It has been a deadly day on Perth waters, with three deaths in the space of several hours.
The first occurred shortly before 8:00am when a man in his 50s, fishing for abalone with friends and family at Mettam's Pool at North Beach, was discovered unconscious in the water.
Efforts to revive him by both Sorrento Surf Life Saving Club members and Whitford Sea Rescue failed.
A short time later and several kilometres to the north a man in his 70s was on a reef fishing for abalone when he became distressed.
His family pulled him onto a boat and commenced CPR.
WA Police Inspector Brendan Moore said the man was taken to Hillary's Boat Harbour but he did not survive.
"This is a tragic situation particularly for the families of those involved," Inspector Moore said.
"Going out one day to enjoy a pastime that you derive a lot of pleasure out of, to [then] unfortunately pass away as a consequence of your activity is a very tragic situation.
"We sympathise with the family members left behind."
The abalone fishing season is extremely short, with recreational fishers only allowed to catch the prized delicacy between 7:00am and 8:00am on five designated summer Saturdays.
Saturday was the second session of the West Coast Zone and the limited season often results in packed waters at popular catch spots like Mettam's Pool.
Conditions were particularly rough with surf life saving crews carrying out a number of rescues after fishers and swimmers got into trouble.
Third man dies after vessels collide
A few hours later at about 12:30pm, police received reports of a collision between a commercial vessel and a recreational fishing boat off the coast of Fremantle.
The collision resulted in the fishing boat being overturned.
Several boats in the area went to help, among them the Rottnest Ferry.
A 77-year-old man was rescued from the water but the other man on board, aged 80, did not survive.
"It certainly has been a dark day in terms of deaths on the water today," Inspector Moore said.
"It's once again timely to remind people that the ocean is an unforgiving place and you need to take the appropriate caution and preparations before venturing out there."
The surviving man was taken back to shore and treated by medical staff for minor injuries before being collected by family.
