Lobster miniseason ends with a veteran diver dead, 1 injured

POMPANO BEACH – Peter Mendez was no stranger to the submerged world off South Florida’s coast.

The 70-year-old owned a boat he fawned over, he was thin, trim and seemingly physically fit. He was an experienced diver and he and his wife looked forward to the underwater hunt for spiny lobster every July during the state’s miniseason, a neighbor said.

But the Davie retiree looked to be this year’s lone death during the annual two-day hunt.

Another man wounded by a boat propeller while diving for the undersea bugs in the Florida Keys was expected to survive his injuries.

After Mendez’s death Wednesday in the ocean off Pompano Beach, no other fatalities related to the miniseason were reported, state and federal officials said as the crustacean quest wound into its final hours Thursday night.

The 48-hour hunt always ends at midnight on the last Thursday of July.

Mendez was a diver with more than two decades of experience under water, the Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office said Thursday.

Foul play is not suspected but the Broward Sheriff’s

The medical examiner’s office is awaiting toxicology test results after performing an autopsy Thursday morning.

It also consulted with diving equipment specialists in Miami-Dade County who will examine Mendez’s gear, look inside his tanks, and test fittings for hoses to make sure everything was functioning properly, the office said.

Eight cars overflowed from the driveway at Mendez’s home Thursday afternoon in a tucked-away and silent cul-de-sac on the western edge of Davie in the western reaches of Broward County. A pleasure craft sat atop a boat trailer in the drive. An American flag was on display next to the garage.

Charlotte Megee and her husband have been neighbors with Peter Mendez and his wife Christine for at least 25 years on this quiet arc with long private driveways and neatly trimmed yards.

Megee said she and another neighbor considered going over to offer their condolences to Christine Mendez, but chose to “let the family have their time” first.

“When the lull comes, she’ll need someone else,” Megee said.

Peter Mendez owned a car detail shop in Hollywood Office is investigating. years ago, Megee said. He had another job before retirement, but Megee wasn’t sure what it was. Christine Mendez had always been a piano teacher but had retired from that in recent years, she said. The couple had no children.

“He loved diving,” Megee said. “I’m not sure how much he’d been doing it lately, but he and his wife used to go out quite a bit. They always looked forward to lobster miniseason, both of them.”

The Mendezes loved the water, owned a boat that he tinkered with in their driveway and had always looked forward to lobster-diving every July, according to the neighbor.

“I was very surprised to hear” he died while lobsterdiving, Megee said. “I would have said he was very physically fit. He was thin, he was trim, he was always in his yard working. He was not a drinker, I’ve never known him to smoke.”

“He was just meticulous in the things that he did,” Megee said. “He was a great guy.”

Mendez and three friends surfaced from their early morning dive about 9 a.m. Wednesday.

For an unknown reason Mendez went back into the water and never resurfaced, a Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue spokesman said.