Davis reef Islamorada 1-15-15(pix and conditions)

[deeper thoughts]

The day started off dreary ,foggy and some wind. when we arrived the seas were about 1-2 feet and no sun.

It changed in an hour to flat calm and sunny

water temp was around 74/75 and viz was a generous 20 feet and no current

There were divers on the reef(funny we never run into the divers lately) and the coral restoration divers also(doing a great job with this reef big difference) were out there too

Dolphins at the marina was a nice bonus

Winds ranged from 15kts to 2 kts today



funny assortment of fish we saw today

 

[deeper thoughts]

The Mrs noticed that the burrfish in pix 8 is uncommon/rare in our area per reef creature book

 

[MB]

This used to be one of my favorite dives. Simple, lots of marine life, lazy... I once agreed to take a student from a college up north for referral dives there. She was on her way to the Caribbean to do research with her professor's team, and had to get in some training dives to complete her cert. I took her to Davis, and on one dive she had her first docile shark spotting, free swimming moray, two turtles, a Southern and an Eagle ray, and untold little guys. I was thrilled - inspired. When we completed the dives, during a debriefing, I asked her to describe her new life as a diver. Her response - ho hum... I've seen aquaiums before... I often wondered whether she dropped out of diving to become a mortician or a forensic accountant... As for me, I still dream about the turtle who placed her flipper on my outstretched arm...
:doctor:

 

[deeper thoughts]

This used to be one of my favorite dives. Simple, lots of marine life, lazy... I once agreed to take a student from a college up north for referral dives there. She was on her way to the Caribbean to do research with her professor's team, and had to get in some training dives to complete her cert. I took her to Davis, and on one dive she had her first docile shark spotting, free swimming moray, two turtles, a Southern and an Eagle ray, and untold little guys. I was thrilled - inspired. When we completed the dives, during a debriefing, I asked her to describe her new life as a diver. Her response - ho hum... I've seen aquaiums before... I often wondered whether she dropped out of diving to become a mortician or a forensic accountant... As for me, I still dream about the turtle who placed her flipper on my outstretched arm...
:doctor:

With the coral plantings the reef has really exploded with marine life

 

[Scubagirlfl]

The day started off dreary ,foggy and some wind. when we arrived the seas were about 1-2 feet and no sun.

It changed in an hour to flat calm and sunny

water temp was around 74/75 and viz was a generous 20 feet and no current

There were divers on the reef(funny we never run into the divers lately) and the coral restoration divers also(doing a great job with this reef big difference) were out there too

Dolphins at the marina was a nice bonus

Winds ranged from 15kts to 2 kts today

View attachment 201302View attachment 201308

funny assortment of fish we saw today

This Bridled Burrfish (pg452 Reef Fish Identification) is said to be uncommon to rare in Florida

 

[mntlblok]

The Mrs noticed that the burrfish in pix 8 is uncommon/rare in our area per reef creature book

Those "horns" jumped right out at me. Thought maybe you'd gotten creative in Photoshop or something. Bridled Burrfish (Chilomycterus antennatus)? Had never even heard of one till I went searching through the Smithsonian iPhone app. Wasn't under "puffer" or "balloonfish". Cool!

 

[deeper thoughts]

Those "horns" jumped right out at me. Thought maybe you'd gotten creative in Photoshop or something. Bridled Burrfish (Chilomycterus antennatus)? Had never even heard of one till I went searching through the Smithsonian iPhone app. Wasn't under "puffer" or "ballonfish". Cool!

Going back Sunday,we are going to check if its still in the same area