed to nearby Redondo Beach King Harbor. There, he was loaded into a Coast Guard helicopter for the 30-mile flight to Two Harbors, where he died while undergoing emergency treatment.

The original article from The Daily Breeze can be found here.

Thank you, Max Bottomtime for pointing this out.

By Kristin S. Agostoni, Daily Breeze Staff Writer
Posted: 11/05/2010 01:09:42 PM PDT
Updated: 11/05/2010 08:36:49 PM PDT

A diver pulled from the waters off Redondo Beach was pronounced dead Friday afternoon following a rescue operation by county lifeguards, a fire official said.

The man was one of three people who had been reported missing by a fellow diver after the group dove south of the Redondo Beach pier, said county fire Inspector Frederic Stowers.

As a six-person rescue team responded to the incident just before 1 p.m., two individuals surfaced in the water, Stowers said. The third diver had to be rescued from the sea and was initially reported to be in critical condition.

“They brought the body up from about 15 to 18 feet below,” Stowers said.

The man – whom he could not identify – was transported to a local hospital and later pronounced dead, Stowers said.

Another diver suffered minor injuries due to exhaustion but did not go to the hospital, Stowers said.

The group had been diving not far from the Ruby Street lifeguard tower when rescue workers got a call at 12:52 p.m., he said.

“Apparently a diver who surfaced reported the missing divers. They may have lost their orientation as to where they were in the water,” Stowers said.

Stowers described the response as “pretty rapid,” given that “by 1:15 p.m., everybody had been accounted for.”

Joggers and beachgoers in the area stood watching Friday as lifeguards searched the waters with Redondo Beach’s Harbor Patrol.

The original, full article can be found here.