Crew members said Gockerell signaled to his crew that his surface-supplied air umbilical cord was “unable to clear.” The crew interpreted that as his cord was entangled in debris, Keegan said.
Gockerell’s crewmates and officers with the state Department of Natural Resources, who were supervising the geoduck harvesting, pulled Gockerell free after a struggle and brought him aboard the commercial fishing boat, Keegan said.
CPR was performed as the boat took Gockerell from the Dungeness West geoduck tract, which is about 6.5 miles (10 kilometers) east of the Coast Guard Station on Ediz Hook, to the Port Angeles Marina. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
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