Mini season death

[Dayo Scuba]

After the deaths that occured during mini season over the last few years, I am beginning to think it is the lobsters way to cull divers. A lobster is not a reason to put safety aside.

 

[Captain Larry]

Let me interject something positive into this thread. We have a lobster license for our boat that allows us to legally do lobster dives. During the 2 day mini season we had over 48 divers do 2 lobster dives each for 96 dives. We brought back over 120 lobsters. Total Diver Deaths = 0, Total Diver Injuries= 0, Total Rescues= 0. We brief each diver thoroughly, we don't tolerate divers coming back with empty tanks, we check each lobster for legal size and no egg-bearing females, and we encourage each diver to be safe and responsible. Tough Love, and it works.
Divers are a typical cross section of society. Divers hunt for lobster for many reasons, sport, challenge, excitement, peer pressure, whatever. Nobody has a right to criticize divers or judge why or who lobster hunts.
So lobster dive, reef dive, deep dive, tri-mix dive, rebreather dive, just dive. Enjoy it and don't accept negative criticism from anybody, diver or non-diver.
We have an open lobster boat ever Sunday morning starting Aug 10th at 8:30 for anyone who wants to have a good time and chase some lobster. I think odds are greatly in your favor that you will have fun, catch lobster, and live to dive another day.

 

[Oriskany Divemaster]

Nicely done, Captain.

 

[Johnoly]

....We have a lobster license for our boat that allows us to legally do lobster dives.

Is this an SPL with and RS(restricted species) and a crawfish (C#/CD#) endorsement?

If that's the case, we'll be diving with you when we come down!! :blinking:

 

[Carp Diver]

We brief each diver thoroughly, we don't tolerate divers coming back with empty tanks, we check each lobster for legal size and no egg-bearing females, and we encourage each diver to be safe and responsible. Tough Love, and it works.

I am glad that you insist on the above protocol Captain. I am a veteran of more than a few trips running a Inspected Vessel in the Marathon area. I provided a rubber model of a spiny so that the customers could see exactly where the gage is placed to measure and insisted each customer try it out. It was mandatory that the crew gaged each lobster that came aboard with the same stainless steel gage that the FWC uses. Never had any shorts or tanks below 500 PSI as anything less warranted a VIP fee. Responsible divers will and do cooperate.


The deaths that occur are primarily due to private boats with unsupervised/briefed divers doing "their" thing. A good portion of these people are out of shape using unmaintained equipment. The untrained hookah diver has no idea of what a slow ascent is and generally bounces. The recent death at Bahia Honda of the hookah diver and the available information leads me to believe he possibly had an embolism.

The FWC and NOAA people who organized the diver expos over the past two years are to be commended for their efforts. I am sure that the majority of the attendees were conscientious divers wanting to be educated and enhance their skills.

The problem still remains on how to reach those who "think" they know it all. My suggestion is to have all dive shops hang a prepared brochure on every tank that is refilled. This sheet brochure could list some common safety procedures along with the current lobster laws and be a joint effort of FWC, NOAA and KADO. The cover should list the fatalities of recent years and the causes of death. Some may think that's too strong but if one life is spared it's worth it. The cost could be shared by all the agencies and the shops. After all it's "home run season" also.

 

[trtldvr]

I am glad that you insist on the above protocol Captain. I am a veteran of more than a few trips running a Inspected Vessel in the Marathon area. I provided a rubber model of a spiny so that the customers could see exactly where the gage is placed to measure and insisted each customer try it out. It was mandatory that the crew gaged each lobster that came aboard with the same stainless steel gage that the FWC uses. Never had any shorts or tanks below 500 PSI as anything less warranted a VIP fee. Responsible divers will and do cooperate.


The deaths that occur are primarily due to private boats with unsupervised/briefed divers doing "their" thing. A good portion of these people are out of shape using unmaintained equipment. The untrained hookah diver has no idea of what a slow ascent is and generally bounces. The recent death at Bahia Honda of the hookah diver and the available information leads me to believe he possibly had an embolism.

The FWC and NOAA people who organized the diver expos over the past two years are to be commended for their efforts. I am sure that the majority of the attendees were conscientious divers wanting to be educated and enhance their skills.

The problem still remains on how to reach those who "think" they know it all. My suggestion is to have all dive shops hang a prepared brochure on every tank that is refilled. This sheet brochure could list some common safety procedures along with the current lobster laws and be a joint effort of FWC, NOAA and KADO. The cover should list the fatalities of recent years and the causes of death. Some may think that's too strong but if one life is spared it's worth it. The cost could be shared by all the agencies and the shops. After all it's "home run season" also.

Thank you for mentioning our dive expo, and your assumption is correct. First of all attendance was light and those that did attend were not the ones that needed it. Much like those divers that will pay for a guide or refresher tend not to be the ones with the greatest need. We thought that this would be the case going in, but that is not a reason, to not do the Rodeo. We felt the best we could do is help create an atmosphere where safety matters and this would be an improvement.

As far as the message that is sent, KADO (not all members), may have been our biggest obstacle. Many of their contigancy felt that the "DIVE ALIVE" message was too strong. Any mention, that it is possible to die while scuba diving was met with resistance. We had orriginally posted the accident reports for the Keys for 05 & 06 and they had the proverbial sea cow.

This past week DEMA sent an e-mail to its members requesting them not to publicly comment on the dive deaths during mini-season, but to let DEMA handle it as to not scare potential business away.

I believe that diving is a safe sport, otherwise I would not have trained so many people to do it, but I believe divers need to be reminded of the dangers of complaceancy and arrogance. I believe that this can be a good thing for the shops as it encourages divers to get additional training.

Safe Dives
trtldvr
aka Bob Guhl
Chairman: Florida Keys Safe Dive Initiative
www.divealive.org

 

[scubapolly]

Let me interject something positive into this thread. We have a lobster license for our boat that allows us to legally do lobster dives. During the 2 day mini season we had over 48 divers do 2 lobster dives each for 96 dives. We brought back over 120 lobsters. Total Diver Deaths = 0, Total Diver Injuries= 0, Total Rescues= 0. We brief each diver thoroughly, we don't tolerate divers coming back with empty tanks, we check each lobster for legal size and no egg-bearing females, and we encourage each diver to be safe and responsible. Tough Love, and it works.
Divers are a typical cross section of society. Divers hunt for lobster for many reasons, sport, challenge, excitement, peer pressure, whatever. Nobody has a right to criticize divers or judge why or who lobster hunts.
So lobster dive, reef dive, deep dive, tri-mix dive, rebreather dive, just dive. Enjoy it and don't accept negative criticism from anybody, diver or non-diver.
We have an open lobster boat ever Sunday morning starting Aug 10th at 8:30 for anyone who wants to have a good time and chase some lobster. I think odds are greatly in your favor that you will have fun, catch lobster, and live to dive another day.

Congrats on a safe and successful mini season.
The true stupidity of mini season is not typically from those diving on charter boats, but rather the "y'all come out diving on my 15 ft bass boat, just pay for the fuel and beer" Many of those that get hurt are hunting illegally, catching shorts and females with eggs- they aren't there to dive, but rather to slay as many bugs as they can no matter the cost.

I love diving for lobsters, but you couldn't pay me enough to go back to the keys during mini season. I'm happy to do my diving after the chaos has left.

 

[Captain Larry]

Is this an SPL with and RS(restricted species) and a crawfish (C#/CD#) endorsement?

If that's the case, we'll be diving with you when we come down!! :blinking:

It's the same license that sportfishing boats or headboats have in order to take paying customers who want to fish. The only difference is that our license has a lobster endorsement. The USCG requires this license for all commercial boats taking divers out to collect lobster. The Key West station put out the word that they would take enforcement action against commercial boats who allow divers to hunt with just individual fishing licenses.
Looking forward to having you on our boat. You can call us at (305) 451-5844 when you are ready to sign up.
Captain Larry

 

[Captain Larry]

The deaths that occur are primarily due to private boats with unsupervised/briefed divers doing "their" thing. A good portion of these people are out of shape using unmaintained equipment.
The problem still remains on how to reach those who "think" they know it all. My suggestion is to have all dive shops hang a prepared brochure on every tank that is refilled. This sheet brochure could list some common safety procedures along with the current lobster laws and be a joint effort of FWC, NOAA and KADO. The cover should list the fatalities of recent years and the causes of death. Some may think that's too strong but if one life is spared it's worth it. The cost could be shared by all the agencies and the shops. After all it's "home run season" also.

You're right about the profile of the lobster diver deaths. You've seen those same people in your shop. They brag about their junk gear and boast that they have never had a regulator overhaul and don't believe in them. They haven't dived since mini-season three years ago, they complain because their tanks are out of VIP or hydro and you won't fill them, then they'll tell you a story about the dumbest stunt they've ever pulled underwater and through sheer luck managed to survive. They don't take advice or listen to any suggestions that you may make to improve their chances of survival. It's too common.
Unfortunately these people who create the greatest threat to their own lives and safety aren't limited to lobster diviners. They exist among drivers, boaters, hunters, and any activity that requires common sense and self discipline.

 

[Captain Larry]

I love diving for lobsters, but you couldn't pay me enough to go back to the keys during mini season. I'm happy to do my diving after the chaos has left.

Mini season is an aquired taste. People either love it or hate it. There are plenty of lobster left after mini season. Come on down and catch some "bugs".