Blue Heron Bridge Trolls III
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Went to the bridge for diving yesterday. Arrived at 1040 for a 1323 high tide. The park was not crowded. Went and did the trail on snorkel. The little Green Sea turtle, was in the exact same spot as Wednesday! I spent time capturing images and video of her, and moved on. Completed a REEF fish survey of 51 species in 50 minutes, the Green Sea Turtle is reportable on REEF survey, so it counts as a species even though it is not a fish. Visibility was 40ft with a sea temp of 84f. There was less of a fresh water layer on top, than on Wednesday.
Finished snorkeling and returned to my truck. The park was filling quickly. Donned scuba and entered the westside. Used the familiar pattern of a swim by of the west end of the snorkel trail, then to the rib boat, then to the overturned boat further west, through no man's land, to the slope, follow the curve of the slope all the way to the southside of channel pilings, tie off the flag, do the westside of the wall, head to the north end of the channel piling, double back do the eastside of the wall, retrieve the flag, meander back east through the bridge pilings, and exit at the furthest west part of the beach, takes anywhere from 120 to 165 minutes. Time is dependent on what else I have to do that day, and what I find that piques my interest. Yesterday it was 120 minutes, when I exited the water the park was completely crowded, even more so than on a weekend. On the weekend Sheriff's will not cars park in the trailer spaces in the middle row (only enforced on weekends), yesterday the middle row trailer spaces were filled with cars. I wonder how much the crowds would be affected if parking for cars was not free. Say $3/hour like it is in LBTS?
Some might recall that I left two shells about a month ago for a hermit crab without a home. Two weeks ago I found one of the shells occupied near the rubble pile under the pier. Yesterday I found the other shell occupied near the over turned boat. Do not think it was the hermit crab the shell was originally intended for. Did a REEF survey of 68 species, did not observe anything out of the ordinary. The Green Sea Turtle again was the highlight of the day. Respectively, Tiger Goby, Twospot Cardinalfish, Gray Angelfish, Green Sea Turtle, and shell I left a month ago with writing on it.
Finished snorkeling and returned to my truck. The park was filling quickly. Donned scuba and entered the westside. Used the familiar pattern of a swim by of the west end of the snorkel trail, then to the rib boat, then to the overturned boat further west, through no man's land, to the slope, follow the curve of the slope all the way to the southside of channel pilings, tie off the flag, do the westside of the wall, head to the north end of the channel piling, double back do the eastside of the wall, retrieve the flag, meander back east through the bridge pilings, and exit at the furthest west part of the beach, takes anywhere from 120 to 165 minutes. Time is dependent on what else I have to do that day, and what I find that piques my interest. Yesterday it was 120 minutes, when I exited the water the park was completely crowded, even more so than on a weekend. On the weekend Sheriff's will not cars park in the trailer spaces in the middle row (only enforced on weekends), yesterday the middle row trailer spaces were filled with cars. I wonder how much the crowds would be affected if parking for cars was not free. Say $3/hour like it is in LBTS?
Some might recall that I left two shells about a month ago for a hermit crab without a home. Two weeks ago I found one of the shells occupied near the rubble pile under the pier. Yesterday I found the other shell occupied near the over turned boat. Do not think it was the hermit crab the shell was originally intended for. Did a REEF survey of 68 species, did not observe anything out of the ordinary. The Green Sea Turtle again was the highlight of the day. Respectively, Tiger Goby, Twospot Cardinalfish, Gray Angelfish, Green Sea Turtle, and shell I left a month ago with writing on it.
I got my highlights video together, so wanted to share it with y'all. I wasn't thrilled with a lot of the footage I shot, so I decided to have some fun and play with alternate ways of editing the video. I ended up using iMovie on my iPad, and it's "magic movie" feature. It was pretty cool, much quicker and easier than my typical routine of using Final Cut Pro on my Mac (though there is less manual control). Hope you enjoy the short video!
bassplayer
Contributor
i dove the bridge today even though the park was slammed. I'm staying walking distance away so i just parked my car there early and continued my day until it was time to dive, very convenient.
one thing that was unusual, there were some freedivers with spearguns at the toilet area - didn't seem too safe to hang around so i reluctantly swam against the current back south after encountering them, grumble. (was planning to hang around that area until the current switched)
overall good viz today and a nice dive.
one thing that was unusual, there were some freedivers with spearguns at the toilet area - didn't seem too safe to hang around so i reluctantly swam against the current back south after encountering them, grumble. (was planning to hang around that area until the current switched)
overall good viz today and a nice dive.
BHB is a no take zone. I don’t believe you’re even allowed to be in the water with a speargun or even a pole spear. I can’t quite follow where they were by your description. Were they in the water? Or just by the bathrooms? If they were just by the bathrooms, my guess is they were getting ready to head out or just back from going out on a boat.
It’s quite good all year round but you have to follow the slack high tide tables. If coming for 3-4 days I’d plan around the tide
Blue Heron Bridge Tide Table June 2024
Tide Chart (Tide Table) for the Blue Heron Bridge (Phil Foster Park) in Riviera Beach (West Palm Beach), Florida.
idiveflorida.com
Other factors that may impact when to come are the hurricane season that can throw everything off, and holidays like spring break where it’s extremely crowded.
Water can be as cold as 72-74f in Jan/Feb and as warm as 88f in August
There also seem to be some seasonal creatures although I don’t have a good calendar of these. There are definitely times where there are more that the usual amount of octopus, frog fish, or seahorses.
It seems that every dive at the BHB is quite magical and there are always surprises. Hope you get a chance to experience it.
bassplayer
Contributor
north of the east span of the bridge, there's a spot underwater where there's a sunken toilet.
it's about as far north as this place:
in the water at the end of a dock just to the west.
there were several people freediving and carrying spearguns, i watched a shot attempted and missed. not sure if that spot is inside the no take zone, maybe it's just outside?
Frogfishes and Seahorses are at the very top of our favorite fishes. Do you know what time of year could be potentially better for this?
Although if we get lucky to see a manatee like in the video it trumps anything else... Are there better places in Florida to spot these majestic mammals?
Johnoly
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Sure, It's only a mile away from BHB & only in the winter. But you can see 40-60 from the railing for FREE at the FPL Manatee Lagoon just across the water from BHB. Winter time also is the best time to see manatees at BHB in the water as they look for food.
Home - Manatee Lagoon
COUNTDOWN TO MANATEE SEASON KICKOFF: Days Hours Minutes Seconds MEET. CELEBRATE. DISCOVER. Manatee Lagoon is dedicated to educating the public about manatees and Lake Worth Lagoon, and inspiring communities to preserve and protect Florida’s environment and wildlife for future generations. MEET...
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