Blue Heron Bridge Trolls III

[Catito]

Went to the bridge for diving today. Arrived at 0735 for an 0813 hightide, the park was not crowded. Entered the water on the westside at 0805. Visibility was 40ft, sea temp was 85f. Found an iphone underwater today, that is the 5th I have found. Did a REEF fish count 85 species in 90 minutes. Did a second REEF count on the snorkel trail (snorkeling) after the dive, 59 species in 60 minutes. Of note were a couple juvenile Creole Wrasse. A common fish out on the reef, but they generally like deeper water, so rarely found shallow, I guess a case of a few juveniles being advected into BHB from the inlet. Also of note was a pair Checkerboard Frillfins, only recorded one time prior in the whole REEF database. Respectively, Barred Cardinalfish, Two Spot Cardinalfish, Checkerboard Frillfin, Juvenile Creole Wrasse, Juvenile Lionfish, Juvenile Schoolmaster, Juvenile Threespot Damselfish, Lined Seahorse I, Lined Seahorse II, Sandal Fish, and Tiger Goby.View attachment 735371View attachment 735372View attachment 735373View attachment 735374View attachment 735375View attachment 735376View attachment 735377View attachment 735378View attachment 735379View attachment 735380View attachment 735381

Thank you. Sandal fish looks familiar…went there today, too. A bit crowded. Not sure how all the creatures survive…We went in 1 hour before high tide. I thought the viz was poor (20 ft)— maybe that is the reason. Highlights: 1 Lined Sea Horse, 5 Long Snout Sea Horses, Batfish, Banded Mantis, Florida Peppermint Shrimp, Spotted Eagle Ray, Sharptail Eel, and a Barred Cardinalfish. Was hoping to find a frogfish. Alas, not today.

 

[tarponchik]

The one I found in 2013 was naked

 

[MrChen]

We did 3 dives at BHB last week, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. The 1st two were classic dives, started 30 min before high tide etc. The last dive was an experiment that worked quite well. The high tide was at around 5 am, and we went underwater at 6:15 at West span. Current and vis were still OK, and when the current picked up we went to the snorkeling trail. Overall, a very good dive that lasted for 2:20. It started as a night dive with flashlights, blinkers, etc when the Parrotfish were still asleep and ended in the bright sunlight. On Friday evening at twilight a zillion of crabs got out of their holes and began feeding frantically. A nurse shark swam by, another one was spotted on Tuesday resting under concrete rubble. Of exotics, we spotted a Lancer Dragonet, the rest were the usual suspects.

I did this once and it was really cool seeing how quickly things change.

 

[Jaan]

Was out there today for the 9:30 tide, lots of parking at 8:30, despite our arriving last minute due to some 95 traffic.
Viz about 30, and lots of cool creatures as usual. Indeed, being a little later that usual we did start 'feeling' in picking up about 90 minutes into it. Got calm again around the swim/snorkel area. A few samples from Nathalie to share.

Let me give it a try here: Striated Frogfish, Whitenose pipefish, Shameface Heart Crab, Well disguised scorpionfish, bluethroat pikeblenny, bobbit worm ...

 

[Pipehorse]

Pipehorse.. There's a black hamlet on one of the structures on the snorkel trail

There used to be one in the rubble pile adjacent to the hammerhead statues but I have not seen it for a while. Observed a smaller one in the vicinity of one of the sunken boats on the edge of the channel.

What's the difference between a naked sole and a zebra sole? To me they look alike.
I saw what was identified as a zebra a few years ago. Two different dives...
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I can't find a Zebra Sole in Humann's 4th edition or A Field Guide to Coastal Fishes. The species that seems most likely from range data is the Naked Sole. I can't find a Zebra Sole in STRI either. Admittedly, Zebra Sole seems like it would be a much more appropriate common name.

 

[Pipehorse]

Was out there today for the 9:30 tide, lots of parking at 8:30, despite our arriving last minute due to some 95 traffic.
Viz about 30, and lots of cool creatures as usual. Indeed, being a little later that usual we did start 'feeling' in picking up about 90 minutes into it. Got calm again around the swim/snorkel area. A few samples from Nathalie to share.

Let me give it a try here: Striated Frogfish, Whitenose pipefish, Shameface Heart Crab, Well disguised scorpionfish, bluethroat pikeblenny, bobbit worm ...

View attachment 735696View attachment 735697 View attachment 735698View attachment 735700View attachment 735699View attachment 735701

I like the Whitenose Pipefish, always a cool find!

 

[Pipehorse]

Went to the bridge for diving today. Arrived at 0723 for a 0930 high tide. Entered the water at 0745 just east of the east lifeguard stand to snorkel the trail prior to diving. Did a REEF fish count 56 species in 45 minutes. Entered the west side on scuba at 0845. Visibility was a cloudy 30ft and sea temp had dropped to 83f from 85f the day before. Did a REEF fish count 73 species in 65 minutes. The standout of the day was one the larger octopi I have observed at BHB. It was not in a hole, but rather clinging and stretched out upside down on a bridge column. The award for most interesting object of the day on a variegated sea urchin is a rose made of fabric. Respectively, Cottonwicks, Frogfish, Harlequin Bass, upside down Octo, Scrawled File and variegated sea urchin with attached fabric rose.

 

[PBcatfish]

... Scrawled File ...View attachment 735708

When I used to fish the shallow reefs to the south of the inlet, these were a common catch. The gray file fish were keepers. The scrawled version had to go back, because they were protected as ornamental reef fish. The only difference I am aware of is color.

 

[Pipehorse]

Went to the bridge for diving today. Arrived at 0709 for a 1010 high tide. There was still plenty of parking when I arrived. By the time I went to snorkel the trail at 0745 the parking lot was full. By the time I got out of the water from snorkeling at 0830, there were plenty of people circling around looking for parking spaces. Did a REEF fish survey while snorkeling, 56 species in 45 minutes. Entered the water on the westside at 0845. Visibility was a cloudy 30ft similar to yesterday, sea temp remains at 83F. Did a REEF fish count 76 species in 70 minutes. Despite the amount of divers in the park I encountered very few underwater. However, those that I did encounter seemed absolutely hell bent on stirring up the bottom with each and every meaningless fin stroke. I don't really understand it, they never seem to stop and look at anything, just a lot aimless swimming around, at least from my perspective. The only real standout today was a pair of courting Sailfin Blennies. The male was doing his best with fanned out dorsal fin, but the female was not having any of it, maybe waiting for a better suitor. Respectively, Banded Arm Brittle Star, M and F Sailfin Blenny, Male Sailfin Blenny with sailfin extended (left profile), Male Sailfin Blenny with sailfin extended (right profile), Smooth Trunkfish, and a pair of Planehead Filefish.

 

[MrChen]

Went to the bridge for diving today. Arrived at 0709 for a 1010 high tide. There was still plenty of parking when I arrived. By the time I went to snorkel the trail at 0745 the parking lot was full. By the time I got out of the water from snorkeling at 0830, there were plenty of people circling around looking for parking spaces. Did a REEF fish survey while snorkeling, 56 species in 45 minutes. Entered the water on the westside at 0845. Visibility was a cloudy 30ft similar to yesterday, sea temp remains at 83F. Did a REEF fish count 76 species in 70 minutes. Despite the amount of divers in the park I encountered very few underwater. However, those that I did encounter seemed absolutely hell bent on stirring up the bottom with each and every meaningless fin stroke. I don't really understand it, they never seem to stop and look at anything, just a lot aimless swimming around, at least from my perspective. The only real standout today was a pair of courting Sailfin Blennies. The male was doing his best with fanned out dorsal fin, but the female was not having any of it, maybe waiting for a better suitor. Respectively, Banded Arm Brittle Star, M and F Sailfin Blenny, Male Sailfin Blenny with sailfin extended (left profile), Male Sailfin Blenny with sailfin extended (right profile), Smooth Trunkfish, and a pair of Planehead Filefish.View attachment 735839View attachment 735840

I can't believe the parking lot fills up so early and it's not even a holiday, ugh. I want to do some more weekend diving at the bridge, but I'd have to be there earlier than what I wake up for work Mon-Fri. I'm just not making it to the bridge as much as I'd like.

Anyways, how awesome you caught the behaviors of the Blennies.