Diving Blue Heron Bridge & the Palm Beaches

[Sorrows]

Final thoughts...

We enjoyed our boat dives in the Palm Beach area, but I'm not really sure we would go again. At about $100 per 2-tank boat dive, it's a bit pricey for what you get. OTOH, it is awfully convenient and sometimes you just need to get into the water. I wouldn't make a special trip for it, but if you are already in the area, why not? I should also add that I didn't see any of the wrecks and didn't get my close-up with the shark, so I can't give any perspective on that.

As for the Blue Heron Bridge--yes, yes, YES!!! I shouldn't admit this, but we've alreadly looked up the tide charts for next Columbus Day Weekend--it looks like we'll be able to do both the early morning and evening dive from Phil Foster Park! Woo-woo!

I've heard a rumor that there is a movement afoot to expand the "no take zone" around the Bridge and to make it some sort of National/State park along the lines of Pennekamp. Anyone know if this is true?

 

[Sorrows]

Great pics. I am always amazed at all the stuff people see at this spot. Many, many years ago my grandmother lived about two blocks from the BHB, and I used to walk over the bridge to go to the beach. Little did I know there was so much underneath. By the way, your crab photo is not actually a blue crab. I can't remember the true name of the crab right now, and I am away from all my references.

Thanks, Dave, you were a lucky boy! My grandmother lived in Bayonne, New Jersey!

I did wonder about that crab--do you think it's possible it's a Blotched Swimming Crab?

 

[danvolker]

More about the boat diving...

During our second boat dive day, the prop got fouled by a rope that seemed to go on forever and ever...finally the DM brings up an unmarked lobster trap with 6 lobsters in it. They measure them and keep the ones that are legal. Someone from the fisheries dept. was waiting for them at the dock to take the trap. I have no idea how regulated the industry is in Florida--although it doesn't appear to be anything like what they have in Maine--but I'm guessing it was an illegal trap.

And speaking of hunting...as I've said, the DMs take down a spear for the lionfish on every dive. All of us, I'm sure, applaud their efforts as we realize the looming threat of an unchecked lionfish population on the Atlantic reefs. I was, however, somewhat taken aback to see the DM not only go down with a spear for lionfish, but also one for fish, a bag for lobster, and a camera. Granted, the boats down in the Keys don't even send down a DM, but still...it does seem like the attention should be on his group of divers and not on all that extra-curricular stuff. My son is a DMC and he was surprised as well--it's the very opposite of what he's been taught. It may be that our group was small enough or experienced enough that they felt they didn't need to have their hands free for emergencies. My husband even wondered if they were actual DMs, since the Captain referred to them as "dive guides." Perhaps that's just a term he prefers? They seemed like DMs to me--obviously experienced and in good physical condition. Very nice and helpful--they also are apparently paid completely in tips.

This particular DM did tell me that he didn't hunt while the clients were around--he waited until we were going up, I guess. He told me this while he was showing me the nice hogfish he had caught. The thing is, I would have loved to have seen that hogfish. It just doesn't seem right that the DM on my dive boat is killing the fish I came to Florida to see.

Well, those are my thoughts. Would love to hear from those more experienced with the local diving scene. Perhaps the boats make more money from people interested in spearfishing/lobstering than they do from divers who just like fishy reefs and wrecks and only want to shoot with a camera.

On the spearfishing issue, I would just want to point out that spearfisherman in Palm Beach, most likely account for less than .001 of a percent of the fish taken...the big commercial netters take tons of fish, and even the sportfish boats take a significant piece, made worse by the party boats with 60 fisherman on board and 100 lines.....Out of all the carnage this "fishing pressure" generates, there is massive waste--"accidental killing" of non-targeted fish species. This accounts for tons of deaths per day, of fish you would want to see, but no one is going to be eating.
Most on this board eat fish once in a while, and most feel it is our right to do so, as long as the species is no where near endangered. This is the moral issue of eating fish, and potentially taking it.
I will not debate this, in my mind, if there is a large, healthy reproductive population of a fish species, and I want to eat one every month or so, I think it is just fine for me to go out with a speargun and shoot exactly the one fish I want to eat. Unlike the fisherman on the boats, I will not kill 5 for the 1 that I want to eat (catch and release kills alot of fish, just so you know).
Morally speaking, the spearfishing for what you want to eat, is the much higher road to follow. It is far more sustainable, as a harvesting practice, and there are very few spearfisherman out on the reefs of Palm Beach anyway.

I agree it is a poor practice to drop spearfisherman with photographers at the same time and same place..the spearfisherman should be large distances away so that any effect they create with the big predators, will not have any unsafe effect on other divers. Also, of course the typical diver will not want to see the fish being shot, any more than I want to see a Black Angus cow being slaughtered --however, I will still want someone else to do this, and I will always enjoy eating a good strip steak...

Regards,
DanV

 

[tarponchik]

Thanks for the report. 3 weeks ago, we did 6 dives under BHB and 2 on Narcosis. On the boat trip, the sea was pretty rough, but there were plenty of fish, and we saw a batfish, and also some fish we could have seen before but were not sure, like high hats and blue angels. Under the bridge, you have to check when the high tide is, otherwise the current is so strong you will be limited to the shallow sandy area S of the bridge and little wrecks there. Which is fine, cause there we saw manatees, nudibranches and some interesting fish like flying gurnards, checkered puffers, seaweed blennies, and lookdowns (we saw lookdowns in aquariums but never in the wild). Watching baby cowfish 1" long was also pretty exciting. There is an interesting "north meets south" mix of creatures near BHB, cause you can see sea robbins and horseshoe crabs, and rainbow parrots and scrawled filefish on the same dive. However, watch for the bristleworms that are very abundant around BHB (my guess is they prosper eating dead bait and any leftowers after fishermen). And since it is so shallow you can dive till you fly, no time is lost.

The place was very crowded on Saturday, less so on Sunday and Friday.

 

[Reef_Haven]

Thanks for all your reports. The descriptions are spot on.
Move a little farther South on your next trip and dive with Kevin from Underwater Explorer's.
https://securec7.ezhostingserver.com/diveboyntonbeach-com/indexs.cfm
His boat is a six pack, He's also a photographer and The Best DM in the country.
The reef is much prettier and has healthier, more colorful corals, IMO.

 

[Sorrows]

Danvolker, I certainly agree that the number of fish caught by spearfishing divers would be miniscule compared to the numbers killed by commercial and "party" fishermen--much of it, as you say, wasted. I think it was the juxtaposition of diving and spearfishing being placed on the same boat that rattled me. I admit I don't like to see "pretty fish" (from the reef) in the ice chest and feel very protective of the groupers and other species that are being fished out.

I eat meat and I love fish (sushi!) but I think that since I've become such an ardent diver, that my feelings have changed--or else I've become more aware of a worsening situation. Like a lot of people, I try to follow the sustainable guidelines put down by Seafood Watch. Scientists say that the world's oceans could be depleted by 2040--that could be in my lifetime! I grew up in Miami, watching the fish boats come in and taking regular snorkeling trips to the Keys; it seems to me there were a lot more fish--and lobsters--30 years ago then there are today. So it's not just a question of being squeamish and feeling sorry for the suffering and loss of those on a lower ring of the food chain than us. At least we can always produce more cows, sheep, chickens, etc. We can't say that about tuna, red snapper, and grouper.

Anyway, I've gotten off the point because, as you so rightly point out, spearfishing isn't really contributing to this problem. I guess I just don't want to see the reef depleted right in front of me any more than I want to visit a slaughterhouse. Except for the lionfish, of course. Those they can kill all they want; heck, I'd do it myself if I had better hand-eye coordination.

 

[Sorrows]

Tarponchik, all I can say is WOW! That was quite a haul! The flying guanard is still on my checklist, but we did see the batfish last year--what an odd little fellow. I like your "north and south" description--fits it to a T. And there really is always something to see in both the Bridge and reef dives. My feeling is that the guys who complained so bitterly about the boat dive at Shark Canyon are those guys who jump off the boat, swim like hell, not bothering to look around or with anything that is less than three feet long. You've seen these guys--what the hell is the hurry, you wonder? Slow down, look at that pile of rubble; if you don't see anything you haven't seen before, well, you might observe behavior you haven't seen before. That's been my experience, anyway.

 

[danvolker]

Danvolker, I certainly agree that the number of fish caught by spearfishing divers would be miniscule compared to the numbers killed by commercial and "party" fishermen--much of it, as you say, wasted. I think it was the juxtaposition of diving and spearfishing being placed on the same boat that rattled me. I admit I don't like to see "pretty fish" (from the reef) in the ice chest and feel very protective of the groupers and other species that are being fished out.

I eat meat and I love fish (sushi!) but I think that since I've become such an ardent diver, that my feelings have changed--or else I've become more aware of a worsening situation. Like a lot of people, I try to follow the sustainable guidelines put down by Seafood Watch. Scientists say that the world's oceans could be depleted by 2040--that could be in my lifetime! I grew up in Miami, watching the fish boats come in and taking regular snorkeling trips to the Keys; it seems to me there were a lot more fish--and lobsters--30 years ago then there are today. So it's not just a question of being squeamish and feeling sorry for the suffering and loss of those on a lower ring of the food chain than us. At least we can always produce more cows, sheep, chickens, etc. We can't say that about tuna, red snapper, and grouper.

Anyway, I've gotten off the point because, as you so rightly point out, spearfishing isn't really contributing to this problem. I guess I just don't want to see the reef depleted right in front of me any more than I want to visit a slaughterhouse. Except for the lionfish, of course. Those they can kill all they want; heck, I'd do it myself if I had better hand-eye coordination.

The Lionfish are evil, and the evil has made it to the Blue Heron Bridge.
I would be happy to help them in their path to the next world with my speargun....

Unfortunately, we are not allowed to have a spear in the Bridge area, so we can do little of significance about this. Lionfish are a large threat to the Estuarine Nursery ground which we know as the bridge area...I have seen as many as 6 lionfish on a single palm beach inlet dive, and at the bridge area will often see one or 2 very small lionfish....they will be eating the blennies and anything else they can catch.

This is an issue _ the legal issue of how to protect the bridge area from lionfish_ we might try to get large numbers of divers involved with, to reduce the threat level as much as possible.

 

[tarponchik]

Sorrows, if you'd like to check some of the photos and videos I took, please check here West Palm Beach, September 2010 - a set on Flickr
I probably will add more stuff to this set. BTW, we saw 1 lionfish on boatdives but none near BHB. Maybe the current drags them away? They do not look like good swimmers.

 

[Sorrows]

Great photos, Tarponchik. Thanks for sharing! I'm thinking you are a candidate for the macro.

BTW, would you consider posting the photo of the juv cowfish (?) on the Blue Heron Bridge site? I know the Honeycomb cowfish juvenile looks like a tiny pumpkin with tiny horns and the trunkfish is also orange (got a photo of one from Utila). Is it possible your leafy green lumpy juvenile is some sort of trunkfish? Spotted? Or a scrawled cowfish? I can't account for the green color--so like a filefish, and yet obviously not. It is WAY COOL, however. Kudos to you!