Sorry for the length of this. Someone once described me as having “diarrhea of the mouth” when it comes to writing, and I guess they were right!
Some of you may recall that I posted a report a couple of weeks ago that contained some pictures of oil on the beach by the Destin Jetties on June 16:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/deep-dixie-divers/340115-destin-jetties-june-16-oil-pics.html
I’m now posting a longer report covering my entire vacation in Destin from June 15-26. Note this is a snorkeling report as I do not scuba dive. I’m happy to report that the oil I discussed and pictured in the previous post was by far the worst I saw during the whole trip. I went back to the jetties several times and saw a small amount of tar flecks once and none all the other times. I presume it was cleaned up or carried away by the tide (probably a combination of both). I did see small amounts of tar on other beaches and even a little bit on the one day I went to Panama City (it was on the bay side of Shell Island close to the Pass), but except for the June 16 incident at the jetties, I wasn’t affected that much by oil. I’ve been thoroughly reading the FL Panhandle and Mobile newspapers on-line concerning the spill, and it certainly does appear that Pensacola and Alabama have been hit much worse that has Destin and points east.
As to the snorkeling around the Destin jetties, it wasn’t that great compared to most other June periods I have visited. Visibility was typically a murky 15 ft., with the water brownish-green in color and a fair amount of particulate matter. In my previous June experience, it’s usually better than this. I did not see any June grass, although I heard some of the other beaches had quite a bit. I like to dabble in underwater photography using available light, but because of the murkiness, the only somewhat respectable shots I got were macro. On the very last day I went snorkeling (June 25), the vis finally improved to about 20 ft. I also did not see anything particularly unusual concerning marine life. Pinfish and slippery dick wrasses were very abundant (no surprise there), but damselfish less common than usual. I didn’t see any colorful tropical fish such as butterflyfish or angelfish. Probably the coolest thing was a moderate-sized barracuda accompanied by dozens of baby jacks that followed him wherever he swam. This would have been a great photo op if the water had been clearer.
This may seem rinky-dink to you guys that cave dive or spearfish, but I really enjoyed the one day I went to Panama City Beach and rented a pontoon boat to snorkel the grass flats behind Shell Island. While there is only a modest diversity of marine life there, if you poke around long enough, you will encounter some interesting stuff. Plus it’s just so darn easy; no waves or current, and very shallow water. It would be great place to introduce a kid to the sea’s wonders and get him/her hooked on snorkeling/diving. We spent most of our time off Spanish Shanty Pt. Visibility was around 15 ft, but decreased somewhat in the afternoon when it got closer to low tide. My 15 year-old nephew loved it. When he got bored with snorkeling, he went back to the boat for a snack or to practice dives into the water. We saw stingrays, butterfly rays, lots of pinfish, slippery dicks in one spot, toadfish, lots of juvenile grunts, ladyfish, mullet, flounder, sand perch, scallops, live sand dollars, pieces of live coral, two species of sea urchins, pen shells, tulip shells, fighting conchs, and a fairly large spider crab. Big stone crabs were living in burrows amongst the grass. The most unusual thing I saw was a jawfish living in a burrow. I didn’t know they even occurred here. Surprisingly, I got my best photos of the trip here in the grass flats.
Here are some pics:
Bay scallop in St. Andrew Bay, Panama City Beach. I love the blue "eyes".
Sand dollar in St. Andrew Bay, Panama City Beach
Stingray in St. Andrew Bay, Panama City Beach
Sand Perch, Destin Jetties
Molly miller blenny, Destin Jetties. Note that there is another small blenny to the lower right.
A stone crab with an old shell, Destin Jetties
There are a few more pics at my flickr site: Flickr: Hawkfish's Photostream
Some of you may recall that I posted a report a couple of weeks ago that contained some pictures of oil on the beach by the Destin Jetties on June 16:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/deep-dixie-divers/340115-destin-jetties-june-16-oil-pics.html
I’m now posting a longer report covering my entire vacation in Destin from June 15-26. Note this is a snorkeling report as I do not scuba dive. I’m happy to report that the oil I discussed and pictured in the previous post was by far the worst I saw during the whole trip. I went back to the jetties several times and saw a small amount of tar flecks once and none all the other times. I presume it was cleaned up or carried away by the tide (probably a combination of both). I did see small amounts of tar on other beaches and even a little bit on the one day I went to Panama City (it was on the bay side of Shell Island close to the Pass), but except for the June 16 incident at the jetties, I wasn’t affected that much by oil. I’ve been thoroughly reading the FL Panhandle and Mobile newspapers on-line concerning the spill, and it certainly does appear that Pensacola and Alabama have been hit much worse that has Destin and points east.
As to the snorkeling around the Destin jetties, it wasn’t that great compared to most other June periods I have visited. Visibility was typically a murky 15 ft., with the water brownish-green in color and a fair amount of particulate matter. In my previous June experience, it’s usually better than this. I did not see any June grass, although I heard some of the other beaches had quite a bit. I like to dabble in underwater photography using available light, but because of the murkiness, the only somewhat respectable shots I got were macro. On the very last day I went snorkeling (June 25), the vis finally improved to about 20 ft. I also did not see anything particularly unusual concerning marine life. Pinfish and slippery dick wrasses were very abundant (no surprise there), but damselfish less common than usual. I didn’t see any colorful tropical fish such as butterflyfish or angelfish. Probably the coolest thing was a moderate-sized barracuda accompanied by dozens of baby jacks that followed him wherever he swam. This would have been a great photo op if the water had been clearer.
This may seem rinky-dink to you guys that cave dive or spearfish, but I really enjoyed the one day I went to Panama City Beach and rented a pontoon boat to snorkel the grass flats behind Shell Island. While there is only a modest diversity of marine life there, if you poke around long enough, you will encounter some interesting stuff. Plus it’s just so darn easy; no waves or current, and very shallow water. It would be great place to introduce a kid to the sea’s wonders and get him/her hooked on snorkeling/diving. We spent most of our time off Spanish Shanty Pt. Visibility was around 15 ft, but decreased somewhat in the afternoon when it got closer to low tide. My 15 year-old nephew loved it. When he got bored with snorkeling, he went back to the boat for a snack or to practice dives into the water. We saw stingrays, butterfly rays, lots of pinfish, slippery dicks in one spot, toadfish, lots of juvenile grunts, ladyfish, mullet, flounder, sand perch, scallops, live sand dollars, pieces of live coral, two species of sea urchins, pen shells, tulip shells, fighting conchs, and a fairly large spider crab. Big stone crabs were living in burrows amongst the grass. The most unusual thing I saw was a jawfish living in a burrow. I didn’t know they even occurred here. Surprisingly, I got my best photos of the trip here in the grass flats.
Here are some pics:
Bay scallop in St. Andrew Bay, Panama City Beach. I love the blue "eyes".
Sand dollar in St. Andrew Bay, Panama City Beach
Stingray in St. Andrew Bay, Panama City Beach
Sand Perch, Destin Jetties
Molly miller blenny, Destin Jetties. Note that there is another small blenny to the lower right.
A stone crab with an old shell, Destin Jetties
There are a few more pics at my flickr site: Flickr: Hawkfish's Photostream
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