Blue Heron Bridge Trolls III

[tarponchik]

This should be on Discovery Channel. How a group of like minded divers spent 2 weeks, tag teaming until Mr. Hermit Crab was safely moved into their new home, a store purchased shell.

If the poor guy survives, why not.

 

[Pipehorse]

Went to the bridge for diving today. Arrived at 1020 for an 1150 high tide. It was moderately breezy and sunny. Parking lot was not crowded on arrival, but was filling up fast when I entered the water. Entered the water at 1045 on the west side, visibility was 50-60 feet, sea temp was 78f. Did a REEF fish count, 74 species in 60 minutes. The standout species of the day was an Orange Filefish, I would not call them rare, but they are at the very least uncommon. I was hovering midwater between the end of the fishing pier, and channel barrier, a spot I refer to as the fish bowl because it is somewhat closed in, i.e. the fishing pier to the east, the channel barrier to the west and the bridge column to the south. Normally Orange Filefish are difficult to approach for obtaining decent images, however that was not the case today, or perhaps it was because I didn't attempt an approach and remained stationary, the fish approached me. Images of same are attached a below.

Now on to the continuing saga of the Homeless Giant Hermit Crab. When last observed yesterday, the hermit crab had taken refuge in underneath an object buried in the sand because its beer bottle home had been smashed. I left a suitable shell next to the hermit crab, in hopes that it could/would take occupancy. When I did that yesterday it was 1.5 hours past slack tide. There weren't many people on the west side yesterday, and I did not see any remaining flags anywhere in the vicinity when I exited the water. This leaves me somewhat certain that the shell I left behind was not scooped up by some other diver five minutes after I left it there. Furthermore I wrote a message on the shell "Please leave shell for hermit crab". So if I was last person in the vicinity and the tide was already 1.5 hours past slack, that would have left the crab ample time to occupy the shell without human interference, i.e. until divers would have been entering the water today. I did not enter the water and head directly for the location of the hermit crab, but did a 105 minutes of diving before reaching the location. Drum roll please, when reaching the location the shell and the hermit crab were not present. I searched around a little bit to see if the hermit crab and shell were in the vicinity but no such luck. We could speculate endlessly, but just perhaps the hermit crab occupied the shell and moved on. BTW, the shell looks similar to the native Lighting Whelk shells, however it was dextral oriented, not sinistral like native Lighting Whelk. Respectively, Octopus exploring outside its beer bottle home, Juvenile Cowfish, Lined Seahorse, Orange Filefish, Orange Filefish, Porkfish Wide Angle, Spadefish and Porkfish Wide Angle.

 

[Jaan]

I will be looking for a Hermit crab in a shell with a note on it tomorrow
Sounds like it could be good news

 

[Rob9876]

When I did that yesterday it was 1.5 hours past slack tide.

Sorry to interrupt with a dumb question, but what is the time span for slack tide -- say, with a high tide of 6:02 p.m.? I'm hoping to dive BHB for the first time next week.

 

[Pipehorse]

Sorry to interrupt with a dumb question, but what is the time span for slack tide -- say, with a high tide of 6:02 p.m.? I'm hoping to dive BHB for the first time next week.

Not a dumb question. It is not set in stone but I would say takes about 20 minutes for reversal. If you are in the vicinity of either bridge span then by 6:30pm you will see (viz decreases) and feel (current going in opposite direction). However if you on the snorkel trail the reversal is less noticeable, because the water is not being squeezed through a bottle neck like on either bridge span.

 

[Rob9876]

Not a dumb question. It is not set in stone but I would say takes about 20 minutes for reversal. If you are in the vicinity of either bridge span then by 6:30pm you will see (viz decreases) and feel (current going in opposite direction). However if you on the snorkel trail the reversal is less noticeable, because the water is not being squeezed through a bottle neck like on either bridge span.

Thanks! Sorry to be dense, but is slack tide about 20 minutes only after the high tide time on the chart, or is it basically slack both 20 minutes before and 20 minutes after the time for high tide on the chart?

 

[Pipehorse]

Thanks! Sorry to be dense, but is slack tide about 20 minutes only after the high tide time on the chart, or is it basically slack both 20 minutes before and 20 minutes after the time for high tide on the chart?

The chart tells you when high or low tide occurs. So lets say 3:00pm is high tide. Then the incoming tide is going to start to slow down significantly just before 3:00 pm. Then it will slack at 3:00 pm (not move). Then it will reverse and start to moving in reverse direction by 3:15-3:20pm, this is not a hard fast rule. Sometimes it turns quick, sometimes it turns slow. If you have not been diving at the bridge before, a good rule of thumb is to enter the water approximately an hour before high tide, and exit approximately an hour afterwards. This is not written in stone. I see people entering 1.5 hours before high tide, and I typically might not exit until an 1.5 hours after high tide. Also if I get to there really early I might snorkel the trail before I even dive, say two hours before high tide. The idea of the hour before and hour after is the best visibility without to much current. Also if you google Blue Heron Bridge Dive, there are many good tip sheets, e.g. Nine Things You Need to Know Before Diving Blue Heron Bridge - Coleman Concierge .

If you have not been there before, its a relatively large area, that can be thought of as three areas, the eastside span, westside span, and snorkel trail in front of the beach. It would be very difficult to cover the whole area in one dive. Best to pick one side or the other, or just do the snorkel trail. Better yet, you can a hire a guide for a more local perspective. Its not necessary, but there are good guides available. @Scuba_Jenny does guides and she is on this thread all the time. Pura Vida divers and Force E also have guides for hire.

Oh and one or two other very important things, remember to use a frog kick, as opposed to a flutter kick. Flutter kick stirs up the bottom and reduces visibility for everybody. Be really aware of your buoyancy, its a shallow site so buoyancy control is somewhat more difficult than say on a sixty foot reef. Try to avoid making contact with the bottom or again it stirs everything up and reduces visibility, not to mention iddy biddy critters that might suffer damage from a human a thousand times their size. Good luck have some great dives!

 

[BrackaFish]

Sorry to interrupt with a dumb question, but what is the time span for slack tide -- say, with a high tide of 6:02 p.m.? I'm hoping to dive BHB for the first time next week.

+1 for using @Scuba_Jenny as a guide. We dove BHB a few years ago with her and she was both a delight and a true professional. Absolutely amazing at her ability to find the smallest of critters. Be safe

 

[Divin'Papaw]

The chart tells you when high or low tide occurs. So lets say 3:00pm is high tide. Then the incoming tide is going to start to slow down significantly just before 3:00 pm. Then it will slack at 3:00 pm (not move). Then it will reverse and start to moving in reverse direction by 3:15-3:20pm, this is not a hard fast rule. Sometimes it turns quick, sometimes it turns slow. If you have not been diving at the bridge before, a good rule of thumb is to enter the water approximately an hour before high tide, and exit approximately an hour afterwards. This is not written in stone. I see people entering 1.5 hours before high tide, and I typically might not exit until an 1.5 hours after high tide. Also if I get to there really early I might snorkel the trail before I even dive, say two hours before high tide. The idea of the hour before and hour after is the best visibility without to much current. Also if you google Blue Heron Bridge Dive, there are many good tip sheets, e.g. Nine Things You Need to Know Before Diving Blue Heron Bridge - Coleman Concierge .

If you have not been there before, its a relatively large area, that can be thought of as three areas, the eastside span, westside span, and snorkel trail in front of the beach. It would be very difficult to cover the whole area in one dive. Best to pick one side or the other, or just do the snorkel trail. Better yet, you can a hire a guide for a more local perspective. Its not necessary, but there are good guides available. @Scuba_Jenny does guides and she is on this thread all the time. Pura Vida divers and Force E also have guides for hire.

Oh and one or two other very important things, remember to use a frog kick, as opposed to a flutter kick. Flutter kick stirs up the bottom and reduces visibility for everybody. Be really aware of your buoyancy, its a shallow site so buoyancy control is somewhat more difficult than say on a sixty foot reef. Try to avoid making contact with the bottom or again it stirs everything up and reduces visibility, not to mention iddy biddy critters that might suffer damage from a human a thousand times their size. Good luck have some great dives!

@Pipehorse nailed it of course!

I’m one of those who dives 1.5 hours before to 1.5 after. I typically do a 2:15-3 hr dive. I stay on the snorkel trail for the first & last 30-45 min. I won’t head near either bridge span where the current is strongest until +- 30 min from high tide.

 

[Pipehorse]

Went to the bridge for diving today. Arrived at 1050 for a 12:30 high tide. Plenty of parking when I arrived, it started to fill up while I was getting ready, but anybody who wanted a space could get one. It was more breezy than yesterday, and partly sunny. Water had a little bit more a green tinge to than yesterday so my expectations for visibility were lessened. Entered the water on the west side at 11:15. Visibility was diminished from yesterday but still decent at 40ft, sea temp remains 78f. Did a REEF fish count, 71 species in 60 minutes. Encountered the same Orange Filefish as yesterday, and a Nurse Shark that has been hanging around the pier and bridge pilings.

So as I started the dive I had it way in the back of my head, that perhaps I would come across the Beer Bottle Giant Hermit Crab in the shell I left for it to occupy. I thought it possible but unlikely. Twenty minutes into the dive I found it! It was located approximately 250 feet from where the beer bottle had been smashed and where the shell had been left. It looked like any Giant Hermit Crab in shell albeit the shell is in somewhat more polished state than the shells hermit crabs are usually using for homes. I had had some trepidation about the size of the shell, I thought it might be too big or too heavy, but it seems like a perfect fit, not bad for off the rack with no tailor to fit it. Respectively, a different hermit crab with great eyelashes, an Eyed Flounder with darker coloring than normal, a filefish of species not determined yet, Beer Bottle Hermit Crab with writing on its new shell, Beer Bottle Hermit Crab Homeless no longer, and Orange Filefish.