Blue Heron Bridge Trolls III

[Scuba_Jenny]

For some reason this one reminds me of @MrChen collections . Turtle grass anemones we were told

We got new seavision masks with optics that actually let us see these tiny macro subjects. Now we hope to see some of those skeleton shrimps too.

Coming home and looking these up we came to find out these little guys contain stinging capsules (nematocysts) with venom that can cause pain and nerve damage to humans.. hmmm

those little ones sting, but not too bad..

 

[Pipehorse]

Went to the bridge for diving today and yesterday. Today I assessed the visibility from shore and decided it was not worth it, i.e. the water had the green/white kiss of death for visibility color, and I could only barely see the bottom from the sea wall. Yesterday I arrived at 0730 for a 0951 high tide. Park was not crowded when I arrived, but filled up rapidly in the next hour. Snorkeled the trail prior to diving, did a REEF fish survey, 46 species in 50 minutes. Visibility was a hazy 15ft, and sea temp was back up to 86f. Entered the westside on scuba at 0835 and stayed in the water until 1112. Did a REEF survey of 64 species in 75 minutes. Since the visibility was not very good I stayed close to the bottom searching for interesting macro critters and fish. Found a few interesting crabs that were hard to see, even with a magnifying glass, so no images. Found a Brittle Star out and about, which is unusual in the day time. Must of spent 40 minutes or so in the rubble pile under the pier. So many fish hang out in that spot, its live diving in a fish bowl. It rained pretty hard during the end of the dive, park was half cleared out when I exited the water. Respectively, Mantis Shrimp, Brittle Star, Flat Sea Star, Spadefish, and Tomtates

 

[FLturtle]

Pretty sea star

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Yikes, I was wondering what viz was like today. I went off the beach, it was deceptively calm. We must of gotten in during a lull between wave sets. By the time we were kicking out, we heard the roar of a wave going over the sand bar.. Yikes! Viz was 5ft max close to shore, opened up to 20 further out. Coming back in, the west side of the sandbar, the viz dropped to 0, and you could see sand flying up from the bottom a good foot and a half. Wow-zeee... those waves were set to be gear thieves, but we managed to exit with all our gear AND pride.. no wipe outs!!

 

[MrChen]

Coming home and looking these up we came to find out these little guys contain stinging capsules (nematocysts) with venom that can cause pain and nerve damage to humans.. hmmm

Oh wow, I see those things everywhere.

 

[MrChen]

I dove Saturday morning at the bridge. I arrived at 7:15am for a 9:51 HT. The sidewalk parking was full, and the 2nd row had 10 spots or so. Within 15 min, the 2nd row was full.

Since the last night dive, Blue Heron Bridge Trolls III, I've been getting a lot of friend requests on FB after my photos were shared in the BHB Club group. I had so many people approaching me, asking if I was Christian Jones, wanting to talk about what I found. I even received a message from someone who works with Paul Humann, author of the Reef Fish ID books, asking if they could use a couple of the pics in a project. I guess I did something right last week. A peak of my short-lived underwater photography fame. It was fun though, and I enjoyed getting to meet people who are so passionate about this stuff. I really enjoy hearing about the science of it all, but I suck at remembering it all (names, facts, etc). I wish I could talk the same talk, but I'm just an idiot who got lucky and found some cool looking critters and took pictures.

Vis was 10ft in the beach area, 15ft under the east bridge. Of course, once divers started entering up current, vis got worse while everyone kicked up silt, but it only temporary.

I dove in a group of 4. @SubNeo, an out of towner named Tammy, and @vr2o. Tammy is an excellent diver, instructor, etc. vr2o is new and wanting to dive more. Tammy picked up that he didn't have enough weights. I brought extra weight in case this happened, so we got another 4 lbs on him and went diving. vr2o lasted over 90 minutes on his first dive, which was really good.

I found a couple of nudi's, but I could not get any good pictures. There was a surge which threw the subjects and me around. When you're trying to take a picture that magnified and you only have a few inches of focal distance to play with, it made for a frustrating shot. I hit several of the usual spots for nudis, sea slugs, etc, and found nothing.

At the end of the day, we had a good dive. SubNeo picked up a bunch of trash. Tammy got some cool pics, and vr2o went diving (and did pretty well for his first time).

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Since the last night dive, Blue Heron Bridge Trolls III, I've been getting a lot of friend requests on FB after my photos were shared in the BHB Club group. I had so many people approaching me, asking if I was Christian Jones, wanting to talk about what I found. I even received a message from someone who works with Paul Humann, author of the Reef Fish ID books, asking if they could use a couple of the pics in a project. I guess I did something right last week. A peak of my short-lived underwater photography fame. It was fun though, and I enjoyed getting to meet people who are so passionate about this stuff. I really enjoy hearing about the science of it all, but I suck at remembering it all (names, facts, etc). I wish I could talk the same talk, but I'm just an idiot who got lucky and found some cool looking critters and took pictures.

Awesome!! I'll have to have you sign my logbook the next time we dive together!

 

[MrChen]

Awesome!! I'll have to have you sign my logbook the next time we dive together!

It'll be a 1 day collector's item, worth $0.00

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Awesome!! I'll have to have you sign my logbook the next time we dive together!

Oh crap. Now all the fame is gonna go to his head..

I'll probably have to get a reservation to dive with him next time, instead of him wanting to dive with me!

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

I dove Saturday morning at the bridge. I arrived at 7:15am for a 9:51 HT. The sidewalk parking was full, and the 2nd row had 10 spots or so. Within 15 min, the 2nd row was full.

Since the last night dive, Blue Heron Bridge Trolls III, I've been getting a lot of friend requests on FB after my photos were shared in the BHB Club group. I had so many people approaching me, asking if I was Christian Jones, wanting to talk about what I found. I even received a message from someone who works with Paul Humann, author of the Reef Fish ID books, asking if they could use a couple of the pics in a project. I guess I did something right last week. A peak of my short-lived underwater photography fame. It was fun though, and I enjoyed getting to meet people who are so passionate about this stuff. I really enjoy hearing about the science of it all, but I suck at remembering it all (names, facts, etc). I wish I could talk the same talk, but I'm just an idiot who got lucky and found some cool looking critters and took pictures.

Vis was 10ft in the beach area, 15ft under the east bridge. Of course, once divers started entering up current, vis got worse while everyone kicked up silt, but it only temporary.

I dove in a group of 4. @SubNeo, an out of towner named Tammy, and @vr2o. Tammy is an excellent diver, instructor, etc. vr2o is new and wanting to dive more. Tammy picked up that he didn't have enough weights. I brought extra weight in case this happened, so we got another 4 lbs on him and went diving. vr2o lasted over 90 minutes on his first dive, which was really good.

I found a couple of nudi's, but I could not get any good pictures. There was a surge which through the subjects and me around. When you're trying to take a picture that magnified and you only have a few inches of focal distance to play with, it made for a frustrating shot. I hit several of the usual spots for nudis, sea slugs, etc, and found nothing.

At the end of the day, we had a good dive. SubNeo picked up a bunch of trash. Tammy got some cool pics, and vr2o went diving (and did pretty well for his first time).

Fun times when photos get posted in that group.