Firefighters rescue four abalone hunters off Mendocino coast

Four Bay Area men hunting abalone in rough water off the Mendocino Headlands had to be rescued when their inflatable boat sank, according to fire officials.

Tuesday was the last day of the shortened 2017 abalone season.

About noon waves flooded their small boat. One swam to shore, another was in the water and two made it to rocks near the base of the steep, high headlands, said Sally Swan, a volunteer Mendocino firefighter.

Tuesday’s 12:15 p.m. call from a bystander brought 13 Mendocino volunteer firefighters, Mendocino County sheriff’s deputies, state parks rangers, the U.S. Coast Guard, an ambulance and a state helicopter.

Four firefighters on two Jet Skis rescued the man in the water before helping the two on the rocks navigate their way back to the water to be rescued, Swan said.

There were no injuries. The rescue was completed by about 1:30 p.m.

Abalone seasons along the Sonoma and Mendocino coasts often are deadly.

Two deaths occurred this season: A 58-year-old Oakland man on May 27 off Point Arena and a 32-year-old Sonora man June 13 in Fisk Mill Cove in northern Sonoma County.

The declining abalone population resulted in this season being cut short by two months with annual limits reduced from 18 to 12.

-Randi Rossmann