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Abalone Diver Dies Off Sonoma County Coast; 5th Abalone Diver To Die Since Last Month

BODEGA BAY (CBS/AP) -- Authorities say an abalone diver died in the water off the Sonoma County coast.

Sheriff's Lt. Steve Brown says the man had been diving Sunday afternoon with two others in Salt Point State Park when he began struggling in the water.

The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat reports state parks lifeguards and a sheriff's paramedic tried to revive the man, but he was pronounced dead at a bluff near the water.

He was the fifth casualty of the abalone diving season which began last month.

Three men drowned on April 12 after getting into rough water off Caspar Cove, a popular abalone site near Fort Bragg. On April 21, an abalone picker trapped by an incoming tide died after falling from a cliff at a landmark called Hardy Rock near Westport.

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