BENEATH THE OCEAN’S surface waits a different world—quiet, full of wonder, shimmering with life. Carter Viss loved that world. It’s why he left Colorado to study marine biology at Palm Beach Atlantic University. It’s why he got a job at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center, just up Highway 1 on Florida’s east coast. And it’s why he spent so much free time snorkeling in the reef system just a few hundred yards from the famous Breakers resort in Palm Beach.
This particular Thursday morning— November 28, 2019—was especially nice. It was Thanksgiving. Tourists and locals hit the beaches. The water was flat, the sky blue, and the underwater visibility spectacular. Carter, 25, and his coworker Andy Earl, 32, spent a couple of hours among the sharks, eels, turtles, octopuses, lionfish, and angelfish. They netted some small specimens for Carter’s personal collection. Finally, around noon, they began their journey back to shore.
To a diver underwater, outboard engines have a clear, unmistakable sound. Swimming on the surface, however, Carter didn’t hear the speedboat. It was just 50 feet away— and heading straight for him.
The Talley Girl was a white 36-footer with an aqua-colored hull. But the boat’s most striking feature was a trio of massive 400-horsepower Mercury outboard engines with five-blade propellers. All that power had it gliding over the water at 50 mph— much too fast with swimmers nearby.
Christine Raininger was sitting atop her paddleboard waving her hands, yelling, “Hey, slow down!” But the people on the boat—retired Goldman Sachs executive Daniel Stanton Sr.; his 30-year-old son, Daniel Jr.; his son-in-law; and two grandchildren—never heard her warnings over the roar of those engines.
Denne historien er fra October 2021-utgaven av Reader's Digest US.
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Denne historien er fra October 2021-utgaven av Reader's Digest US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Election Day Memories - Stories about voting by the people, for the people
A Convincing Argument When my boyfriend and I were finally old enough to vote in our first presidential election, we spent months debating with one another about our chosen candidates. We were quite persuasive, as we discovered when we got home from the polls and learned that we'd both voted for the other's initial choice.―SHERRY FOX Appleton, WI
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