A Brief History of Life, The Universe, and Abalone.

Diving in our ocean in the very early days can be traced to treasure recovery from sunken wrecks. One of the earliest pioneers was John Lethbridge who often successfully salvaged treasure and various goods for the Dutch East India Company. It is recorded that the earliest salvaging of cargo was from the ship Johanna where a local carpenter and an experienced pearl diver from Malaysia were used for the recovery of the wreck’s pieces-of-eight.

The history of commercial abalone and lobster diving goes back to the days of recreational harvesting by the snorkelling method. In the 1960’s diving from a boat using a bastardised piston pump, homemade dry rubber suits (nicknamed the condom suit), and even the garden hose. The small seagull motor made it a very precarious but satisfying adventure.

Supplying restaurants with lobster in around Cape Town proved successful due to boundless demand, and during the festive season or on particular religious days the locals where delighted to get a supply of lobster.