Every July the coastal areas of Florida are flooded with lobster hunters trying to get their share of this year's lobster crop during the special 2-Day "mini-seasons." There are two Florida Lobster Seasons, the 2 day mini season and the 8 month regular lobster season. The mini lobster season is always the last consecutive Wednesday and Thursday in July. This year the mini season falls on July 28th and 29th.
For the last several years, the Scuba Diving Industry has worked to educate scuba divers through "refresher courses" designed to shake the rust off and get divers who have not been active ready to get in the water. Last year, there were some divers who lost their lives (Divers die during mini-season) and industry distributed a public service announcement (Diver Safety Video).
Last weekend in Ft. Lauderdale, dozens of divers participated in a free "Revive Your Dive" event sponsored by local diving organizations. The purpose was to provide free refresher programs and provide safety tips to help divers avoid problems should they choose to get involved in mini-season which opens at 12:01 am on Wednesday and ends at 12:00 midnight on Thursday. The regular lobster season is August 6 through March 31.
According to Tec Clark of Reef Ministries who presented the Revive Your Dive event, "The response was incredible for a first-time event. Everyone involved agreed that we'll do this bigger and better next year."
FAST FACTS for 2010 MINI-LOBSTER SEASON
If you are going to be participating in mini-lobster season, here are some helpful links for scuba divers:
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