paulwall
Contributor
The weather gods were smiling Saturday when I got up for a much-anticipated trip with Gary's Gulf Divers (Gary's Gulf Divers, Full Service Dive Shops, Orange Beach, Alabama).
We had scheduled over a month ago to check out the Trysler grounds for Lobster. It would have been a perfect day to make the trip-flat gulf, bright sun, and cool weather made for a perfect day on the water.
Due to lack of participation, the trip was changed to Ivan's reef. Bridge rubble from the old Pensacola I-10 is deposited in about 80ft of water 12 miles out from the Pass. It is VAST and confusing. Unlike Atlantis, where entire spans were laid down, and easily navigated, Ivan's consists of Concrete columns laid haphazardly across the seafloor. I ran a line from my spool in the 40' viz so I could find my way back to the anchor point.
My buddy for this dive was a DM-in Training, Sarah. There were only 4 of us in the water, and I tried to strike out into uncharted territory. I was determined to find lobster, as Tom Wicker had reported that they were out there. No lobster were sighted, but big schools of Amberjack, Spadefish, Pinfish, Angels, flounder and small creatures were abundant. I hit 80' for 47min TDT. Average depth for me was ~67ft. Water temps were 80* (felt colder). Hopped back on the boat, and swapped tanks for the second dive.
A 45 min or so Surface Interval found us at site #2. Three Pyramids (fish attractors) in 65 ft of water in a line. Hundreds of Snapper, schools of Spadefish, and a few triggers and Angelfish called this site home. There is supposed to be bridge rubble very nearby, but it must be covered, as I scanned 100ft in all directions and didn't see anything else. Near the end of the dive I found 3 sea robins probing the sand for lunch. Those are some creepy fish when they are feeding. When the 'wings' are out they're beautiful, but when crawling on their skeleton fingers, it gives me the willies.
45min TDT, 80*, 30-35' viz.
We had scheduled over a month ago to check out the Trysler grounds for Lobster. It would have been a perfect day to make the trip-flat gulf, bright sun, and cool weather made for a perfect day on the water.
Due to lack of participation, the trip was changed to Ivan's reef. Bridge rubble from the old Pensacola I-10 is deposited in about 80ft of water 12 miles out from the Pass. It is VAST and confusing. Unlike Atlantis, where entire spans were laid down, and easily navigated, Ivan's consists of Concrete columns laid haphazardly across the seafloor. I ran a line from my spool in the 40' viz so I could find my way back to the anchor point.
My buddy for this dive was a DM-in Training, Sarah. There were only 4 of us in the water, and I tried to strike out into uncharted territory. I was determined to find lobster, as Tom Wicker had reported that they were out there. No lobster were sighted, but big schools of Amberjack, Spadefish, Pinfish, Angels, flounder and small creatures were abundant. I hit 80' for 47min TDT. Average depth for me was ~67ft. Water temps were 80* (felt colder). Hopped back on the boat, and swapped tanks for the second dive.
A 45 min or so Surface Interval found us at site #2. Three Pyramids (fish attractors) in 65 ft of water in a line. Hundreds of Snapper, schools of Spadefish, and a few triggers and Angelfish called this site home. There is supposed to be bridge rubble very nearby, but it must be covered, as I scanned 100ft in all directions and didn't see anything else. Near the end of the dive I found 3 sea robins probing the sand for lunch. Those are some creepy fish when they are feeding. When the 'wings' are out they're beautiful, but when crawling on their skeleton fingers, it gives me the willies.
45min TDT, 80*, 30-35' viz.
. I have also seen those purple wire coral on the three mile barge and on other locations diving from Orange Beach and Pensacola. Oddly enough I have mostly seen it at shallower depths. I know there is some on the MASS as well. Maybe it can thrive in our climate at shallower depths?
