Blue Heron Bridge Trolls III

[tarponchik]

The surf is 4-6 ft, so low vis was expected, I guess.

 

[scubadada]

@Green Frog.. I use the same set up in the ocean as I do off the shallow beach dive of BHB. I think everybody else does the same.. BHB is super shallow, so having your buoyancy dialed in in key. That photo I took of @MrChen and @SubNeo is only about 4ft deep!

 

[PBcatfish]

I agree that buoyancy control is most difficult in the top 10 or 20 feet of the water column. It's made worse by being over weighted & therefore having excess air in your BC. Getting your weight just right, so you can dive with a nearly empty BC is very helpful during shallow dives.

 

[MrChen]

No vis and cold. I'll be staying home this weekend.

 

[Green Frog]

Well, serendipity seems to have struck. The nearest LDS (only 50 mi away) is organizing a dive trip to Pompano Beach, FL which will have a special side trip to...

wait for it...

Blue Heron Bridge!

The plan is for mid-January, with all its weather hazards, but who knows, maybe we’ll drive down from Central VA and get lucky, huh?

So, all this temptation you’ve placed in front of me on these threads it looks like I’ve been lured back to Florida’s sunny shores. I hope you’re all very happy with yourselves!

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Weather could be anywhere from fantastic to blowing cold for Florida. Generally, if the wind blows, you head to the bridge for diving.. Usually the muck that is low viz this time of year clears up in a few weeks, and January diving can be nice.
See ya in January, maybe..

 

[MrChen]

Since I can't dive, I dropped all my empty tanks off at my LDS, and I've been watching videos of people catching lobster and spearfishing on YouTube. I love the mid 70's temperature, but dang, do you have to mess up conditions?

 

[Johnoly]

The plan is for mid-January, with all its weather hazards,

I'm just sharing my calendar history from the past 20 years. We (SE FLA) gets really rough seas from approx Jan 5 to 20th. Then on that weekend the 20th falls we get a 3 day weather window of doable and sometimes Great seas. But we have almost always been blown out for MLK weekend. I've been wrong plenty and that's why I keep a calendar. BHB is a great backup plan. A 2nd backup plan since waters will be cold is for your group to visit the WPB manatee center. It's free and they've got a live webcam that gets busy in January. Or climb the Jupiter Lighthouse vertical stairs. It's just a really good idea to have a quick option to pivot towards when your fellow divers start to moan cause the charter cancelled. Have a great trip, pet a lemon shark !

 

[Catito]

Pipefish
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Juvenile trunkfish
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Molly Miller
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Thrush Cowrie - This one caught the attention of Anne DuPont. She explained that this is a non-indigenous mollusk (Naria turdus), and it's the second sighting of this cowrie at the bridge. She requested additional photos and information. She emailed the details to some scientists who are doing a study (one with FAU.edu email address and the other with a shellmuseum.org email address).
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Bumblebee shrimp on a white sea urchin
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Super nice

 

[Pipehorse]

Went to the bridge for diving today. Arrived at 0705 for an 0755 high tide. The park was 90% empty. Entered the west side at 0725. Visibility was a cloudy 30ft with a sea temp of 81f. Did a REEF fish survey of 67 species in 65 minutes. Exited the water after two hours and then snorkeled the trail for another REEF fish survey of 50 species in 50 minutes. Went exiting the water at 1050 I could not help but notice, that I was the only person left in the water, a rarity at BHB for sure. Observed a smaller Horseshoe Crab today, or the carcass of one anyway. Horseshoe Crabs are more closely related to spiders than to crabs. It is easy to see the compound eyes it has on either side of its carapace. However, Horseshoe crabs actually have a total of ten eyes. A set underneath, a single array on the telson (spinal tail), a single in the center of the carapace, and three other sets on either side. Respectively, Scrawled Filefish, Giant Hermit Crab, Horseshoe Crab, Lionfish, and Redband Parrotfish.