SAFETY
Lobsters Are Optional. Safety Is Not. by Dan Orr , President, Dan Orr Consulting, Driggs, ID
Dive Centers: Removable Mini-Season Safety Poster on the Inside Back Cover!
E VERY YEAR, the Florida Spiny Lobster Mini-Season brings a surge of excitement to the diving community. Boats fill before sunrise, cylinders are topped off, tickle sticks are packed, and divers, many of them infrequent or in- experienced, head out with one goal in mind: bugs in the bag. But alongside that excitement comes a predictable and troubling pattern. Emergency calls increase. Near-misses become too common. And, tragically, injuries and fatalities occur that could have been prevented. Since its creation, Florida’s two-day lobster Mini-Season (July 29 & 30) has repeatedly produced spikes in scuba, snor- keling, and boating-related accidents, with multiple serious injuries and recurring fatalities reported in many years. However, the true total number of diving injuries is unknown because no centralized database tracks every incident. Divers Alert Network (DAN) has noted that, over several years, Mini-Season diving has averaged about two diving- related fatalities per lobster Mini-Season. Injuries from boat strikes, propellers, out-of-gas situations, and barotrauma are
more numerous than fatalities, but again, there is no centralized public database reporting all injuries each year. Mini-Season is statistically one of the more dangerous recreational diving windows in Florida due to increased participation and boating activity. For dive professionals, this is not just a seasonal uptick in business, it’s a responsibility moment. The reality is simple: Lobsters are optional. Safety is not. To reduce incidents, injuries, and fatalities during Mini- Season, dive professionals must lead from the front, not just with skills, but with expectations, culture, and clarity. The biggest risk factor during Mini-Season is not currents, depth, bottom time, or marine life, it’s human behavior. More specifically: urgency, competition, and distraction. Divers become task-loaded , sometimes task-overloaded . The hunt becomes the focus. Basic safety habits are sometimes left at the dock or shore. Dive professionals can actively counter this. Before any charter, class, or guided dive, set the tone by emphasizing that this is not a race or competition. No lobster is worth com- promising safety. Make this part of every briefing, not as a throwaway line but as a clear expectation. Say it plainly: “If you come back without a lobster but followed your plan and stayed safe, that’s a successful dive.” That reframing matters. The annual Mini-Season attracts divers who may not have been in the water since last year’s Mini-Season or longer. Equipment is dusty. Skills may be rusty, whether you are willing to admit it or not. Overconfidence may rule the day. Dive professionals should take a firmer stance by encouraging, or requiring, refresher dives for those who have not been in the water in a long time. Promote pre-dive safety checks and in- water buoyancy checks before hunting begins, and verify breathing gas and dive planning, not just cylinder pressure. Far too often, professionals assume divers will self-regulate. During Mini-Season, that assumption too often fails. Consider implementing shallow familiarization or orientation dives for unfamiliar clients, equipment inspections and famil- iarizations between buddies at the dock, and buddy checks that are actually observed, not implied. A few minutes checking everything before entering the water can be time well spent if it prevents a catastrophic issue once in or under the water.
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