Trip Report Back in Florida, 2022 #3

[drrich2]

but I got the proof !!

Yeah, you did! Lot that tall, somewhat narrow looking dorsal fin.

Saw that HH on Sunday a little further south of your dive.... he came up off the sand and up the ledge and right at us with the pic fins down.... had a pretty aggressive posture.... turned away about 15 ft from me. He circled around for a few more minutes and went on his way.

That surprises me; I was under the impression hammerheads outside of feeding dives tended to be more stand-offish. Was anyone in your group spear fishing or otherwise doing anything that might 'trigger' one a bit? Did the drift take you guys at it, such that it might've felt you were coming at it?

 

[scubadada]

Hi @drrich2

On one of my encounters with a Great Hammerhead on the outside reef of Boynton I was swimming south with the current. The GH came slowly up on my right side, swam with me, pulled ahead and crossed over in front of me before it slowly swam off. There was no hurry, no excitement, just a random passing in the ocean. The whole event took a minute or more. It's why you dive.

 

[gbf]

Just got back home and dumped the camera drives

You gotta love SCUBABOARD !! Just jump on a dive boat with @scubadada and off we go in Boynton to see a 10 foot hammerhead and massive Spotted Eagle Ray. Dirty 30-40ft viz and I suck at photography. But I still captured the proof and if you Ain't got a picture,,,,well you know what they say....
So many Thanks to Scubadada and Capt Alex on Starfish. WoW, we had a fun day !!


Current was 3 knot and we were flying the opposite direction the hammer was going.
Squeeze off this long range shot and cropped it,,,,but I got the proof !!

View attachment 732828

And the Spotted Eagle Ray I got on my tiny AKASO video camera. { 30 seconds }



And lastly the Dock Picture L>R.......Scubadada / Capt Alex B / Johnoly

View attachment 732829

Want to join us next time,,,It's not a club>>Everyone's Invited !!!
Click the invite Here>

Goliath Grouper Aggregate 2022 - The Dives

Planning thread Ok looks like while I was busy people have already pushed the issue. Saturday August 13th Jupiter Dive Center 9am 2 Tank Wreck Trek Republic VII https://divecenters.scubaocity.com/index.cfm?go=DiveDetail&id=204584 Nitrox, SMB, and Computer required Sunday September 11th...

scubaboard.com

That is so dang cool...

 

[scubadada]

Dive day 6, July 12

I did 4 dives with Jupiter Dive Center today, Capts Ryan and Tim, Guide/Deckhand Mark and Ben. Seas were less than a foot in the morning, A thunderstorm came up between morning and afternoon and the seas were 1-2 ft. Water was very warm 84-85 degreees. Visibility was about 30 ft, occasionally 40.

First dive was at Spadefish Point. Second dive at Scarface into Capt Kirle's. Third dive at Juno Ledge, fourth dive at Lighthouse and Loggerhead. The first 3 dives were fine but, it was best for last. The dive at Lighthouse/Loggerhead was fantastic. Many Loggerhead turtles, sleeping, crawling, and swimming. There were 4 or 5 Goliath Grouper, Two medium size decided to swim with us for at least 10 min, making close encounters, eye to eye. There were also 2 or 3 Lemon Sharks. Again, you go down, you look around, you never know what you will see.

 

[Johnoly]

Dive day 6, July 12

....Jupiter Dive Center today, Capts Ryan

Capt Ryan may look young, but he has many many years on the boats and he's been thru some pretty crazy stuff on board with passengers. He's seasoned and he'll do just fine as he takes over for Tim.

It looks like you are closing out a really incredible week+ of diving in Florida. Hurry back now yaa hear!!

 

[tekkydiver]

We were going with north along the top of the ledge. I had my gun, but hadn't shot anything. The fish came up from off the ledge clearly with the intention of checking us out. Have to tell you it was a bit unsettling but we both went on our way. Don't want to have to be looking over my shoulder during lobster season

 

[scubadada]

Dive day 7, July 13

Two dives with Walker's Dive Charters this morning out of Riviera Beach City Marina. Forrest drove and Ali and Autumn were the guides/deck hands. The boat was quite full with 15 divers. Seas were about a foot, mild north current, visibility mostly 30 feet, water 85 degrees.

Two easy, shallow reef dives. First dive was at Bath and Tennis, second was at Ron's Rock, Middle Earth, Flower Gardens. Nothing spectacular, all the usual reef fish and a couple of Loggerheads on the second dive. There are many Yellowhead Jawfish in the sand after Ron's Rock. I did not see any with eggs.

A very relaxing day of diving.

 

[scubadada]

Dive day 8, July 14, last day of diving.

Did a 3 tanker with JDC that was mostly chartered by a dive shop from St Augustine and went out at 10 AM. Capt Tom, guide David, mate Ryan. Ryan is a new captain for JDC but is still waiting for the processing of his license. He is also the best deckhand JDC has ever had

Seas were around a foot, water temp 84-5, moderate to brisk north current, poor vis 20-30 ft, sometimes less. First dive was at Bluffs, just into Scarface. Second dive was Scarface into Capt Kirle's. Third dive was Lighthouse into Loggerhead into Julie's.

Quite a few Loggerhead Turtles, a few Goliath Grouper, a couple of Nurse Sharks, and the usual reef fish.

So, 21 dives over 8 days using 4 of my 5 usual operations out of 3 marinas. It was a good trip, got my fix before my wife and I go to Bonaire for 2 weeks in mid-August. Thanks to JDC, Starfish, Loggerhead, and Walker's. Special thanks to @Johnoly for bringing good luck and good food to our dive on Monday, where we saw the
Great Hammerhead and the gigantic Eagle Ray.

See you in Sept for Goliath Grouper aggregation.

 

[Johnoly]

See you in Sept for Goliath Grouper aggregation.

Sounds like a really good dive visit instead of being blown out for days. We'll see you next time!!

 

[Trailboss123]

Dive day 8, July 14, last day of diving.

Did a 3 tanker with JDC that was mostly chartered by a dive shop from St Augustine and went out at 10 AM. Capt Tom, guide David, mate Ryan. Ryan is a new captain for JDC but is still waiting for the processing of his license. He is also the best deckhand JDC has ever had

Seas were around a foot, water temp 84-5, moderate to brisk north current, poor vis 20-30 ft, sometimes less. First dive was at Bluffs, just into Scarface. Second dive was Scarface into Capt Kirle's. Third dive was Lighthouse into Loggerhead into Julie's.

Quite a few Loggerhead Turtles, a few Goliath Grouper, a couple of Nurse Sharks, and the usual reef fish.

So, 21 dives over 8 days using 4 of my 5 usual operations out of 3 marinas. It was a good trip, got my fix before my wife and I go to Bonaire for 2 weeks in mid-August. Thanks to JDC, Starfish, Loggerhead, and Walker's. Special thanks to @Johnoly for bringing good luck and good food to our dive on Monday, where we saw the
Great Hammerhead and the gigantic Eagle Ray.

See you in Sept for Goliath Grouper aggregation.

Great report(s) as always, my friend! I assume you are staying at your usual haunt next month in Bonaire? - #DenLaman and #BariReef!