Toronto director found dead off Florida coast

Miami: The body of Canadian documentary filmmaker and conservationist Rob Stewart was found off the Florida coast on Friday, days after he disappeared during a dive while making a film about sharks.

Stewart, 37, went missing on Tuesday afternoon during a dive with three of his crew members at the Alligator Reef, some four nautical miles off the island of Islamorada.

“The body was reportedly recovered late in the afternoon,” said Marilyn Fajardo, a spokeswoman for the Coast Guard’s Seventh Distrct. She added, “It was found 300 feet from his last known position and at approximately 220 feet in depth.”

The Key Largo Fire Department volunteer dive team discovered the body and identified it as Stewart’s. The US Coast Guard announced that it had suspended the search for Stewart.

Officials did not comment as to the reason for Stewart’s death. After surfacing from his dive, he went underwater again before the crew’s boat was able to pick him up. The other three divers emerged safely.

A biologist and underwater photographer, Stewart was filming a sequel to his famous 2006 documentary Sharkwater, which talks about shark hunting and its impact on the marine ecosystem. Sharkwater was premiered at the national Film Festival and has won over 40 awards at film festivals around the world. The film also won the Directors Guild of Canada award.

Stewart’s second film, Revolution, was the highest-grossing Canadian documentary in 2013 and won 19 awards from global film festivals.

Born and raised in Toronto, Stewart studied biology at the Western University in London.

“So happy to be shooting #sharkwater2 with the best cameras and equipment in the world,” he wrote in his latest Instagram post three days ago. “For the first time I can show you sharks through my eyes,” it read.

Stewart’s team is fundraising and looking for volunteers via his Twitter account to continue the search.   

His sister Alexandra said, “We are grateful to everyone who helped the search, and happy that Rob passed while doing what he loved. We are working on how best to honour his incredible work.”

Tributes have started pouring in for Stewart. Toronto mayor John Tory, among others, have expressed condolences.