Blue Heron Bridge Trolls III

[Pipehorse]

Nice.
I really wanted to go, however I am resigned to shore duty for a few more days..
Glad you had a good dive, nice critter finds.

"Shore duty" ???

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Yeah, had a small medical procedure which is keeping out of the water for a week..
Next weeks tides are late in the day.. ugh..
Hope seas are flat, then I can at least beach dive.

 

[Pipehorse]

Yeah, had a small medical procedure which is keeping out of the water for a week..
Next weeks tides are late in the day.. ugh..
Hope seas are flat, then I can at least beach dive.

Yeah, it always seems as if circumstances are stacked against us when trying to get in the water, hope you feel better!

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Thanks. All is good, thank God!

 

[jeffsky29]

Went to the bridge for diving today. Arrived at 0815 for an 1105 high tide. Early arrival was unnecessary, the park was not crowded, guessing the weather kept everybody but divers away. Entered the water at 1005 visibility was improved over yesterday at 40 feet, sea temp @ 75f. Observed a large Manatee three minutes into the dive, but only got video of it swimming away from me. Did a REEF fish count 68 species in 60 minutes. Found a few more seashells of souvenir shop quality, i.e. bleached beautifully and species not indigenous to the bridge. Respectively, Atlantic Spadefish, Bluewing Searobin, Brown Garden Eel, Dusky Jawfish, Red Grouper, and Shortnose Batfish.

View attachment 702241

Are those babies in her mouth?

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Are those babies in her his mouth?

FTFY

 

[OceanEyes]

To embellish on @Scuba-Jenny’s response, the image you are referring to shows a male jawfish incubating a clutch of eggs in his mouth in a manner known as mouth brooding. After the eggs are laid and fertilized, the male will hold them in his mouth until the fry hatch.

 

[jeffsky29]

Very cool. Sorry for calling him a her, but maybe he is a she. Or maybe it is non-binary. Next time I will just refer to it as, “the fish”.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

No apologies needed. We all get to learn new stuff.

Very cool. Sorry for calling him a her, but maybe he is a she. Or maybe it is non-binary. Next time I will just refer to it as, “the fish”.

Maybe his name is Lola? L-O-L-A Lola..

 

[OceanEyes]

Made my way the the bridge in plenty of time for yesterday’s 3:24 PM high tide. Aside from one good old friend of mine, there were very few divers, fishermen, or other folks at the park. Got in the water around 2:00 and enjoyed a 2 1/2 hour dive. Visibility was about 20’ with a fair amount of particulate in the water column, a very slight current on the incoming and outgoing tides, and water temperature of 75°. Every time I felt a bit chilly and contemplated ending the dive, I’d come across something of interest and become oblivious to any discomfort.

I didn’t encounter anything that I’d never seen before, but found plenty of critters to keep me amused, interested, and engaged. I’ve not posted many of my photographs for a number of years, but figured that I’de share a few today.

Earlier in the day I paid a visit to a county park near my home and played with one of my old cameras in the hopes of finding some of our resident Blue-crowned Parakeets.

From top to bottom, one of the aforementioned Parakeets, Lined Seahorse, Bandtail Puffer, Polka-dot Batfish, Plumed Scorpionfish, an Octopus peering out of its den at, clockwise from the bottom left, a Bridled Goby, Red-Stripe Hermit, Golden Coral Shrimp, and Slate Pencil Urchin, and in what was a spectacular display of competition, a half dozen Giant Hermit Crabs tussled and clambered over the rights to occupy one of the Triton shells that @Pipehorse mentioned in his earlier posts. The fact that the shell was already occupied by one of their cousins did not deter the other 6 individuals in their attempts to requisition the much desired lodging.