Another Abalone diver dies along the Mendocino coast

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) -- An abalone diver whose body was recovered last weekend is at least the seventh person to die while hunting for abalone off the Northern California coast this year. 

   The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat reports 57-year-old Yoshihiro Ohhashi's body was recovered Saturday off the Mendocino Coast.

   Mendocino sheriff's officials say the Pleasanton man was reported missing by his diving partner Friday. The partner had climbed to the top of a bluff and only caught sight of his friend's overturned flotation device.

   Rescue teams from the Mendocino Volunteer Fire Department, U.S. Coast Guard, state parks, and the sheriff's office joined in a search for the missing man.

   Ohhashi's body was located the next day in about 15 feet of water near Little River, where he'd last been seen.