cold water upwelling and massive current

[deepstops]

We went out on a private boat today out of Palm Beach and dove Hole in the Wall. It was 65 on the bottom and we had a drift going at 8 feet per second (that's 5 knots!!!). Out side of a few curious AJs, we saw basically no other fish. Typically we see plenty of jewfish on this dive but not one today.

 

[Scuba_Dad]

We went out on a private boat today out of Palm Beach and dove Hole in the Wall. It was 65 on the bottom and we had a drift going at 8 feet per second (that's 5 knots!!!). Out side of a few curious AJs, we saw basically no other fish. Typically we see plenty of jewfish on this dive but not one today.

Brr!!! I hope the cold water leaves by next weekend. I was hoping the upwelling would stay north... I guess not...

 

[CBulla]

What was the depth?

 

[Ed Jewell]

I went out yesterday (8/12) with Capt. Paul on the Temptaion. We hit Leigh's (Lee's?) Ledge and The Grotto. According to my Vytec, the bottom temp. on both sites was 79 degrees. The visibility was in the 30 ft. range.

 

[deepstops]

I went out yesterday (8/12) with Capt. Paul on the Temptaion. We hit Leigh's (Lee's?) Ledge and The Grotto. According to my Vytec, the bottom temp. on both sites was 79 degrees. The visibility was in the 30 ft. range.

We hit the cold water at 110' or 115'. My buddy's Suunto got to 64 and I know my computer is slow to respond to temp changes. Here's a Scubase screen shot of depth and temp throughout the dive. It was back up to 85 on the surface

 

[CBulla]

Dang! OK, thats chilly.. I might have to wear a dive skin for that one... hmm.. maybe some neoprene. My Genesis ReAct Pro is slow on the temp pick up to, I have to hang out a minute or so for the change to be seen. I'll take a stab here but the temp drop should be about equal to the depth change. Looks like a fun dive

 

[FLDVR]

The upwellings been here for quite a few weeks now. We did all the big wrecks off Palm beach a few weeks back, under 55' it was like a slap in the face! you could see the thermocline shimmering!. The current was also so strong that whoever was carrying the float would get uncontrollably dragged!
I went out again last week and although the vis wasnt perfect the temp was pretty stable all around.
Plenty of big Jewfish around

 

[Tom Winters]

...Plenty of big Jewfish around

Oh man, you're treading on thin ice there. After Senator Joe and Hadassah move to Palm Beach county from Connecticut, the J-wordfish is just not gonna fly in the county.
You're going to have to be north of Tequesta to use it.

 

[Orlando Eric]

Tom Winters- I wonder what the origin of the word "Jewfish" is anyhow. The fish does not look particularly like the stereotype to me.

I wonder if it makes refference to the Jonah tale?

That is a good chance since the "renaming" is also Biblical for we now call them "Goliath Grouper." So if you see a tiny one is it a David grouper?

The things that swirl around in my mind at times. it is a wonder I can concentrate long enough to finish brushing my teeth.

 

[CBulla]

Tom Winters- I wonder what the origin of the word "Jewfish" is anyhow. The fish does not look particularly like the stereotype to me.

I wonder if it makes refference to the Jonah tale?

That is a good chance since the "renaming" is also Biblical for we now call them "Goliath Grouper." So if you see a tiny one is it a David grouper?

The things that swirl around in my mind at times. it is a wonder I can concentrate long enough to finish brushing my teeth.

Eric - GOOGLE it dude! There are a few stories, but the one I have heard since I was a kid and my gamps used to catch and sell them to the local fish house was that they are the largest of the Kosher fish available for consumption, thus it was referred to the Jew's fish. I used to eat it till the fish went on the 'endangered' list and it wasn't allowed to be caught anymore, its very tasty!