Feeding frenzy grips Florida as thousands dive for lobsters

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2007

MIAMI (AFP) — Thousands of people hit the waters of south Florida on Wednesday to hunt for lobsters in an annual feeding frenzy that in past years proved fatal for a number of scuba divers.

The mad dash got under way at the stroke of midnight, which marked the start of a two-day "mini-season" that gives recreational divers a chance to hunt for lobsters ahead of commercial fishermen.

Law enforcement officials were out in force, trying to ensure the estimated 184,000 lobsters killed in a typical mini-season are the only casualties.

Last year alone, five divers died and several more were injured during the two day lobstermania.

Heart attacks, lack of experience, foul weather, drunkenness, and what one official called "plain stupidity," have been blamed...