Lobsters beware! Sport season begins Wednesday

As thousands of scuba divers take to the waters off South Florida this week for the annual lobster sport season, state officials and scuba diving groups are trying hard to remind them of one important fact.

"A lobster isn't worth your life and sometimes people lose track of that," said Rob Murphy, 26, of Palm Beach Gardens.

Murphy lost both his legs after being hit by a boat while diving off the coast of Stuart on Jan. 9.

The two-day mini-season for lobsters kicks off at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, with the regular lobster season starting on Aug. 6 and running through March 31. Four divers, including 48-year-old Robert Canada, of Lake Worth, died during last year's mini-season. This year the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the North Carolina-based Divers Alert Network diving safety advocate joined forces to run a safety awareness campaign in the weeks leading up to the mini-season...[Link]