Blue Heron Bridge Trolls

[bilsant]

Grama,

Let me start by qualifying that this is IMHO in a forum full of better and more experienced photographers. I am a relatively new student to u/w photography...a rather challenged one.

I started out with a digital camera I knew how to operate in my sleep, purchased during deployment to Mississippi for Hurricane Katrina relief and taken virtually everywhere with me for the next few years. It has most of the same features of any other pocket digital camera, including macro and a flash.

When I decided to try u/w photography, I found a waterproof housing for it for about $50 on Ebay, got a new o-ring for it, and had a starter u/w camera for relatively cheap.

After a year I had a somewhat better idea of what I wanted and bought a more tricked out setup specifically for u/w work - in retrospect I may have jumped that gun too quickly, but won't buy another until I've learned to wring all I can from the newer camera.

The original beat-up digital and housing is my backup camera and gets lent to friends who need something short term or are starting out.

Again, I defer on this matter to just about everybody...(Jet included)...but if you already have a digital camera you like, that may be a way to get started.

Bill

 

[scubajim 1]

New Year's Day at the bridge. A perfect way to start the year. It was much less crowded then expected. Guess most trolls thought it would be a mob scene.
Water was warm at a steady 75 throughout the dive and viz varied from 15 to 30 feet. After 95 minutes my buddy fouled the flag tether in his scooter prop so we had to thumb the dive.
Baby-Daddy was gone so he must have had his kids.
I did see some nice northern stargazers and eagle rays.

Lantern Bass

Razorfish


Northern Stargazer

Northern Stargazer

And a special hello to Beiji. We met today after the dive and are going to try to hook up for a bridge dive Tuesday. Another troll in the offing!

ctopus:​

 

[Beiji]

Finally I dove BHB, and it was as wonderful as I expected! Since I couldn't find anyone from the Meet Up group, I went in solo and stayed close to my entry point. Bilsant, you were right about the easy entry/exit. Because of my injury I took extra care and was glad to have someplace to put my stuff and lean against.

Hi, Jim! It was great meeting you! I hope it works out for us to dive on Tuesday.

 

[Randy g]

How was the vis and temps?

Monday is going to be our day at BHB. High is around 2:30 and we will be there early!

And

Is any locals diving tomorrow that would tow the Kate and I around? We are mainly NC divers and would really appreciate it.

Or

Can someone PM me and tell me where to find some of the more interesting critters? I know they can be anywhere but some of the more special ones stay in there own territory.

 

[scubajim 1]

How was the vis and temps?

Monday is going to be our day at BHB. High is around 2:30 and we will be there early!

And

Is any locals diving tomorrow that would tow the Kate and I around? We are mainly NC divers and would really appreciate it.

Or

Can someone PM me and tell me where to find some of the more interesting critters? I know they can be anywhere but some of the more special ones stay in there own territory.

Viz is 20-30 and today temp was 75... critters are everywhere...sharp tail eels by the boat channel, jawfish everywhere...seahorses on lines and bouys, just plans on a long slow dive. 2 hours on an AL 80 are not unusual.
Plan on a full wet suit though as the temps are low enough to really chill you after a while and you want to be concentrating on the critters not your shivering lol. Also try to be in water diving at least 30 minutes before hi tide, that means doing your bouyancy check earlier. And because it is so shallow you really want that bouyancy dialed in as perfectly as possible.

 

[Randy g]

Thank you Jim! Weight and buoyancy are dialed in after 2 days of shallow reefs in LBTS. We have dove BHB 2 years ago and fell in love with it. We are both excited about getting the chance to dive it again tomorrow......I extended our holiday an extra day to include this dive...... And not deal with the new years traffic heading north on 95.

 

[tibenmiami]

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Love it!

 

[Biminitwist]

ScubaJim had posted two pictures of a stargazer which had one labeled northern and one southern stargazer.
To my untrained eye they looked essentially like the same fish. Can anyone tell me the difference?
The main difference in the ones I've seen at the bridge seem to be the markings appear sharper in the smaller ones but not too different.
Thanks.
John

 

[scubajim 1]

ScubaJim had posted two pictures of a stargazer which had one labeled northern and one southern stargazer.
To my untrained eye they looked essentially like the same fish. Can anyone tell me the difference?
The main difference in the ones I've seen at the bridge seem to be the markings appear sharper in the smaller ones but not too different.
Thanks.
John

Sorry both should be labeled Northern Stargazers in my latest post...on the Northern the center strip (black) extends onto the body and the Southern it fades out. The Southern has more irregular spots