A Layer of silt everywhere! WHY??????

[scuba guy ron]

I've been diving the north end of sharkys pier for about 4yrs now. The past 9mos or so there has been a thick layer of silt everywhere. If I fan it I lose all viz. I figure it may poss be due to a beach re-nourishment project or possibly some dredging locally. Does anyone know why this has been happining? Its becoming harder for me to get my wife to go with me from clearwater to venice since its so hard to find anything with the silt. Anyone have any info on it and when we can expect the conditions to change?

 

[Sh@rkW@tcher]

I'm not sure where all the silt came from, but it has been a problem for everyone. Vizibility does seem to increase the farther south you go, with decent viz reports coming from South Brohard and Casperson. I haven't gotten ay bad viz reports north of the venice jetties so I'm inclined to think its coming out of the bay system via the Venice Jetties and carried southward by the tides.

 

[2TH DIVR]

I believe and have been told, it's from the beach renourishment and the storms this past winter.
The sand used to renourish the beach has a lot finer particals in it and with the storms this past winter there was a lot of erosion and it had to go somewhere. The low vis areas are where the renourishment is, from the jetty to Sharkeys.