Five lobster divers were rescued off the coast of Martin County on Thursday after they were separated from their fishing boat, according to Martin County Sheriff Deputy Mike Johnson.
Johnson said the divers became separated from their fishing boat after a broken anchor shackle. While they were under water, their boat drifted almost a mile away.
Luckily, a passing helicopter spotted the divers, who neglected to use a diving flag, and called authorities.
Johnson and several crews headed to the site and waited for the divers to submerge.
“We found them and waited for them to surface,” Johnson said. “We just wanted to make sure they were safe, that was the number one priority. We didn’t want them to get hit.”
Johnson said the sheriff’s office would not cite the divers for their lack of a safety flag because of the detached shackle.
Meanwhile, a scuba diver near the Boynton Beach Inlet was taken to the hospital, according to Palm Beach County Fire Rescue.
Crews were called out to the inlet just before 11 a.m. to reports of an unidentified male suffering from a possible scuba related injury.
The scuba diver’s injuries were not specified. It is unclear if that diver was hunting for lobsters.
For those who didn’t run into any diving issues, the second day of the mini-season brought similar frustrations that divers encountered Wednesday.
“We’ve had no luck,” said Kasey Englert, who searched most of the day near Phil Foster Park with compatriot Anthony Ramirez. “But I heard that everyone was doing bad, and that makes it better.”
Ramirez was less satisfied.
“There were lots of good holes, but they were empty,” he said. “But we didn’t find anything, not even any little ones.”
Ramirez and local scuba businessman Mike Smith speculated fewer lobsters was a result of illegal fishing.
“I’ve seen lots of (lobster) heads at the bottom, so it’s clear there’s been lots of poaching, tailing and out of season killing,” Smith said.
Smith, who has been diving throughout the week, thought weather may have been a factor.
“I went diving in Stuart and Jupiter last week, and there was an up-welling further north. It’s kept the water colder by at least 10 degrees, which delays the lobsters,” he said.
Despite the disappoint in nearby waters, Smith said one boat that found success went far off shore and dove over 90 feet.
Ramirez heard a similar tale from a local sheriff, who said “people were out much farther and deeper and having some luck.”
Whatever the reason, Ramirez and Englert return home empty handed.
“It was a waste of time,” Englert said. “All for nothing.”
