Beta Operating Company LLC’s offshore oil and gas platform Ellen, right, and processing platform Elly stand in the Beta Field off the coast of Long Beach, California, U.S., on Tuesday, May 18, 2010. Senators from California, Oregon and Washington introduced legislation last week to ban offshore oil drilling off the West Coast amid mounting concern about the BP Deepwater Horizon rig spill spreading in the Gulf of Mexico. Photographer: Tim Rue/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Authorities Tuesday publicly identified a 64-year-old commercial diver who was found dead off the coast of Huntington Beach.
Theodore Watler of Long Beach was reported missing about 10:30 a.m. Sunday after he became separated from his group, who had hired a commercial vessel to take them to platform Elly, according to the Long Beach Fire Department
The U.S. Coast Guard assisted local agencies including the LBFD, which responded to the area where Watler went missing.
"Utilizing Fire Boat 15's sonar, the male diver's body was located and recovered," the LBFD tweeted. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the missing diver."
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The Orange County Register reported Watler's body was found at a depth of about 250 feet near platform Elly about 3 p.m. Sunday.
It was not immediately known how Watler became separated from his group, nor exactly what caused his death.
