Blue Heron Bridge Trolls III

[Scuba_Jenny]

Went to the bridge today, saw @Pipehorse in the parking lot, but the lot seemed to be filling up fast, so we hustled to get a spot. Ended up near the bathrooms on the west side. Interesting characters over there! LOL
Big find of the day was a pipehorse! Woot!!!! I have not heard any intel of it being found yet, but it acted like a seahorse that has had 1000 strobe flashes already.. I got this one shot mostly in focus.

the male seahorse was similar.. Every time I got close with the camera it turned its back. So I turned off the strobe and was able to to get this shot.

Saw a bunch of octopus also.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

I was intrigued by @MrChen finding the elusive Squat Urchin Shrimp. Not only because it is a very tiny and interesting critter to observe, but also for the fact that I have been observing a population explosion of Variegated Sea Urchins lately, or so it seems. This is completely anecdotal because I have no hard data for the amount of Variegated Sea Urchins on a given dive, like I do for fish. Anyway my thought is, if the Squat Urchin Shrimp are commensal with Variegated Sea Urchins, then the more urchins the more shrimp. Entered the westside, cut the corner around the retaining wall and worked my way north of the pier. Did a REEF survey of 62 species in 65 minutes. Worked my way to a point just east of the channel while staying north of the fishing pier. Sorry for the quality of the image below but it does illustrate the amount of Variegated Sea Urchins.
View attachment 833321
If the visibility is thirty feet and we make a thirty by thirty foot box, I would say a couple hundred per box.
I did not find any Squat Urchin Shrimp when I first started looking, because I found a Bumblebee Shrimp on a Slate Pencil Urchin. Somewhat of a much easier find than the Squat Urchin Shrimp.
View attachment 833322
As I have mentioned prior, I was shivering the whole dive, and have a problem concentrating on micro macro when I am that cold. So I moved on with the dive heading south now between channel barrier and wall stanchion. I reach the south end of the stanchion and loiter in that general area for a while. Always a good place for uncommon to rare fish. There are not as many urchins as a little to the north, but more than what I would consider an normal amount.
View attachment 833324
About to head back east to finish the dive, but before I do so, I check one more purple colored urchin. And to my delight there is and elusive Squat Urchin Shrimp. It was very shy, and would not show itself entirely, however you can see an eye, and a small claw just right of center frame.

Lastly I include a picture of a very interesting looking Sea Cucumber (exact species to be determined), found inside one of the modules on the snorkel trail yesterday.

It seems to me that the bridge is very cyclical. Some years the urchins are all over the place, but the past couple years not so much. Same with some of the fish and plant life. That area south of the bridge sometimes has a lot of plants and hydroids, but the past couple years its been bare.
Thoughts?

 

[PBcatfish]

It seems to me that the bridge is very cyclical. Some years the urchins are all over the place, but the past couple years not so much. Same with some of the fish and plant life. That area south of the bridge sometimes has a lot of plants and hydroids, but the past couple years its been bare.
Thoughts?

I also notice a lot of cyclical differences in the variety of growth in other areas within a few miles of the bridge. I mostly attribute the differences to varied nutrient loading and salinity in the water due to variations in run off from the cane fields & variations in flushing of water from Lake O, but there are natural causes too. This year I am seeing lots of soft growth & almost no barnacles. Last year was a bumper year for oysters. the year before that was barnacle hell. The only time worse that that was immediately after Hurricane Dorian. Two months worth of normal barnacle growth showed up in about a week and a half. Dorian REALLY moved a lot of stuff around. The types of soft growths that I see vary quite a bit. This year's dominant variety is new to me. Last year, rice sized shrimp were covering me when I got out of the water. This year, I see almost none. Gobys are still around. Catfish are still around. Ballyhoo are still around. The Permit are MIA. The big cudas are fewer & further between. The yellow jacks are MIA. Blue crabs are around more than usual. Stone crabs are thinner than last year, but still present. Moon Jellyfish were heavy for a while but are now gone. Man O War were REALLY big this year. Fire bearded bristle worms were all over the place last year, but not so much now. Southern stingrays were REALLY plentiful 2 years ago. Seeing 30 on a single dive was common. now it's the odd one or two. Johnson sea grass was wiped out for a few years, but is starting to come back. Guitar fish are starting to hang around.

These areas feed the bridge to a certain extent, but the bridge gets a constant wash of fresh sea water about twice per day, so it becomes able to present a more tolerable microcosm for a lot of species. ...but that balance can be delicate.

 

[Green Frog]

Now you’re just teasing me @PBcatfish

 

[Divin'Papaw]

For the tiny little subjects, for those of us without a macro camera, how do you all manage to see those tiny creatures? I wear contacts and am of the age group (rapidly approaching 60) where I need reading glasses for the near stuff when wearing my contacts. I do not want to go with glue on lenses inside my mask. Do some people dive with a magnifying glass? I believe I have seen divers with them at BHB. If so, how well do they work for seeing the tiny stuff? Also, if you use one, do you have a recommendation on a source for purchasing one that would be good for diving?

 

[Divin'Papaw]

@Scuba_Jenny I'm here to officially state that I told you on the phone, that, let me quote, "you were right."

The do not submerge area in front of the lifeguard station does not extend as far west as I thought it did.

View attachment 832971

That frequently messes me up too. I always think the guarded area (do not submerge zone) is far larger than it really is. Thanks for the reminder!

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

I wear glasses for daily wear (and bifocals). My mask is roughly my prescription, I use drop in lenses with a standard mask. As for the magnifying glass, just the cheapo ones found on Amazon. We picked them up and the first day we proudly showed them off, other divers had the exact same ones!

 

[MrChen]

For the tiny little subjects, for those of us without a macro camera, how do you all manage to see those tiny creatures? I wear contacts and am of the age group (rapidly approaching 60) where I need reading glasses for the near stuff when wearing my contacts. I do not want to go with glue on lenses inside my mask. Do some people dive with a magnifying glass? I believe I have seen divers with them at BHB. If so, how well do they work for seeing the tiny stuff? Also, if you use one, do you have a recommendation on a source for purchasing one that would be good for diving?

There isn't a single answer to this question.

1) I have glued lenses in my mask and absolutely love them. I get my rx updated in May and will immediately use my HSA account to order another mask with lenses.

2) You have to go slow. If you think you're going slow, you're still going too fast. Some nudis are smaller than a grain of rice. I found some nudis this weekend which were 1/4 the length of a grain of rice.

3) It depends on what you're looking for. You might have to look at every single feather algae front and back or scan the sea floor for patterns that could be seahorses or striated frogfish. On a night dive, I found skeleton shrimp for Jenny by using my light to shine parallel with the sea floor, highlighting the top of the plant life and looking for the slightest movements. Sometimes, I'll just stop and stare at a spot for 5-10 minutes. Eventually I'll start to see the area come to life (this works well on night dives where critters initially hide form the light). For specific Nudis, find what they eat or look under flat rocks.

4) Intel of recently found critters will make life much easier. As mentioned in #3, many nudis will only be found on their food source. If someone finds something new and they tell you what to find it on and where, then they've made your life that much easier.

5) Question everything that doesn't look perfect. For example, if I see a black coloration on a feather algae, I'll investigate it. I once took a picture of something and moved on. When I got home and looked at it on the computer, I realized I missed out on getting some nice shots of a nudi I had never seen before.

6) Luck... Sometimes you just get lucky.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

There isn't a single answer to this question.

1) I have glued lenses in my mask and absolutely love them. I get my rx updated in May and will immediately use my HSA account to order another mask with lenses.

2) You have to go slow. If you think you're going slow, you're still going too fast. Some nudis are smaller than a grain of rice. I found some nudis this weekend which were 1/4 the length of a grain of rice.

3) It depends on what you're looking for. You might have to look at every single feather algae front and back or scan the sea floor for patterns that could be seahorses or striated frogfish. On a night dive, I found skeleton shrimp for Jenny by using my light to shine parallel with the sea floor, highlighting the top of the plant life and looking for the slightest movements. Sometimes, I'll just stop and stare at a spot for 5-10 minutes. Eventually I'll start to see the area come to life (this works well on night dives where critters initially hide form the light). For specific Nudis, find what they eat or look under flat rocks.

4) Intel of recently found critters will make life much easier. As mentioned in #3, many nudis will only be found on their food source. If someone finds something new and they tell you what to find it on and where, then they've made your life that much easier.

5) Question everything that doesn't look perfect. For example, if I see a black coloration on a feather algae, I'll investigate it. I once took a picture of something and moved on. When I got home and looked at it on the computer, I realized I missed out on getting some nice shots of a nudi I had never seen before.

6) Luck... Sometimes you just get lucky.

I’m not entirely sure I want to work that hard to see something so tiny. I’ll just enjoy your photos instead!

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

#7 Get a buddy that can find the small stuff then have them show it to you.