SeaCat
Hey, my Halo is smoking
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2003
- Posts
- 15,378
Here in Florida we have a yearly two day Mini Season for what they call Lobster down here. It started at 1201 this morning and will end at 1200 on Friday.
Because of this my gear is hung up and otherwise put away. I refuse to dive during Mini Season. No I don't refuse to dive because of the taking of Lobster, I refuse to dive with the nuts going out there right now.
Last year in my county alone we had five deaths and I don't know how many cases of Decompression Sickness, (The Bends) in these two days.
This year so far in the 17 hours since the Mini Season has started we have had two deaths, four divers sent to the chambers for signs of Decompression Sickness and three boating accidents involving divers. (The first was an 18 foot boat that went out in the middle of the night with a couple of divers, moored on a reef and the divers went down. When they came back up the climbed back into the boat and then got disoriented as to their location and the heading needed to get home. I can't figure this one, if you're in the ocean and need to get to land here you head West. The second involved two dive boats heading for the same reef colliding. Both boats were damaged and two divers were injured by the impact. The last involved another small boat off South County that went out with four divers then sank. All four divers were rescued.)
In the past I have gone out with the dive boats during Mini Season and watched people do incredibly stupid things in their quest for the Lobster.
I watched one group of four drop down the side of a reef to 150 feet, then almost run out of air on their way up.
I watched another diver stay down chasing Lobster until their air ran out, then had to buddy breath him to the surface.
I have seen six pack boats, (Seating six people) go out with ten or more divers aboard.
I have been involved in the recovery of three different divers during Mini Season over the years. Every one of them had empty tanks
What I can't understand is why this happens every year. It's not like this is the only time you can get Lobster down here. The regular season starts on August 1.
Cat
Because of this my gear is hung up and otherwise put away. I refuse to dive during Mini Season. No I don't refuse to dive because of the taking of Lobster, I refuse to dive with the nuts going out there right now.
Last year in my county alone we had five deaths and I don't know how many cases of Decompression Sickness, (The Bends) in these two days.
This year so far in the 17 hours since the Mini Season has started we have had two deaths, four divers sent to the chambers for signs of Decompression Sickness and three boating accidents involving divers. (The first was an 18 foot boat that went out in the middle of the night with a couple of divers, moored on a reef and the divers went down. When they came back up the climbed back into the boat and then got disoriented as to their location and the heading needed to get home. I can't figure this one, if you're in the ocean and need to get to land here you head West. The second involved two dive boats heading for the same reef colliding. Both boats were damaged and two divers were injured by the impact. The last involved another small boat off South County that went out with four divers then sank. All four divers were rescued.)
In the past I have gone out with the dive boats during Mini Season and watched people do incredibly stupid things in their quest for the Lobster.
I watched one group of four drop down the side of a reef to 150 feet, then almost run out of air on their way up.
I watched another diver stay down chasing Lobster until their air ran out, then had to buddy breath him to the surface.
I have seen six pack boats, (Seating six people) go out with ten or more divers aboard.
I have been involved in the recovery of three different divers during Mini Season over the years. Every one of them had empty tanks
What I can't understand is why this happens every year. It's not like this is the only time you can get Lobster down here. The regular season starts on August 1.
Cat
