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THE KEYS
A day of diving safety, tragedy
A diving safety course was staged in the Florida Keys on a day when a teen dies after diving at Elbow Reef.
Posted on Sun, Jul. 27, 2008reprint print email
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BY CAMMY CLARK
cclark@MiamiHerald.com
CAMMY CLARK
Coast Guard petty officer Paul Rabczak shows Trevor Weiss, 7, of Cape Coral some safety features of the triple engine boat.
Gallery | Lobster Rodeo & Dive Safety Expo
MARATHON -- The Florida Keys Lobster Rodeo & Dive Safety Expo had just finished Sunday afternoon when it became all too clear why such an event is needed.
About 40 miles up U.S. 1 at Mariners Hospital, a 16-year-old girl was pronounced dead at about 4:30 after losing consciousness following a dive at Elbow Reef.
###### of Miami was diving with her father on a commercial boat belonging to Atlantis Dive Center out of Garden Cove. She was taking an open-water instructional course in 26 feet of water about five miles off Key Largo.
She returned to the surface, yelling in distress. The crew of the Coral Princess jumped into the water and got ###### to the boat, where she lost consciousness and went into cardiac arrest, according to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.
Because other divers were in the water, ###### was put on a nearby Towboat USA vessel and rushed to shore while CPR was performed. She was transported to the nearby hospital in Tavernier, where she was pronounced dead.
An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.
LOW TURNOUT
Just hours earlier, Bob Guhl, organizer of the safety expo, was disappointed at the low turnout but said if the information saved just one life, it was worth it.
''We thought of this expo concept two years ago after lobster mini-season, when we had multiple deaths [four] in a couple of days,'' said Guhl, a member of the Sheriff's Office dive team. ``We figured we had to do more than investigate the deaths. We had to educate, instead of investigate.''
While diving, snorkeling and boating fatalities occur year-round in the Keys, there is a greater risk during the last week in July, when an estimated 30,000 people descend on the island chain for the two-day, recreational mini-season to catch spiny lobster.
The mini-season runs Wednesday and Thursday. Commercial lobster fishermen are allowed to put their estimated one million traps into Keys waters beginning Friday, with the regular season beginning Aug. 6.
''We want people to have a lot of fun, but we also want them to be safe and follow the rules,'' said Captain Scott Buschman, commander of Coast Guard Sector Key West.
At the inaugural expo last year in Key West, about 200 people attended and several took the diving refresher course, offered for free.
This year, the Sheriff's Office dive team and members of Florida Keys Community College set up a roped course off the waters of Knights Key, with the Seven Mile Bridge in the background.
Only one person took advantage of the free instruction from local experts -- and she was a snorkeler. Monica Bruder of Indiana learned how to catch lobster using a tickle stick and net.
Todd Hitchins, an educator with the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, said Bruder is a perfect example of the type of people the expo is trying to reach: newcomers who want to learn about the marine areas and the rules.
Hitchins explained to Bruder and many of the approximately 100 people who attended the expo about the sanctuary's protected areas where no fishing is allowed.
''A lot of unknowledgeable people about the environment come down here,'' Hitchins said. ``They are ripping up 100-year coral heads to get at the lobster. There is a lot of resource abuse and poaching that goes on during mini-season.''
At a nearby booth, Officer Bobby Dube of the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission was educating people on the mandatory use of dive flags, the six-lobsters-per-person-per-day rule of Monroe County and the correct way to measure a lobster to ensure it's legal size. The carapace -- measure from between the horns to the start of the tail -- must be three inches or greater.
GREATER ENFORCEMENT
Dube said the FWC has stepped up enforcement for this week, with 20 additional officers and three extra lobster-sniffing dogs patrolling the Keys by land and sea.
''The canines are already here trying to catch people who are starting early,'' Dube said.
Expo organizers also were trying to reach boat operators and divers with limited or dated experience.
''In high school, I was very good at math,'' Guhl said. 'Years later, my daughter comes home and says, `Hey dad, can you help me with fractions? ' I couldn't remember, but once I had a refresher, I could do it again.
``It's the same thing with dive skills. It's something you may think you're sure you know until you get out in the water.''
Jan Kittsmiller, a member of the Coast Guard auxiliary of Big Pine Key, emphasized boating safety.
''It only takes a boat and a six-pack to go boating,'' she said, lamenting that unlike car drivers, adult boat operators do not need a license.
Dube, who also mans a lobster mini-season booth at mile marker 106 at the entrance to Key Largo, said he believes the expo is valuable.
''Last year, we had no diving fatalities and nobody got run over by a boat, which was amazing considering all the boats and people out on the water,'' he said. ``We want everybody to be safe and not get into trouble.''
My prayers are with this young womans family
A day of diving safety, tragedy
A diving safety course was staged in the Florida Keys on a day when a teen dies after diving at Elbow Reef.
Posted on Sun, Jul. 27, 2008reprint print email
Yahoo! BuzzFacebook Digg del.icio.us AIM
BY CAMMY CLARK
cclark@MiamiHerald.com
CAMMY CLARK
Coast Guard petty officer Paul Rabczak shows Trevor Weiss, 7, of Cape Coral some safety features of the triple engine boat.
Gallery | Lobster Rodeo & Dive Safety Expo
MARATHON -- The Florida Keys Lobster Rodeo & Dive Safety Expo had just finished Sunday afternoon when it became all too clear why such an event is needed.
About 40 miles up U.S. 1 at Mariners Hospital, a 16-year-old girl was pronounced dead at about 4:30 after losing consciousness following a dive at Elbow Reef.
###### of Miami was diving with her father on a commercial boat belonging to Atlantis Dive Center out of Garden Cove. She was taking an open-water instructional course in 26 feet of water about five miles off Key Largo.
She returned to the surface, yelling in distress. The crew of the Coral Princess jumped into the water and got ###### to the boat, where she lost consciousness and went into cardiac arrest, according to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.
Because other divers were in the water, ###### was put on a nearby Towboat USA vessel and rushed to shore while CPR was performed. She was transported to the nearby hospital in Tavernier, where she was pronounced dead.
An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.
LOW TURNOUT
Just hours earlier, Bob Guhl, organizer of the safety expo, was disappointed at the low turnout but said if the information saved just one life, it was worth it.
''We thought of this expo concept two years ago after lobster mini-season, when we had multiple deaths [four] in a couple of days,'' said Guhl, a member of the Sheriff's Office dive team. ``We figured we had to do more than investigate the deaths. We had to educate, instead of investigate.''
While diving, snorkeling and boating fatalities occur year-round in the Keys, there is a greater risk during the last week in July, when an estimated 30,000 people descend on the island chain for the two-day, recreational mini-season to catch spiny lobster.
The mini-season runs Wednesday and Thursday. Commercial lobster fishermen are allowed to put their estimated one million traps into Keys waters beginning Friday, with the regular season beginning Aug. 6.
''We want people to have a lot of fun, but we also want them to be safe and follow the rules,'' said Captain Scott Buschman, commander of Coast Guard Sector Key West.
At the inaugural expo last year in Key West, about 200 people attended and several took the diving refresher course, offered for free.
This year, the Sheriff's Office dive team and members of Florida Keys Community College set up a roped course off the waters of Knights Key, with the Seven Mile Bridge in the background.
Only one person took advantage of the free instruction from local experts -- and she was a snorkeler. Monica Bruder of Indiana learned how to catch lobster using a tickle stick and net.
Todd Hitchins, an educator with the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, said Bruder is a perfect example of the type of people the expo is trying to reach: newcomers who want to learn about the marine areas and the rules.
Hitchins explained to Bruder and many of the approximately 100 people who attended the expo about the sanctuary's protected areas where no fishing is allowed.
''A lot of unknowledgeable people about the environment come down here,'' Hitchins said. ``They are ripping up 100-year coral heads to get at the lobster. There is a lot of resource abuse and poaching that goes on during mini-season.''
At a nearby booth, Officer Bobby Dube of the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission was educating people on the mandatory use of dive flags, the six-lobsters-per-person-per-day rule of Monroe County and the correct way to measure a lobster to ensure it's legal size. The carapace -- measure from between the horns to the start of the tail -- must be three inches or greater.
GREATER ENFORCEMENT
Dube said the FWC has stepped up enforcement for this week, with 20 additional officers and three extra lobster-sniffing dogs patrolling the Keys by land and sea.
''The canines are already here trying to catch people who are starting early,'' Dube said.
Expo organizers also were trying to reach boat operators and divers with limited or dated experience.
''In high school, I was very good at math,'' Guhl said. 'Years later, my daughter comes home and says, `Hey dad, can you help me with fractions? ' I couldn't remember, but once I had a refresher, I could do it again.
``It's the same thing with dive skills. It's something you may think you're sure you know until you get out in the water.''
Jan Kittsmiller, a member of the Coast Guard auxiliary of Big Pine Key, emphasized boating safety.
''It only takes a boat and a six-pack to go boating,'' she said, lamenting that unlike car drivers, adult boat operators do not need a license.
Dube, who also mans a lobster mini-season booth at mile marker 106 at the entrance to Key Largo, said he believes the expo is valuable.
''Last year, we had no diving fatalities and nobody got run over by a boat, which was amazing considering all the boats and people out on the water,'' he said. ``We want everybody to be safe and not get into trouble.''
My prayers are with this young womans family
