Blue Heron Bridge Trolls

[Scuba_Jenny]

LOL, we are such wimps. Have succumbed to my tropical thin blood and have been wearing my 2 piece 3mm for a few dives now..

 

[danvolker]

We did a night dive last night at BHB.....Sandra, I, Judy, Linda, and a few others.....Judy and I saw the strangest fish at BHB I have ever seen....and this one of the few times that I did not have my video camera...

So after looking at fish books.... It looks like something between an Oarfish, and a Ribbonfish.

From about 10 feet away, I thought it was a 4 foot long barracuda that had had it's head cut off.....But it moved closer, toward me.....and the next thought was that it was some kind of squid I had never seen.......by the time it was 5 feet away, and clearly keying in on my HID light, it was a fish that was much skinnier than a barracuda, with dorsal and ventral fins the whole length ( certain of dorsal, 75% sure on ventral), much the way a moray eel looks or an arowana ( free water fish of the Amazon river)...
The mouth was open wide, and it had these teeth sticking way out like one of those fish from 20,000 feet deep.....like you would not try to pet this fish, the teeth --while probably week, did not look inviting.
I do remember the head being flat, which is why I had though it had it's head cut off in the distance, and then next thought it was a squid....so the head nothing like the pointy snout of a barracuda....

Has anyone else seen this on a night dive at BHB?
Any ideas on ID?
I would like to see more pics to id with, but most possible fish are dead--dont look correct dead.

 

[Arubandi07]

sigh.. didn't know that.. too late now... and can't go tomorrow morning.. drat.

Sorry, really thought you realized, based on what I had written, that my "little experiment" took place right after LT.
Next time I do some crazy stuff, I'll put a warning label on my report, promise ...

 

[Joy-S]

Oh no! I'm sorry, I wouldn't have asked. BHB is one of my favorite places to dive but I have yet to see a Seahorse or an octopus but I always see great pictures of them. We went there last night, my first night dive at BHB! We saw a big ray and several really small rays (babies maybe) a cool looking eel, several lobster, blue crabs that walk sideways and lots of cool fish. Sorry for my lack of IDs, I just got my OW in August and I'm still learning lots about Fish ID, etc.

---------- Post added November 18th, 2013 at 12:43 PM ----------

A little experiment ... After successfully coaxing my wife into going, we arrived around 2:45; warm, sunny, the water looked great from shore ... everything seemed perfect, until about 3, when I hit the water, put my head down to get my fins on, and realized "Sh=t, zero vis ... WTF??"
Figured that things might get better a little further out, but no such luck(guess that 12mi SSE breeze and the guy playing with his two big dogs in the shallows across the channel didn't exactly help). On the way, two Rays, neither of them kind enough to hang out for some pics.
Next thing, I run head-on into a big Barracuda, lying in wait(facing the other way, could only see about 2/3rds of it). Considering the conditions, I decided it might be better not to try a close approach.
About 20min in, we figured it may best to call it a day, and started heading toward shore, when I saw Ray #3 ...

One hour of driving, 20min in the water ... still worth it!!

We saw several small (smaller than my hand) rays just like the one in your picture last night and one really big one. You should take your wife back again this weekend. Lots to see around high tide

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Sorry, really thought you realized, based on what I had written, that my "little experiment" took place right after LT.
Next time I do some crazy stuff, I'll put a warning label on my report, promise ...

No worries..

 

[MrChen]

Just for fun, here is the bobbit worm we saw. He was more shy than the ones I had seen before, this was the only shot I got of it.

View attachment 171341

Well shoot, now I don't feel so bad for not seeing it. Look how tiny he is!! Nice pic. You have eyes like a hawk.

---------- Post added November 18th, 2013 at 03:00 PM ----------

Had a fantastic dive with jimw and MrChen tonight. Thanks for letting me tag along! Thankfully that boat didn't hit us even though it seemed like they tried!

Vis was better than this morning 25+? and temp was still 79.

We saw 3 bobbit worms! I didn't get any good shots of them though.

Pics:

View attachment 171277 View attachment 171278 View attachment 171279 View attachment 171280

View attachment 171281 View attachment 171282 View attachment 171283

I haven't had a time to check my video of the orange sea horse. It was definitely a cool 20 ft journey! I could have sat on him with my gopro all night. Great pics Tim! BTW: You weren't tagging along, you were as much a part of the group as Jim and I. I still can't figure out how you spot these things. I mean seriously. I'm look straight at them and don't see them. Seeing the nudi's was awesome, first time! I still can't believe I swam right past that orange sea horse only to look back and see you taking photos already.

---------- Post added November 18th, 2013 at 03:04 PM ----------

Very nice pictures Tim--great encounter with Bobbit Worms AND none of us are damaged!!:cool2:

MrChen is busily prepping to go see his hometown Chargers play the Dolphins--someone must stop him--BLOCK I-95!

We saw 3 bobbits, 2 were fully out on the boulevard! First time for me to see one. Those 2 were around 12 inches long. We also saw lots of a translucent shrimp out and quickly burying themselves when a light beam hit'em. Lots of little red eyeshine when I looked away from the lighted area. Waay nice dive! Nice little batfish and a 9arm needing a shortarm inspection!

Nice shots Jim. I was a little worried that my light would affect your pictures, but then I figured it would also help it to focus in the dark.

BTW: There was no need to block I95, nice try What a weekend, I'm absolutely drained and could use a day off of my days off, but then that would mean work right? I don't want that either. I'll hopefully get to my video footage soon and get our epic sea horse journey up.

---------- Post added November 18th, 2013 at 03:05 PM ----------

I want to add that Saturday nights dive was awesome. Jim is the ultimate navigator and Tim is mr eagle eyes. I was just the flag totter with the annoying video camera haha

 

[Arubandi07]

No worries..

Good to know ... Was a little worried, you might wanna strangle me with my wetsuit(yep, use a 3/2 even in Aruba) first chance you get, after messin' up your dive plans ...

 

[JoanneR]

Dan,

Check out Cutlass Fish. I saw one of these at The Bridge not too long ago.

 

[blauvelt]

We did a night dive last night at BHB.....Sandra, I, Judy, Linda, and a few others.....Judy and I saw the strangest fish at BHB I have ever seen....and this one of the few times that I did not have my video camera...

So after looking at fish books.... It looks like something between an Oarfish, and a Ribbonfish.

From about 10 feet away, I thought it was a 4 foot long barracuda that had had it's head cut off.....But it moved closer, toward me.....and the next thought was that it was some kind of squid I had never seen.......by the time it was 5 feet away, and clearly keying in on my HID light, it was a fish that was much skinnier than a barracuda, with dorsal and ventral fins the whole length ( certain of dorsal, 75% sure on ventral), much the way a moray eel looks or an arowana ( free water fish of the Amazon river)...
The mouth was open wide, and it had these teeth sticking way out like one of those fish from 20,000 feet deep.....like you would not try to pet this fish, the teeth --while probably week, did not look inviting.
I do remember the head being flat, which is why I had though it had it's head cut off in the distance, and then next thought it was a squid....so the head nothing like the pointy snout of a barracuda....

Has anyone else seen this on a night dive at BHB?
Any ideas on ID?
I would like to see more pics to id with, but most possible fish are dead--dont look correct dead.

30 years ago I caught something like that near the Jupiter inlet. Had the body of a barracuda and the head of an eel. Can't help with the ID tho.

---------- Post added November 18th, 2013 at 05:30 PM ----------

Dan,

Check out Cutlass Fish. I saw one of these at The Bridge not too long ago.

I was typing and you answered a 30 year old question.

 

[JoanneR]

This was the fish I saw. Something got hold of it around the middle. Research says it is a Cutlass Fish