Blue Heron Bridge Trolls

[Scuba_Jenny]

Good diving with the J's!!! Always a pleasure. I thought the water was a bit cold, my computer is stuck at 72°, but am guessing maybe 74-75°. I used my catalina 72 today, and still managed to get over 2 hrs! Gotta love that shallow diving. Some pics from today

Belted Sandfish. Lil bugger kept moving, get him in focus, then he would move... sigh.. surprised this turned out as well as it did.

A nudi. Auto focus can be a pain. The camera kept wanting to focus on everything but the nudi.. this is my best shot..as you can see, much cropping..

scrawled cowfish

 

[Biminitwist]

Nice stuff Jim and Jenny.
Was coming tomorrow am but my wife backed out on Playing hooky so I'm going solo.
Hoped to hook up with someone but sounds like Jim is out.
Will be setting up in parking lot around 1030 am if anyone is interested.
John

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

What??? You don't know what kind of nudi that is??

 

[danvolker]

Sounds like it makes sense. Every time I dove there, it was in a drysuit with a single steel 120 which is what I am use to up north. I think I saw you there. The guy with the doubles set up and the split fins.

Split fins @#%&&*((%$%&!!!! .......No....

Jets, Dive R's, sure.

 

[mntlblok]

Yea I will love for someone to show me around bhb. I will be diving my doubles so I can stay in as long as possible since I can only do one dive. I will taking lots of pics. Also I would like to do the east and west side. So hopefully whoever wants to buddy up will be willing to handle all that. . . Ill be at the bridge the 13th. Im guessing she is in doubles?

It looks like I'll be diving the bridge most every day that week. The current is such that getting both the east and west sides done in the same dive isn't very practical. I could see entering "towards" the east side and letting the current take you over to the west end - as long as you don't start *too* far to the east. I think I recall testing once, determining that current kind of switches just about in front of the lifeguard stand. Starting a couple of hours before high tide would likely give plenty of good visibility time, but the current will make things interesting. I've been using a threaded steel rod that I screw into the bottom of my camera housing ($1.50 from Home Depot) as a combination monopod/portable fence post kind of thing. The current is such that said rod gets bent over quite a bit at times. As a photographer, myself, I'm pretty much a terrible guide and an even worse dive buddy, but anyone would be welcome to tag along. Might be pretty boring, though. Would be happy to share all I've learnt and answer any questions about the site prior to entry - either via PM, email, or in the parking lot - if you arrive early enough. I've been known to get three hours in at the bridge - even without tapping into my pony. I use a steel 100, but have uncommonly good balance - even with the pony trying to tip me over.

Kevin
Savannah

 

[scubajim 1]

It looks like I'll be diving the bridge most every day that week. The current is such that getting both the east and west sides done in the same dive isn't very practical. I could see entering "towards" the east side and letting the current take you over to the west end - as long as you don't start *too* far to the east. I think I recall testing once, determining that current kind of switches just about in front of the lifeguard stand. Starting a couple of hours before high tide would likely give plenty of good visibility time, but the current will make things interesting. I've been using a threaded steel rod that I screw into the bottom of my camera housing ($1.50 from Home Depot) as a combination monopod/portable fence post kind of thing. The current is such that said rod gets bent over quite a bit at times. As a photographer, myself, I'm pretty much a terrible guide and an even worse dive buddy, but anyone would be welcome to tag along. Might be pretty boring, though. Would be happy to share all I've learnt and answer any questions about the site prior to entry - either via PM, email, or in the parking lot - if you arrive early enough. I've been known to get three hours in at the bridge - even without tapping into my pony. I use a steel 100, but have uncommonly good balance - even with the pony trying to tip me over.

Kevin
Savannah

He's learned that he needs to retire is camera gear and donate it to me. But Kevin is right you can get 180-190 minutes from a steel 100 and still have your reserve in the bottle.

 

[NJDiverMark]

I guess ill get a steel 120

 

[jimw]

We went today, 5 computers said 75 F. Viz spotty, 25 ft or so at the best. A nice dive. We saw the largest batfish I've yet seen and the tinyest hermet crab!

 

[jet126]

We went today

Looks who's out of hibernation! Sure sign spring is around the corner. Welcome back Jim & Diva!

 

[Biminitwist]

Had an interesting 3 hour solo dive yesterday.
Shot some video of a mantis shrimp that was scrambling out in the open around a piece of metal dragging a white "ball".
I followed it around till it reached it's hole and watched it try and try to drag this "balloon" down it's lair.
As I zoomed in I realized it was a small puffer fish deperately inflated.
I watched the shrimp roll the puffer in his grasp repeatedly striking and digging at him with his sharp side legs (which would just slide off the puffer's taunt abdomen).
After a few minutes he succeeded in driving a hook-like side claw thru it's skin and in a whoosh the puffer was deflated and dragged down the hole to his doom.
Wild behavior sequence.
Saw more amourous pike blennies, spent a while on different gobies in the sponge garden and finished up at the bridge.
Found a really cooperative white box crab out doing his business in the daytime. Very cool.
All in all another great dive though I missed my tiny nudie spotter/photographer.
John