First Diver Dies During Lobster Miniseason

Lobster miniseason is meant for noncommercial divers to get an early chance to kill some lobsters. Unfortunately, every year it seems a few of those divers also end up dead. In fact, just hours after the miniseason began, one diver is already dead...

By Kyle Munzenrieder

July 27, 2011

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Lobster miniseason is meant for noncommercial divers to get an early chance to kill some lobsters. Unfortunately, every year it seems a few of those divers also end up dead. In fact, just hours after the miniseason began, one diver is already dead.

Mark Fountain, a 54-year-old tourist visiting from Massachusetts, was aboard a private boat with his son and his son's girlfriend. The group was in the water off Tavernier Key in an area called Snapper Ledge when Fountain, an experienced diver, became separated from the other two.

His son and girlfriend had just reboarded the boat when they noticed Fountain floating a distance from the boat. He was unresponsive, and when they took him back to shore, paramedics pronounced him dead at 9:40 a.m. A cause of death has not yet been established.

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