March 2010    Download the Entire Issue (PDF)

Vol. 25, No. 3   What's this?

Abalone Diver Dies “Doing Something He Loved”

from the March, 2010 issue of Undercurrent  

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In November, Brian Dinday appeared on San Francisco’s National Public Radio station to describe why he loved to dive for abalone in Sonoma County, despite the danger. “I’m a desk-bound lawyer and at 61, my wife thinks I am too old for abalone diving. She thinks it’s dangerous - - and it is. Forget Jaws. The kelp can tangle and drown you. You have to scale cliffs with 50 pounds of equipment. Ab diving is a hold-yourbreath sport, so you can miscalculate when you ascend.” Two weeks later, Dinday drowned off of Horseshoe Cove in Salt Point State Park during an abalone dive with his 30-year-old son, Matthew. It was the day after Dinday had celebrated his 62nd birthday....