Authorities will not be able to determine how world-renowned nature photographer Wes Skiles died this summer off the Boynton Inlet.
After weeks of investigation and toxicology tests, "there was nothing to indicate natural causes or outside forces," Harold Ruslander, chief investigator for the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner said this morning. "All we're going to be able to say is that it was an accidental drowning."
The 53-year-old North Florida-based freelance photographer, a regular and award-winning contributor to National Geographic magazine, was shooting video of researchers working around a reef about 3 miles east of the Boynton Inlet when he signaled to his colleagues that he was going to head to the surface to get more supplies, sheriff's spokeswoman Teri Barbera said at the time.
Skiles surfaced alone, and a short time later, the other divers found him unconscious on the ocean floor.
They pulled him onto their boat and tried to revive him, but he died later at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach.
Skiles is survived by his wife, Terri, and children Nathan and Tessa.
A spokeswoman for National Geographic declined to comment.
Calls to Skiles' production company, based in High Springs, near Gainesville, were not immediately returned.
Skiles, a Florida native, was known for his work photographing and videotaping in caves and the deep ocean.
A spokeswoman for National Geographic magazine, whose August issue featured a cover photo by Skiles of Bahamas caves, said at the time that the local assignment he'd been shooting before his death focused on the behavior of high-speed fish off Florida's coast.
Skiles had come originally to shoot the researchers for a "National Geographic Television" documentary, but stayed on his own to continue shooting and observing.
According to this story, Skiles left his companions to surface alone. Had he been accompanied by a buddy, he may still have died, but at least they'd know what happened. Heart attack, perhaps?
No comments:
Post a Comment