Scuba diver dies in accident on Lake Superior shipwreck

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A man died while scuba diving in Lake Superior Thursday, authorities say.

It happened around 1 p.m. in Isle Royale National Park, located on a Michigan island off of the Upper Peninsula, the National Park Service said in a release.

The diver has been identified as 70-year-old John Nousaine, of Superior, Wisconsin, the National Park Service said. His family has been notified.

Nousaine had been diving the shipwreck of the Emperor, a 525-foot steel bulk freighter that sank in 1947. According to the National Park Service, he was diving the shipwreck’s stern, an area that has a depth ranging from 100 to 150 feet, when an accident occurred.

Other recreational divers quickly reported the accident. An investigation is ongoing.

Divers Alert Network , a dive safety organization, reports an average of 82 scuba diving deaths each year that either occurred in the United States and Canada or involved a citizen of those two countries. In Michigan, there were 17 scuba deaths between 2008 and 2018, according to DAN.

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