Duane Wreck, Key Largo.. Anyone seen it this nice

[AdivingBel]

The growth and colors on the Duane are just stunning. Of course don't see the colors so much when you're there, but the pics are amazing. We've all seen the "work" timg and reefman have done on the wreck. The wife and I dove it in June. We went out on Admiral Brenda's boat (thanks for the afternoon trip, Brenda). Wonderfully calm on the surface. We were flags waving on the mooring line at 60 ft. We did a quick, stuggling loop and peeked out a few portholes, but it was a quicky. lol We had a couple tanks on the Vandenberg spring before last with conditions similar to the video. It was amazing. We happened to be out with Capt. Corner with a video crew. I know it can't be (it's such a large ship), but we could almost see both bow and stern from mid-ship. Even the video crew was amazed. Every once in awhile you stumble into one of those days. I guess it makes up for the blowouts and surface intervals with the 3 ft. rollers. :yuck:

 

[RickI]

Excellent viz and water color on the Duane, nice video! Has anyone seen much in the way of barracuda on the Duane this year? They used to be thick in the over parts the wreck and would follow me on ascent while free diving the wreck. Here is an old video from 2009 using GoPro WIDE cameras, five camera generations before the present. Viz. was pretty good that day too but I think it was even better during your dive.

[video=vimeo;7713631]http://vimeo.com/7713631[/video]

 

[dumpsterDiver]

That is a cool video, deeper than I can snorkel. It is amazing how much improvement we have seen in the GoPro quality.

We saw some cuda on the wreck, not a lot. In general, cuda will tend to school up on structure when the current is strong, when it lets up they tend to disperse.

We saw them close to the surface.. There was only a few jewfish. If that wreck were in Palm Beach, (during this time of year) they would be pretty common, I think..

 

[scubadada]

I have 20 dives on the Duane. Some have been with little current and some have been in ripping current. The dive is dictated by the conditions. All my dives on the Duane have been great, some of them ditching the current and spending the majority of time inside, some of them being able to spend as much time outside as possible. This is a great dive, regardless.

Good diving, Craig

---------- Post added August 7th, 2014 at 06:25 PM ----------

That is a cool video, deeper than I can snorkel. It is amazing how much improvement we have seen in the GoPro quality.

We saw some cuda on the wreck, not a lot. In general, cuda will tend to school up on structure when the current is strong, when it lets up they tend to disperse.

We saw them close to the surface.. There was only a few jewfish. If that wreck were in Palm Beach, (during this time of year) they would be pretty common, I think..

Interesting observation regarding the Goliath Grouper, I wonder why they do not aggegate near the Spiegel Grove or the Duane but hang out in huge numbers near the Castor in Boynton Beach?

Good diving, Craig

 

[AdivingBel]

Interesting observation regarding the Goliath Grouper, I wonder why they do not aggegate near the Spiegel Grove or the Duane but hang out in huge numbers near the Castor in Boynton Beach?

I see them on Looe Key and the Adolphus Bush, but not nearly the numbers I see when drifting off Jupiter and West Palm (even away from the artificial reefs). Wonder if it's the nearness of the Gulf Stream?