Robert Osborne - The Third Dive: An Investigation Into the Death of Rob Stewart

Rob Stewart was an internationally known environmentalist and filmmaker.Peter Sotis was Stewarts diving partner on the day he died.Dr. Thomas Beaver sounded alarms about how Stewarts recovery was handled.Linda Kruszka was one of the few locals willing to speak candidly about the Stewart accident.David Goodhue was one of the first reporters on the Stewart story.Chris Harvey Clark being InterviewedChris Harvey Clark Emerges from a dive in his research area.Peter Sotis was considered one of the leading rebreather experts in Florida.The author emerging from a dive in Harvey Clarks experiment areaThe rEvo Rebreather that Stewart used.Author rebreather diving with Sotis.Stewart spent time before his trip to Florida investigating shark finning in Capo Verde.Rob Stewart in Capo VerdeIsla Marada Coast Guard Station was the center of the search for Stewart.Dr. Thomas Beaver found no evidence of any physical problems when he autopsied Stewart.The fact that Tom Beaver was an experienced diver helped him during his investigation.Kruszka helped Beaver on the diving portion of his investigation.Tom Beaver lost his job partly as a result of being a whistle blower on the Stewart case.Linda diving at Looe KeyDocumentary Crew filming Chris Harvey Clark in his Lab at Dalhousie University

I cant thank everyone who gave me their time, their expertise and their interest in this book, but I would be remiss if I did not mention the contributions of a few people and organizations without whom this book might not have been possible: Neal Pollock, Steve Lewis and Chris Harvey-Clark for their expertise in helping me to understand the science behind the diving; the U.S. Coast Guard, Monroe County Sheriffs Office, Monroe Country Medical Examiner and Key Largo Volunteer Fire Department for their willingness to provide interviews, documents and video footage that were critical to supporting my research; Captain Hooks at Big Pine Key, for providing diving support during my two trips to the Florida Keys; and finally, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Charlotte Engel and Sandra Kleinfeld; without their support for the documentary, this book would never have happened.

January 31, 2017

By all accounts, it was a beautiful day to be out on the water. The sun was shining, it wasnt too hot, there was virtually no wind and the water was calm. It was a perfect day to scuba dive in the Florida Keys. On board the 30-foot Island Hopper the Pisces, two divers were gearing up to go into the water. One of them was Rob Stewart, famed environmentalist and filmmaker, the other his partner, well-known rebreather expert Peter Sotis. Also on board the boat were Stewarts close friend Brock Cahill and Sotis wife Claudia. Two crew members helped the divers the skipper, Dave Wilkerson, and his mate Bobby Steele. This was the second day theyd been moored above a very deep wreck called the Queen of Nassau. They were there to gather footage for a new documentary that Stewart was filming, a sequel to his critically acclaimed film Sharkwater. But the diving and filming hadnt been going well.

On the previous day the four divers had completed two very deep dives more than 200 feet down looking for signs of a rare shark called the sawtooth. Theyd found nothing. In fact, on the first dive they hadnt even found the wreck. The visibility was that limited. Today the group of divers had just completed two more extremely deep dives. The results had been the same. Something had stirred up the water and the divers could barely see more than a few feet. There might have been sharks in the mud around the