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Officials: Death toll at 3 in Florida's lobster miniseason

Scuba Diver Bubbles
Posted at 11:47 AM, Jul 28, 2021
and last updated 2021-07-29 09:48:18-04

ISLAMORADA, Fla. (WTXL) — Officials say three people died on the first day of Florida’s annual two-day lobster miniseason.

Two deaths were reported Wednesday in the Florida Keys, and the third happened in Pompano Beach.

The event — held on the last Wednesday and Thursday in July — attracts thousands of people to the Florida Keys.

The first man drowned around 7 a.m. Wednesday just off Sawyer Key. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office tweeted that the diver died early Wednesday while preparing to harvest spiny lobsters off the Florida Keys.

Monroe County Sheriff’s officials say just before 9 a.m. a second man died after getting struck by a propeller while on a dive in the Lower Keys.

In Pompano Beach a man into cardiac arrest after coming up from a dive.

Authorities haven't released more details or identified the victims.

The popular two-day spiny lobster event attracts thousands to the Keys every year in July.

Some use nets and others go snorkeling hoping to catch their limits.