Blue Heron Bridge Trolls III

[Pipehorse]

Went to the bridge for diving today. Arrived at 0915 for a 1115 high tide. The park was not crowded. Went snorkeling on the trail before diving. Entered the westside at 1015 on scuba, the park was still not crowded. Seemed like a lot of fisherman around the westside entrance, as opposed to being on the pier. Visibility was reduced from yesterday a cloudy 20ft, and sea temp of 86f. Did a REEF fish count 58 species in 60 minutes. Found a Bareye Hermit Crab living in a bottle that it can't possibly move. I have some spare shells I will take on the dive and leave in the vicinity tomorrow. The big school of Scaled Sardines seems to have vanished, but the squid are still hanging out near channel barrier on the westside. Respectively, Caribbean Reef Squid, Redtail Parrots, Stone Crab, Atlantic Deer Cowry, Bareyed Hermit Crab, Caribbean Reef Squid, and Highhats.

 

[Catito]

Went to the bridge for diving today. Arrived at 0915 for a 1115 high tide. The park was not crowded. Went snorkeling on the trail before diving. Entered the westside at 1015 on scuba, the park was still not crowded. Seemed like a lot of fisherman around the westside entrance, as opposed to being on the pier. Visibility was reduced from yesterday a cloudy 20ft, and sea temp of 86f. Did a REEF fish count 58 species in 60 minutes. Found a Bareye Hermit Crab living in a bottle that it can't possibly move. I have some spare shells I will take on the dive and leave in the vicinity tomorrow. The big school of Scaled Sardines seems to have vanished, but the squid are still hanging out near channel barrier on the westside. Respectively, Caribbean Reef Squid, Redtail Parrots, Stone Crab, Atlantic Deer Cowry, Bareyed Hermit Crab, Caribbean Reef Squid, and Highhats.


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Love the videos…especially the three highhats

 

[Pipehorse]

Went to the bridge for diving today. Arrived at 1000 for a 1201 high tide. Park was not crowded. Snorkeled the trail before diving. Entered the westside at 1105, visibility was 20ft, water was more green than blue, sea temp 87f. Did a REEF fish count 63 species in 65 minutes. Among the species was a Rock Cut Goby, new for Blue Heron Bridge as far as the REEF database is concerned. Rock Cut Goby has been observed 24 times out of a 181,000 surveys, over a period of 29 years. a rarity for sure. I left a suitable shell near the "trapped in a bottle hermit crab" from yesterday, hopefully it works out. Respectively, Alphabet Cone Shell, Barbfish, Rock Cut Goby 1, Rock Cut Goby 2, Shell for Hermit Crab, and Shortfin Pipefish.

 

[Pipehorse]

Went to the bridge for diving yesterday. Arrived at 1045 for a 1245 high tide. It was raining when I arrived and continued to rain the whole time I was there. There were no beach goers, and far less divers than usual, so the park was quite empty for a 1245 high tide. Snorkeled the trail, did a REEF fish count 45 species in 45 minutes. Entered the westside at 1140, despite all the rain visibility had improved from the day before 25ft, less cloudy, and less green. Sea temp was 86f. Did a REEF fish count 62 species in 60 minutes. Recall from the last two posts, on Tuesday I found a Bareye Hermit Crab in a bottle it could not move around. On Wednesday I left a suitable shell near the bottle, hoping the hermit crab could utilize it. On Thursday a located the bottle, the shell was gone and the hermit crab was gone from the bottle, so maybe it worked out. The Atlantic Deer Cowry is still in the same location, and its mantle was withdrawn giving a nice view of its beautiful shell. Respectively, French Grunts Facing Off, Deer Cowry, Deer Cowry, Hermit Crab in a Bottle, Shell Left for Hermit Crab, Bottle Empty Shell Gone, and Porkfish with Yellowtail Snapper Shadow Hunters.

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

Dove the ocean side on Saturday and spotted a baby lion fish. It was only about an inch long and disappeared into the coral. It was on the deepest buttress next the the channel about half way down and just a couple feet from the bottom.

 

[PBcatfish]

Not long ago, I was diving fairly close to the bridge, but well outside of the restricted waters. I saw two lion fish that appeared to be breeding. They were only about 4-5" long. Geeze, they start young. It was the first time that I had seen two of them interlocked like that, belly to belly.

A pole spear was brought to bear. The romance of the moment was effectively interrupted.

 

[Gonza6bb]

Anyone dive high slack first thing in the morning? 7:08am? Is there enough light this time of year to enjoy the dive?

 

[PBcatfish]

Anyone dive high slack first thing in the morning? 7:08am? Is there enough light this time of year to enjoy the dive?

The local surf report graphs daylight & tide together - Reef Road Surf Report & Surf Forecast with Live Surf Webcams - Magicseaweed

You can find a similar graph at the bottom of the inlet webcam page - Lake Worth Inlet Webcam

Tomorrow you could just about make it. Saturday looks good.

 

[scubabjs]

Visited the bridge on Friday Sept 16th, 2022, Found a ring close to the pillars, (my first time diving there, close to the fishing pier) if you can ID it I would be glad to mail it two you.

 

[Pipehorse]

Went to the bridge for diving today. Arrived at 0755 for a 0705 high tide. The park was not crowded. I know, you are probably thinking why bother if arriving that late? Because the snorkel trail is still doable up to three hours after high tide. Entered the water on the eastside at 0815 and worked west along the snorkel trail. Visibility was about 20ft, with a green tinge, sea temp 86f. Did a REEF fish count 64 species in 75 minutes. Observed a Snakefish two minutes into the dive. Snakefish have been reported 300 times
in 181,000 surveys, so a relatively rare fish to observe. Respectively, Black Grouper, Regal Demoiselle(Invasive), Sheepshead, and Snakefish.