Another Ab Diver Death

Another ab diver death....count is nine this season.

RIP fellow diver

http://news.yahoo.com/body-abalone-diver-found-along-northern-california-coast-195819494.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory&soc_trk=ma

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A diver was found dead after searching for abalone off the coast of Northern California, becoming at least the ninth person to perish this year while seeking the delicacy.

The body of Eric Stine, 58, was discovered Sunday in the surf in Manchester State Beach, 140 miles north of San Francisco, authorities said.

A diving friend had reported Stine, of Vallejo, California, went missing Saturday.

Stine becomes at least the ninth person to die in Northern California while diving for the delicacy this season, which started April 1 and ends Monday. Six divers have died in coastal Mendocino County alone.

The section of Northern California from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border is the only place in the country where recreational divers can hunt for abalone, said Ian Taniguchi, a senior environmental scientist for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

About 30,000 people register each year for a license, including divers from as far away as New Jersey and Texas. The long-distance traveling may encourage divers to swim when they're not fit enough or the weather too foul.

"People who come from afar, they've spent a lot of money to get here so they go into the ocean when they shouldn't and it overpowers them," said Shannon Barney, Mendocino's chief deputy coroner.


FILE - In this April 21, 2007 file photo, an abalone picked by a diver is seen on its back in Fort R …
Fans of the hard-to-find mollusks say the seafood is delicious and well worth the trouble.

But Chris Constantine, who publishes the Marin County-based California Diver Magazine, said harvesting abalone can be particularly demanding.

Divers can't use scuba-diving tanks or other gear. Because the water ranges between 48 and 52 degrees year-round, a wetsuit, hood, boots and gloves are needed to keep warm. Divers must wear a 20- to 30-pound weight belt to offset the buoyant neoprene suits, Constantine said.

Drowning isn't the only way to die out there. Sometimes divers suffer heart attacks.

Earlier last week, a 56-year-old San Francisco man also died while diving for abalone off the Mendocino coast. The cause of death is pending in both cases.

"We typically have deaths every year, but I would say this year is sort of on the high side," said Taniguchi of the fish and wildlife agency.

Mendocino County is also where three men at the start of the season in April found themselves trapped in rough waves. The cause of death was drowning.

Other divers perished in the nearby counties of Sonoma and Marin.

According to this one it happened at Point Arena.

http://patch.com/california/dixon/vallejo-man-dies-while-diving-abalone-mendocino-0

The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office has identified an abalone diver who died in the Point Arena area Saturday as 58-year-old Eric Stine of Vallejo.

Deputies responded at 7:12 p.m. Saturday to a report of a missing diver in the 45000 block of Lighthouse Road in Point Arena, sheriff’s Lt. Greg Stefani said.

Stine and another man began diving for abalone around 2:45 p.m. The other diver finished as it got dark and last saw Stine in a cove about 300 yards north of the Point Arena Lighthouse, Stefani said.

Helicopters, boats and people on land searched for Stine into the night and continued the search Sunday, Stefani said.

Diving alone?  Three hundred yards seems a long distance between dive buddies to me.

One way or another I bet bad hearts had to do with their situations.

One way or another I bet bad hearts had to do with their situations.

+1. Doesn't make it better, but I believe a good percentage of diver deaths are heart related.

Local word was they entered by the point, he was not seen or found until the following morning when he washed up on the Manchester beach side, north of where they entered.

Sad to hear. I believe that in almost all cases it's best to stay together and do One-Up, one-down buddy system.