Blue Heron Bridge Trolls III

[Pipehorse]

@MrChen, I am sorry for you and your extended scuba family's loss.


Went to the bridge for diving everyday this week except Tuesday. Conditions were approximately the same all four days, with visibility in 20ft range and sea temp at 84f, with the exception of today at 85f. September is known for being one of the less crowded months of the year with regards to Phil Foster, and this week was no exception. Although today seemed like a more than normal amount of snorkelers than usual.

Snorkeled the trail Wednesday, Thursday, and today prior to diving to do REEF surveys. The hope is to be in the water before too many others have entered. Always the possibly of a Smooth Butterfly Ray, Hammerhead, Eagle Rays or Bonnethead cruising around in the relative quiet. No such luck this week, however, the "find of the week" did come on snorkel this morning. A juvenile Jackknife Fish. Juvenile High-hats are ubiquitous at the bridge. Out on the reef Juvenile Spotted Drums look similar to the High-hats but they have the long trailing dorsal fins, the dorsal fin sometimes being 5 to 6 time the body length of the fish. The Jackknife juveniles can be be distinguished by the yellow/black as opposed to white/black of Highhats and Drums. Think I have only seen another single juvenile Jackknife fifteen years ago, at least according to images I have going back that far. Did REEF surveys on all dives all days. Found a species of Flatworm that was new to me, Phrikoceros mopsus and a species on nudibranch new to me Fringeback Dondice. Also documented a Radial Purse Oyster, which I had only previously observed in the ocean. Respectively, Phrikoceros mopsus, Fringeback Dondice, Tiger Goby, Dash Goby, and Juvenile Jackknife FIsh.

 

[Pipehorse]

Went to the bridge for diving today. Arrived at 0905 for a 1146 high tide. There was still plenty of parking when I arrived, was almost filled by 1000. Visibility improved to 40ft with blue water, and sea temp up by one degree from yesterday at 86f, regretted not wearing the shorty instead of the 3mm.

Decided not to snorkel prior to diving. Instead strapped on a hp 80 steel tank and entered the water at 1010. I exited the water at 1340. Not sure, but 210 minutes might be the longest dive I ever did at the bridge. I would regularly do 240 minute dives at LBTS on lp 95 steel tanks, but then they changed the maximum parking to 3 hours. Continued the search for nudibranchs, observed five species, one being new to me (Ornate Sap Sucking Slug). Did a REEF fish survey of 46 species. Was thinking I have not seen a seahorse for a while time, nor have I seen any frogfish for a while. Frogfish put in regular appearances during the summer, seahorses are less frequent in the summer but usually there a few around. For whatever reason they seem not be around at all this summer. Large schools of Scaled Sardine seemed to have disappeared, and I have not seen any mullet show up either. Respectively, Radial Purse Oyster, Seminole Goby, Blue Leg Hermit Crab, Two Elysia the one on top is Elysia Zuleicae the smaller one might be Elysia papillosa but I am not sure, and Ornate Sap Sucking Slug.

 

[Pipehorse]

Went to the bridge for diving today. Arrived at 0900 for a 1220 high tide. Plenty of parking when I arrived, the park was filled by 1000am, though I don't think the sheriffs ever blocked the entrance. Visibility was 40ft , and sea temp was 86f.

Again I decided not to snorkel, and entered the water with an hp 80 at 1020. I decided to wear a shorty wetsuit instead of a three mil because of the water temp yesterday. Five minutes into the dive I regretted that decision. Not because of temperature considerations, but because of the quantity of Moon Jellyfish in the water. I have contacted Moon Jellyfish many times and not had any reaction. I don't think I came in actual contact with a single jellyfish today despite the amount floating around, but there must of been ample supply of free floating nematocysts in the water because I was continually stung on the arms and legs. It never really abated for three hours I was in the water. Glad I did not let it dissuade me. Found a Juvenile Short Big Eye, and beautiful Slender Filefish camouflaged in green instead of brown, and a species of shrimp (Palaemonella americana) I had not previously observed. Respectively,
Moon Jellyfish, Short Bigeye, Slender Filefish, Slender Filefish, Palaemonella americana

 

[MrChen]

I was at the bridge yesterday to wrap up my rescue certification which was done in advance of HT. 4 hours prior to HT, visibility was decent. I arrived at 8:55am and the front 2 rows of parking were at capacity. The large church group was there, so I imagine it cleared up quite a bit after they left. Moon jellies, they were thick near the shoreline and REALLY thick after the tide change. I was itching all over and imagine some of it was from chopped up jellies being brought in by the current.

I went east with my cousin, who was in town for the weekend to do the rescue class, and @SubNeo. We had a lazy start, so we walked east to the swim marker and started our dive there. @SubNeo is always looking to pick up trash, so my cousin and I were constantly bringing him trash to put it in his bag. I also pulled out about 10 fishing hooks. We didn't see any notable sea life, though I heard there were manatee and bull shark sightings.

Vis was 35-40ft. The beach was packed. Water temp was 87.

 

[Johnoly]

... to wrap up my rescue certification

Congrats on the rescue card & thanks for the conditions!!

 

[mattfish]

Thanks for collecting trash @SubNeo! And congrats @MrChen!

 

[Pipehorse]

Went to the bridge for diving yesterday 9/9/24. Conditions were similar to Sunday. Visibility at 40ft, sea temp at 86f, but with not as many Moon Jellyfish.

REEF has an annual photo contest. Submissions are now through Sept 19th. One of the categories is "Fish Portrait". Considering I found the Short Bigeye on Sunday, my plan was to take more closeup images for at least one of the allowed entries for the "Fish Portrait" category. As I was headed to the location of where I observed the Short Bigeye, an Atlantic Box Jelly crossed in front of me. It was my first observation of one in 35 years of diving. Proceeding to the location of the Short Bigeye was immediately postponed. As I followed the Box Jelly.

It was sunny which made it somewhat difficult to get good focus on it until I reached the shadows of bridge a few minutes later.


There is not really any good video or photos of this species in the water so it was a cool capture to get. Afterwards I proceeded to the location of where the Short Bigeye had been, but no such luck, it was gone. In the past I have had luck with the species remaining in the same place for four to five days. Nevertheless, I observed Pugnose Pipefish, which is far less common than a Short Bigeye. But alas no contest quality images of the Pipefish. Interesting enough the Slender Filefish from Sunday was still in its same location. Respectively, Atlantic Box Jellyfish, Atlantic Box Jellyfish, Atlantic Box Jellyfish, Brown-Lined Elysia, and Spotfin Jawfish.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Yikes! I've only seen a couple over the years. The first was off the beach on a night dive south of LBTS. That was quite a few years ago. Lots of jellies, and close to shore, I saw the box jelly!

Need to get my latest photos processed from my dive a few days ago.. lots of nudis!

 

[PBcatfish]

I know that some species of box jellyfish, like the tiny Irukandji in Australia and a similar type in the PI, possess a powerful venom that can be quite harmful or even fatal to humans. I'm curious how dangerous the Atlantic Box Jellyfish is. I've not knowingly encountered them before.

Moon jellyfish stings have been unpleasant, but not disastrous for me, even when a large area of my back got a massive dose of stings when one got pushed into my bare skin. A single Man-o-war sting was quite a bit more painful, but that one got me on the face rather than the back. That was from just a piece of tentacle that had already been disconnected from the main body.

I just read of a case in Texas where a 4 year old kid died 40 minutes after a box jellyfish sting in the Galveston area. I'm not finding a lot of other information about their dangers. I'm reading that they like high salinity water, the ones in Hawaii generally move into shallow waters to breed about a week after a full moon & large rain storms often kill off many of them. Full moon here was August 19. I don't know where to find salinity reports for this area.

Sudden Death in a Child Following Jellyfish Envenomation by Chiropsalmus quadrumanus

Sudden death following coelenterate envenomation is not uncommon in Australia where the Pacific box jellyfish is indigenous. However, few cases of sudden fatal reactions have been reported in the Northern Hemisphere, and those that have occurred have all been attributed to the Portuguese...

jamanetwork.com

My previous experience with jellyfish in this area is that they show up all of a sudden, hang around for a while, usually months, then disappear again. Their presence is usually when the water is warm.

 

[MrChen]

On Friday, I did a dive out WPB. During the safety stop, there were moon jellies, but then I saw several box shaped jellies out there as well. I had never seen them before.