Jo and Patricia and I made an early morning dive at Deerfield this morning. The road is torn up, making the weekend parking problem worse than usual, but at 7:30 the parking is still available. Requires a bit more of a walk down to Trespassers' Ledge, but...
No current today, so we were able to run north and south, and we dove a bit farther off shore than usual. (Since the currents usually pick up the farther off shore you go, we frequently have to avoid the deeper shelf, sand and prairie there.) We explored from the pier (a safe distance south of it) down to the 3d or 4th rock pile below Trespassers'. Viz was a bit low, 20 in some areas, 35' in others. But the sea life was cool this morning. Lots of yellow rays, and none in a hurry - the usual reef fish, with a nice abundance of silversides in a couple of areas - a couple of juvenile angels that were full of color...
But the prize of the day were the squid! We're always on the look out for a pair of squid that frequent the rocks just south of Tresspassers', but today we came across a school/pod/bevy/bunch of squid on a grass flat, up closer toward the pier. We we're diving slowly, no noise, when we came across them. They were not at all shy, and allowed us to dive with them for 15-20 minutes. They stayed together for a while, then carved off into 2-3 groups, then re-gathered. It was straight from a scene in The Abysss, or maybe a deep space flick, except it was real. For a while, they lined up so that all 9 were in a straight line formation, perfectly straight, spanning about 20' long. Very cool. We dove on, then encountered them again in a nearby area about 20 minutes later. Minimal color flashes, but a little sparkling off & on. Very cool.
This was Patricia's longest dive to date. Warm water and shallow depth allowed a 2-hour dive for her, with 1000 psi (on an Alum 80) remaining. And this was one of those dives where you laugh all the way home.
As we were wrapping up (and laughing) we met Zuzanne and Barb, asking if we were Scuba Board divers. Yes of course we are - altho I didn't know there was a dive planned by the SoFL chapter. (Sorry guys, I'm not anti-social but I've been in & out of town a lot... I promise to join an SB dive one of these days!) Yes, Deerfield is a bit more inconvenient during the roadwork, but its still a good dive. More engaging than any theater! And, you might end up craving calamari...
No current today, so we were able to run north and south, and we dove a bit farther off shore than usual. (Since the currents usually pick up the farther off shore you go, we frequently have to avoid the deeper shelf, sand and prairie there.) We explored from the pier (a safe distance south of it) down to the 3d or 4th rock pile below Trespassers'. Viz was a bit low, 20 in some areas, 35' in others. But the sea life was cool this morning. Lots of yellow rays, and none in a hurry - the usual reef fish, with a nice abundance of silversides in a couple of areas - a couple of juvenile angels that were full of color...
But the prize of the day were the squid! We're always on the look out for a pair of squid that frequent the rocks just south of Tresspassers', but today we came across a school/pod/bevy/bunch of squid on a grass flat, up closer toward the pier. We we're diving slowly, no noise, when we came across them. They were not at all shy, and allowed us to dive with them for 15-20 minutes. They stayed together for a while, then carved off into 2-3 groups, then re-gathered. It was straight from a scene in The Abysss, or maybe a deep space flick, except it was real. For a while, they lined up so that all 9 were in a straight line formation, perfectly straight, spanning about 20' long. Very cool. We dove on, then encountered them again in a nearby area about 20 minutes later. Minimal color flashes, but a little sparkling off & on. Very cool.
This was Patricia's longest dive to date. Warm water and shallow depth allowed a 2-hour dive for her, with 1000 psi (on an Alum 80) remaining. And this was one of those dives where you laugh all the way home.
As we were wrapping up (and laughing) we met Zuzanne and Barb, asking if we were Scuba Board divers. Yes of course we are - altho I didn't know there was a dive planned by the SoFL chapter. (Sorry guys, I'm not anti-social but I've been in & out of town a lot... I promise to join an SB dive one of these days!) Yes, Deerfield is a bit more inconvenient during the roadwork, but its still a good dive. More engaging than any theater! And, you might end up craving calamari...
I loved the squid report. They were truly amazing. One of those images we will never forget!!!
