Went to the bridge for diving yesterday. Arrived at 1230 for a 1447 high tide. There was a little rain, so that kept the park uncrowded, about 50%. Finally some cleaner blue water moved in! Best visibility in a week at 40ft, with sea temp at 85f. Prior to diving I snorkeled the trail and did a REEF fish count of 47 species in 55 minutes.
Since the park was not crowded I decided to do the east side. Generally when doing the eastside I like to enter 90 minutes before the high tide, and stay under the bridge span, or an the area north of the bridge span, with an imaginary east west line extending from the boat ramp. The current at that time usually dissuades the majority of divers. Since there are rarely any other divers its a good time to get a glimpse of large Barracuda, Snook, and an occasional Goliath. About 20-30 minutes before the tide changes and the current is attenuating when everybody decides its a good time to check out underneath and to the north is when I head south. Then spend some time just south of the bridge span, and turn west to pickup the east end of the snorkel trail. Yesterday as I headed towards the snorkel trail there was a steady stream divers heading in the other direction towards the bridge span. I thought great, they won't be on the snorkel trail. Not sure that many of these divers have a plan or clue as to how to work each area to their advantage with the tide.
The find of the day yesterday was an Orangeback Bass. This is the third one I have found at BHB this year. They look like Lantern Bass except they have orange blotches on their bodies. Orangeback Bass are normally found at depths deeper than BHB, below sixty feet in areas of rubble adjacent to reefs. Orangeback Bass and Lantern Bass are synchronously hermaphroditic, i.e. they can mate as males and females. However, there is usually a dominant/territorial individual that functions only as a male and mates with the hermaphrodites more so than the hermaphrodites mating with each other. Also observed a Seminole Goby and Purplemouth Moray. Seminole Gobies hide in borrows located in sand and rubble. They are uncommon at the bridge, unlike the similar looking and common occurring Banner Gobies that have burrows in the silt. They can be found in the space between the beach and snorkel trail, or just off the snorkel trail. Purplemouth Moray's commonly occur on shallow reefs like those at LBTS, but are uncommon at BHB.
Respectively, Orangeback Bass Right Profile, Orangeback Bass Left Profile, Purplemouth Moray, Seminole Goby, and Barbfish.
