Another abalone diver dies on North coast

Santa Rosa Press Democrat ...Thursday


Abalone diver found dead
An abalone diver missing off the Mendocino Coast since Wednesday evening was found dead offshore Thursday morning, state fire officials said.

The man, whose name was not available, had been diving near Westport on Wednesday evening when rough water forced him and two companions to seek safety on a rocky outcropping just offshore, authorities said.

But only two were able to get onto the rocks at the time emergency crews were called around 6:30 p.m., and the third was lost in the water, authorities said.

“The water was being very aggressive,” said Fort Bragg Fire Chief Steve Orsi, whose department provided assistance to the Westport Fire Department in the search.

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter plucked two of the divers off the rocks, but water conditions prevented much of a search for the missing man, Orsi said.

Seas were too rough for divers, he said, and there was no room to put in a rescue boat, given the conditions. “We would have crashed it,” he said.

“It just wasn’t a good night to be on the water,” Orsi said.

Coast Guard and fire crews resumed their search Thursday morning, and found the diver’s body by around 9 a.m., state fire officials said.

Crews were still assembling to recover it a short time later, the California State Forestry and Fire Department said.

Authorities said it was believed the divers were out of the Bay Area, though that could not be confirmed Thursday morning.

— Mary Callahan

From the article;

".....Wednesday evening when rough water forced him and two companions to seek safety on a rocky outcropping just offshore, authorities said."

The swell model and the weather suggested no one belonged in the water that day.
 It was dangerious enough for experienced pros...much less anyone else.
$50.00 a lb abalone is so not worth it!
 Steve

Yep... of course I'm speculating on exactly what happened, but given the circumstances, it seems like another typical case of the "I drove all this way and I'm going to get my abs no matter what" mentality. 

I've turned around and driven home without having stepped foot in the water many many times.  It just isn't worth it, but there will definitely be more who learn this lesson the hard way I'm afraid. 

Very sad. 

EK

Wow, that's sad. I always look at the swell report and if it's bigger than 4 or 5 feet I don't go.

They should add more details like whether or not the victim had ditched their weight belt, etc. (When his body is recovered)

we caught four guys from Sacramento with 73 abs in the back of their truck heading back to Sacramento to sell to restaurants.   It is NOT a racial thing as all types of folks do it.  The leader got a year in jail and a $20,000. fine and can never fish again.  The other guys (lookouts) got $15,000. fines and can never fish again.   We are NOT vigilantes here but some locals do report suspicious activity, like a big friendly neighborhood watch.

Get 'em, Matt!   I'm a strong supporter of poacher busters. 

It really is a tragedy when people get themselves in a situation where they feel they need to go out even when the conditions aren't favorable.  That's a huge reason why I work with the tide and hang out in the tidepools if it's too rough to dive.  These guys could've also probably gone to somewhere more sheltered like Van Damme, but they probably wanted abs over 7" clickers...  It's too bad.   

Thanks Abking,

Some folks here have suggested that abalone taking be banned altogether.   That would be terrible.   Hopefully the laws of nature will cull out the stupid and greedy.
But basically it's just sad.

-Matt

 With the instant availability of fairly accurate weather and wave forecasts its hard to comprehend why people even make the drive.
 The "Sacramento Syndrome" was etched into my mind many years ago. My dive buddies and I had just walked back to the truck after checking the water. The surf was breaking and we didn't want to go into the washing machine. A fellow came running up asking to use the C.B.radio(does that date me) We obliged, then heard him report a diver down at Timber Cove. We were at Fort Ross! The call was corrected then we all hustled down to the beach. Another diver had rescued the the unconscious diver and was giving CPR. The Search and rescue team arrived and the guy was airlifted out. I can still see the look on the face of the divers wife in my mind. They were camping and had a 5th wheel trailer and a huge truck that I doubt she could drive.
 I don't know what the outcome was. He was brought back to consciousness,but was really out of it. He had been tanking and was picked up by a wave and slammed into washrock which knocked him out without his mask. He was on the bottom between 7-10 minutes before being found.

There was a recent report of a diver on the Fishsniffer that attempted to go out even after two other guys walked back up the trail saying it was too rough. The stupid diver tried to go out and got exhausted just trying to get past the breakers. The other divers dove elsewhere and got abs, but the idiot did not because he didn't have the sense to dive elsewhere.

I hate poachers.....the dilberate ones. People make mistakes because the regs are complicated, but there are people who just don't care and are going to do what they are going to do.

-Brian G

I have a real funny sad story about a girl and her brother who were swept off the headlands in Mendo back in early 1995. It's football related. Andy and I tag teamed the incident. It's too much to type here, plus my mouth runs longer than my interest of typing out the story.

CHEERS!

Another reason why taking a safety class on free diving (or even kayaking) should always be the FIRST THING a newbie should do.

It takes time and money to take a class. Some people simply by-pass this step. If you value your life, be educated before you take that first step into the blue. Can't be a "cowboy" out there....life is short enough  

If you don't have money for a class, learn from some one credible and not just someone who's done 3 or 4 times. Seek advise from Veterans.

Be safe everyone - Hate to loose someone from this awesome community  

Yes too all the above.  It's too bad the ab regulations are complicated.  I'd hate for someone get fined because they didn't carry a pencil in their boat or someone come in off the water with fingers too frozen to punch their ab card until they reach their auto.   I don't ab dive anymore but if I did I'd punch my card etc. before I even came in off the water.   Just my thoughts.

As for the dangers of our Quaint Northern Coasts, I wear a bicycle helmet, big boots, a PFD, a VHF radio, and always go with a SMART friend even just to go picking muscles of the local rocks. 

Sure it's overkill and a scaredycat/worrywort attitude and not very manly perhaps, and I don't care.  My Dad was an environmental health and safety officer (among many other good things) and I learned very young as kid on the job with him the values of redundant safety features and margins of error.   For me, it just allows me have more fun on or near the water, plus I look kinda cool if not ridiculous.   But in a good way.   That's just me.

Thanks Bajareefer for starting this thread.   It's a hot subject today and beyond and that's a good thing.   I branched the safety subject out with the poaching subject because stupidity and greed sometimes go hand in hand.   But I don't want ANYONE to get hurt or killed.   Just be smart, have fun, and don't cheat.

-Matt ("HobieSport")

I believe that makes seven this year that have been lost to the seas. I am with the rest of you - my dive partner (and the one who taught me) always says that if any of us do not feel right or safe - do NOT go in.

We have driven over the hill from Ukiah to Gualala or Fort Bragg and not gone in that day many times over the years.

We have also been out ab diving in fairly mild conditions and had them turn nasty very quickly. I agree that the plethora of swell, wind and weather sites on the internet and in our local newspapers should be providing enough information for people to know it is not safe to go in. It is sad they won't listen.

  I can still see the look on the face of the divers wife in my mind.

That REALLY strikes me hard, I can just imagine that look. Thanks for airing this out, hope it keeps a few more from taking the chance when they shouldn't.

John

I can still see the look on the face of the divers wife in my mind

Mark,  just how many years ago did that incident occur?  I still remember leading the code on a diver that was coptered in with his wife to Santa Rosa General Hospital.  During CPR the chest film came back totally white--no air in the chest.  I called off the code and had to tell the wife, who because of the chaos, was left standing in the doorway watching the code.  Still remember her face nearly 30 years later.  Really was a sad event.

More details from the Press Democrat, very sad.

Abalone diver found dead
By MARY CALLAHAN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT



The body of an abalone diver was recovered Thursday afternoon after two divers rescued at the scene the day before returned to pull their companion from the ocean.
The body of Oakland resident Yong Lu, 46, was recovered despite large swells and pouring rain that previously prevented rescue divers from entering the water, authorities said.

A rescue crew instead repelled down a steep cliff to the rough water’s edge, where Lu’s one-time diving companions held his body against the rocks to the surf would not wash him back out before he could be recovered, authorities said.

Lu’s daughter watched the recovery effort from the top of a bluff and was there to confirm her father’s identity once his remains were recovered, authorities said.

“This is a very sad scenario,” said Pacific Star winemaker Sally Ottoson, whose home above the winery looks out toward the cove where Lu died. “I don’t think people really realize the power of the ocean and the fact that all it takes is one bump on the head and there’s another death.”

Lu is at least the seventh person to lose his life while hunting abalone off the Mendocino County coast this year, though authorities said heart conditions contributed to three deaths.

Two others died off the Sonoma Coast — one after falling from rocks at Bodega Bay and another while scuba diving in Stillwater Cove Regional Park.

Lu’s fate became known around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday after Ottoson noticed three men running toward her home near Westport and learned that three of their companions were stranded in the cove, surrounded by huge waves.

She called 911 and followed the men back to the cliff to find that two of the divers had climbed onto a steep sea stack about 150 feet from the shoreline, while the third was tossed about in the water below, still attached to his dive float.

His comrades clung to their perches for several hours, awaiting the arrival of a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter that plucked them from the rocks, Ottoson said.

But they were unable to get a firm fix on Lu’s body in the dark, and conditions were too rough to put divers in the water, authorities said.

“The water was being very aggressive,” said Fort Bragg Fire Chief Steve Orsi, who was on the scene with others from his department. “It was one of those situations.”

The same was true Thursday morning, when officials caught a glimpse of Lu’s body, which had appeared to surface in the roiling waves.

“Trying to get anybody down there, with the water conditions, is extremely dangerous and unsafe,” Mendocino County Sheriff’s Sgt. Sean Wristen said, citing swells of 18 feet.

Lu’s body eventually swept back toward the cliffs and was close to the rocky edge when Lu’s family and friends arrived, two of them getting back into the water down the cliff side, including one with an air tank, said sheriff’s Lt. Dennis Bushnell.

They were able to hold the body until its recovery.