Blue Heron Bridge Trolls III

[PBcatfish]

My grass was so brown this morning that I had to water it, to avoid it completely disappearing permanently. That means that it hasn't rained in a long time. That means that Lake O levels should be low. That means that the locks should only be opening when boats need to pass & the spillways should be closed. That means that we should not be seeing a bunch of mucky water washing down the ICW. That means that vis at BHB should be improving for the foreseeable future. ...But cane harvest season is over now & fertilizers will be going down again, so algae growth is likely to kick up again soon. Enjoy it while you can folks.

 

[Pipehorse]

And ya wonder why there are so many bad divers at the bridge???

The newbie divers for sure can be forgiven for less than stellar performance, in fact to a large extent the instructors of newbie divers are more to blame. Thing is, we have dozens of photogs with rigs in the $10k-$25k range (some have more money in their camera rig than their vehicle), just as clueless as any newbie. Bouncing on the bottom using a steel stick as a cane instead practicing good buoyancy, the amount of people I observed doing this lately is truly disturbing.

My grass was so brown this morning that I had to water it, to avoid it completely disappearing permanently. That means that it hasn't rained in a long time. That means that Lake O levels should be low. That means that the locks should only be opening when boats need to pass & the spillways should be closed. That means that we should not be seeing a bunch of mucky water washing down the ICW.

I agree with most of what you say here. However, I think many of these issues are somewhat indirectly correlated. For example, during rainy season Lake O does rise, and USACOE attempts to keep a certain level which means more dumping, which means more of that water entering the ICW. But during rainy season most of the rain local to the ICW also runs into the ICW, which can foul the vis regardless of what USACOE does. Than there are upwellings from the ocean we do not have a good understanding of, fluctuation east and west of the gulf stream, etc. The list goes on and on.

Went to the bridge for diving yesterday. It was not particularly crowded. I was pleasantly surprised by 35ft vis, my expectations were of much lower vis because of the wind. However, given it was an east wind, maybe it was moving a lot of blue water towards shore. Sea temperature was 76f.

Stayed on the westside for the entirety of the dive between bridge pillars and underneath the pier. I continued to collect as many species photographing as I could for the CNCSOFLO on inat. Not sure what the exact count is at the moment but about 170 species total across most of the phylum existing underwater at BHB. Did a REEF fish survey of 58 species in sixty minutes. Respectively, Orangespot Goby, Harlequin Bass, Turkey Wing, Spottail Sea Bream, and Frogfish.

 

[hilljo88]

Went to the bridge for diving today and had the pleasure of meeting Pipehorse and thanked him for his extensive contributions to the diving community. Here’s a few of my pics:

 

[Pipehorse]

Before I dive in (so to speak), I would like to update on the City Nature Challenge that I mentioned in the post of April 29. There were 28,925 observations reported by 849 observers, for a total of 3,484 species. I reported a little over 200 species, the majority of which were aquatic, more details can be seen at the following link, City Nature Challenge.

Went to the bridge for diving today. Arrived at 0650 for a 0714 high tide. The park was uncrowded. Visibility was 25-30ft, sea temp up to 78f. Had the pleasure of meeting fellow scubaboarder @hilljo88, always nice to put a face with a name.

Entered on the west side at 0710. Stayed to the west, making a circuit around the western part of the snorkel trail, and then heading further to the west close to the boat channel. Not searching for anything in particular. Did a REEF fish survey of 50 species in 65 minutes. Observed one the best camouflaged Frogfish I have ever seen, even when looking at the image I have a hard time distinguishing it from the Brown Bryozoan next to it. Observed a Pink and White Dwarf Frogfish, Lined Seahorse, and a concentration of five nudibranchs in one small hydroid. Respectively, Nudibranch Genus Doto, Dwarf Frogfish, Striated Frogfish, Tiny Tunicates (species unknown) and close up of Zig Zag Scallop.

 

[Pipehorse]

Went to the bridge for diving yesterday. Arrived at 0650 for an 0807 high tide. Surprised at the amount of people that were there before for 0700, but still not crowded at all. Visibility still in the 30ft range, sea temp holding at 78f.

Entered on the westside, and did the same circuit as the day before, west end of the snorkel trail then drift slowly to west in the vicinity of what I call the slope/ridge/plateau area. One slope facing the south one slope facing the east. Ridge on top of the slope that faces the east, the plateau west of the ridge, and north of the south facing slope. South facing slope, slopes down and levels off into the boat channel. If you follow that slope it eventually curves so that it faces the west and will bring you to the channel barriers, i.e. this slope is a contour boundary of the boat channel.

Seems that unusual critters and fish were out in force this particular day. Of note was a Magnificent Sea Urchin and an unidentified species of Squat Lobster. I have only seen a Magnificent Sea Urchin twice before in thirty years of diving South Florida. Once at the bridge, and the other in the sand not far the wreck called the Sea Emperor or Aqua zoo down off Deerfield Beach/Boca Raton. Apparently it is a deeper water species, so unusual so see it in shallow water. It happened to be that shortly after I observed the Magnificent Sea Urchin, @Scuba_Jenny showed up in the same area. So I was glad to share that discovery. I had observed a pair of the Squat Lobster species a couple weeks ago. I thought then it was a lucky find, and doubted I would ever run across the same again. But I found another, in the exact location as I found the previous pair (by accident was not looking for it). The image is not the greatest (the specimen is tiny and moves around a lot), however you can see the length of the claws compared to the body length. Looks like a three to one ratio of claw to body length. It is a strange looking species even for a crustacean. Also think I observed a species of nudibranch Cuthona tina, but its hard to tell because the specimen is all white and the image is over exposed, so just looks a bit like a white blob. Respectively, Squat Lobster (species unidentified), Magnificent Sea Urchin, Box Crab (species unidentified), Cuthona Tina ( I think), and Striated Frogfish

 

[Johnoly]

.. I have only seen a Magnificent Sea Urchin twice before in thirty years of diving South Florida.

Thank you for teaching us readers about a newer species at BHB >>a world class dive site !!

 

[h2o_hamilton]

They also do multiple dives in a single session to get certified.
And ya wonder why there are so many bad divers at the bridge???

Agreed, but there are a LOT of bad divers at the bridge in general. Blame the turn and burn model of instruction, based on the need for instructors to make a living because it’s a race to the bottom for who can be “cheaper”.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Thank you for teaching us readers about a newer species at BHB >>a world class dive site !!

Not so sure newer, but just not seen very often. Guitarfish are more common! LOL

 

[tarponchik]

I wonder, if this is the same species? Costa Rica, 2016.

 

[Catito]

Went to the bridge for diving yesterday. Arrived at 0650 for an 0807 high tide. Surprised at the amount of people that were there before for 0700, but still not crowded at all. Visibility still in the 30ft range, sea temp holding at 78f.

Entered on the westside, and did the same circuit as the day before, west end of the snorkel trail then drift slowly to west in the vicinity of what I call the slope/ridge/plateau area. One slope facing the south one slope facing the east. Ridge on top of the slope that faces the east, the plateau west of the ridge, and north of the south facing slope. South facing slope, slopes down and levels off into the boat channel. If you follow that slope it eventually curves so that it faces the west and will bring you to the channel barriers, i.e. this slope is a contour boundary of the boat channel.

Seems that unusual critters and fish were out in force this particular day. Of note was a Magnificent Sea Urchin and an unidentified species of Squat Lobster. I have only seen a Magnificent Sea Urchin twice before in thirty years of diving South Florida. Once at the bridge, and the other in the sand not far the wreck called the Sea Emperor or Aqua zoo down off Deerfield Beach/Boca Raton. Apparently it is a deeper water species, so unusual so see it in shallow water. It happened to be that shortly after I observed the Magnificent Sea Urchin, @Scuba_Jenny showed up in the same area. So I was glad to share that discovery. I had observed a pair of the Squat Lobster species a couple weeks ago. I thought then it was a lucky find, and doubted I would ever run across the same again. But I found another, in the exact location as I found the previous pair (by accident was not looking for it). The image is not the greatest (the specimen is tiny and moves around a lot), however you can see the length of the claws compared to the body length. Looks like a three to one ratio of claw to body length. It is a strange looking species even for a crustacean. Also think I observed a species of nudibranch Cuthona tina, but its hard to tell because the specimen is all white and the image is over exposed, so just looks a bit like a white blob. Respectively, Squat Lobster (species unidentified), Magnificent Sea Urchin, Box Crab (species unidentified), Cuthona Tina ( I think), and Striated Frogfish

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Cooll!,