Two Bay Area men died over the weekend in separate abalone diving incidents off the Sonoma County coast.
State parks officials said one man, identified in news accounts as 57-year-old Alan Rosenlicht of Oakland, was found on the seafloor by other divers at the northern end of Fort Ross State Park. The second man, identified as Clyde Thompson, 67, of San Francisco, was found floating in the water off Salt Point State Park.
Here's the Santa Rosa Press Democrat account of the Rosenlicht incident:
... Divers had noticed an unattended floatation device commonly used by abalone divers in the water off Kolmer Gulch on the northern end of Fort Ross State Park, (Supervising State Park Ranger Jeremy) Stinson said. They decided to dive below the float to see if the diver was OK.
They found the Oakland man on the ocean floor, still wearing his weight belt, Stinson said. They brought him to shore and began CPR. The authorities were somehow notified, including Timber Cove fire and a State Parks lifeguard who was nearby. Emergency responders took over life-saving efforts but could not revive the man. He was pronounced dead at 5:11 p.m.
And here's what the P-D says about the Thompson incident:
The man's girlfriend last saw him at 9 a.m. when he set out for a morning of diving, Stinson said. She called authorities at about noon when he didn't return.
State Parks lifeguards found the man's floatation device about 75 yards offshore, and soon found the man floating in the water about 50 yards to the south of the float.
The man was brought ashore and pronounced dead at 12:22 p.m., Stinson said.