A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer helps three divers out of the water on Wednesday, July 29, 2026. The men went missing while fishing for spiny lobster on the first day of the two-day lobster miniseason.
Florida Fish and Wildife Conservation Commission
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers, with the help of a U.S. Navy helicopter crew, rescued three men who were diving while hunting for spiny lobsters in the Florida Keys on Wednesday, the agency said.
The men were diving a reef off Duck Key, in the Middle Keys, when they became separated from their boat amid rough waters, FWC spokeswoman Arielle Callender said. It was the first day of the two-day lobster miniseason.
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FWC officers received a call that the men were missing around 11:45 a.m. and began searching for them, along with crews from U.S. Coast Guard Station Marathon and the Navy’s Key West-based search and rescue team, Callender said.
The Navy helicopter crew located the divers at 12:12 p.m., floating about 2 nautical miles from where they went into the water, Callender said. FWC crews responded and brought the men and their gear onto their boat. After confirming they were not injured or in need of medical help, they drove them back to their vessel, Callender said.
A U.S. Navy search and rescue helicopter prepares to depart from the scene where its crew and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers rescued three men who went missing while diving for spiny lobster on Wednesday, July 29, 2026. Florida Fish and Wildife Conservation Commission
“Every minute matters during a search on the water,” Capt. Adam Garrison, Monroe County area supervisor, said in a statement. “The seamless coordination between FWC, Coast Guard, and Navy Search and Rescue, along with the combined use of our marine and aviation assets, allowed a quick and safe resolution for these divers.”
Miami Herald
David Goodhue covers the Florida Keys and South Florida for FLKeysNews.com and the Miami Herald. Before joining the Herald, he covered Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C. He is a graduate of the University of Delaware.