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Trip Report Emerald Dive Charters Trip Report
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I have a question I hope someone will kindly answer so that I don't have to read the full trip report. Do FL dive ops that run these trips simply get around the FL prohibition on shark feeding by going out past the 3 mile (or however far it is) boundary? (And please don't interpret this as me taking a position one way or the other on shark feeding.)
This is correct. There is not a current federal ban but there is a bill that appears to be stalled in committee Senate Bill 3099. There is a 36 page thread on SB about when Emerald faced changes for feeding within the 3 miles.
I am leaving my opinion out of this because it is a very nice report and it should stay that way.
deeper thoughts
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Not interested in this diving experience but i have to say this is a fantastic trip report
Thnx for taking the time
Thnx for taking the time
HalcyonDaze
Contributor
Excellent report as usual - sorry I missed your PM before the trip; I would have offered to tag along but after reading this thread I realized that the weather was indeed lousy that weekend. I was supposed to be diving on a friend's boat in the area April 30 and we had to cancel.
I will make one correction to the list of dive charters; I believe Jim Abernathy's Scuba Advantures stopped doing Palm Beach baited shark dives when he sold the Deep Obsession to Ryan Walton as it's own independent charter. JASA still does standard Palm Beach dives; last I checked they were still doing baited trips to the Bahamas. That makes for three SCUBA operations doing baited charters in Palm Beach County waters - Emerald, Calypso, and Deep Obsession. Of the three it's worth noting that Emerald is the only one operating out of Jupiter Inlet; the other two are based out of Lake Park Marina and leave from Lake Worth Inlet. That affects transit times and also is a factor when weather is an issue. On the snorkel side, I believe there are a couple other options in addition to Florida Shark Diving, although I'm not sure of their status.
The bit about the 120s is new - the last time I was on the boat in February nobody barked about my two "water heaters" (LP 120s). I used to rent HP 120s from Scuba Works and stopped doing that because it was really more gas than I needed, except for when I'd take the first ten minutes or so on the Deep Ledge to strafe lionfish at 120-130. The other issue with big tanks is with the possible exception of short, fat HP tanks like the Fabers it's really difficult to bungee them into the Emerald's racks - for my LP 120s I started bringing some of my own bungee cords to lash them in.
Spot-on with the shark notes. Generally the lemons will swarm the group, but they're interested in the goodies the feeder is carrying. If anything you have to make sure you don't get too complacent with them; they still have teeth. One in particular to keep an eye out for is a resident female known as "Two Scar" or "Stevie" depending on the charter; one eye is obviously blind and she'll sometimes bump into people on that side. Back in January I felt something hit the Manta reel I keep clipped to my hip; it's an exercise in maintaining calm when one sees the source of the bump is an ~8 ft half-blind lemon shark with her nose uncomfortably close to your crotch.
The tigers on the other hand demand your respect; as predators their MO is to get really close without being seen. I'm often impressed at how well that camoflage works; at times I've actually seen their shadow on the bottom before I made out the shark above it. They're the ones that I really feel are paying attention to where you're looking. That said, I've never felt they were out to take a piece of me - it's more like they're just seeing what they can get away with. Keep your eyes on them and it's not an issue. The fun thing I like about the tigers is that all three of the ones you saw were repeat customers - Patrick is the new kid on the block from last year and our only recurring male; the first visual record I've seen of Sassy Cassie was from one of Florida Shark Diving's videos in 2015, and DJenny is currently the long-running champ having turned up every year from 2014 to now. After that much time you start to notice they really are individuals; Patrick is fairly easygoing, Sassy Cassie is curious but really wants the food (I'll frequently see her trying to jam the entire crate in her mouth), and DJenny is like the "clever girl" from Jurassic Park that'll have you looking in all directions.
Bulls generally have two settings - on or off. The majority of the time, they stay away from the divers - one reason why you're advised to stay at the DM's level or above is that dropping down below the group forces the bulls deeper. The few times I've seen them mix it up with the group, it's been in lower-visibility conditions. Obviously, there's plenty of accounts and footage of them getting very up-close-and-personal around freedivers and spearfishers.
Overall, glad you had a fun trip even with some weather issues - I remember when I first got into diving sharks were something I always wanted to see and even a lousy nurse shark was cause for excitement. Now I have a chance to see multiple species in one day just a couple hours up the road, and have gone across to do Tiger Beach twice.
I will make one correction to the list of dive charters; I believe Jim Abernathy's Scuba Advantures stopped doing Palm Beach baited shark dives when he sold the Deep Obsession to Ryan Walton as it's own independent charter. JASA still does standard Palm Beach dives; last I checked they were still doing baited trips to the Bahamas. That makes for three SCUBA operations doing baited charters in Palm Beach County waters - Emerald, Calypso, and Deep Obsession. Of the three it's worth noting that Emerald is the only one operating out of Jupiter Inlet; the other two are based out of Lake Park Marina and leave from Lake Worth Inlet. That affects transit times and also is a factor when weather is an issue. On the snorkel side, I believe there are a couple other options in addition to Florida Shark Diving, although I'm not sure of their status.
The bit about the 120s is new - the last time I was on the boat in February nobody barked about my two "water heaters" (LP 120s). I used to rent HP 120s from Scuba Works and stopped doing that because it was really more gas than I needed, except for when I'd take the first ten minutes or so on the Deep Ledge to strafe lionfish at 120-130. The other issue with big tanks is with the possible exception of short, fat HP tanks like the Fabers it's really difficult to bungee them into the Emerald's racks - for my LP 120s I started bringing some of my own bungee cords to lash them in.
Spot-on with the shark notes. Generally the lemons will swarm the group, but they're interested in the goodies the feeder is carrying. If anything you have to make sure you don't get too complacent with them; they still have teeth. One in particular to keep an eye out for is a resident female known as "Two Scar" or "Stevie" depending on the charter; one eye is obviously blind and she'll sometimes bump into people on that side. Back in January I felt something hit the Manta reel I keep clipped to my hip; it's an exercise in maintaining calm when one sees the source of the bump is an ~8 ft half-blind lemon shark with her nose uncomfortably close to your crotch.
The tigers on the other hand demand your respect; as predators their MO is to get really close without being seen. I'm often impressed at how well that camoflage works; at times I've actually seen their shadow on the bottom before I made out the shark above it. They're the ones that I really feel are paying attention to where you're looking. That said, I've never felt they were out to take a piece of me - it's more like they're just seeing what they can get away with. Keep your eyes on them and it's not an issue. The fun thing I like about the tigers is that all three of the ones you saw were repeat customers - Patrick is the new kid on the block from last year and our only recurring male; the first visual record I've seen of Sassy Cassie was from one of Florida Shark Diving's videos in 2015, and DJenny is currently the long-running champ having turned up every year from 2014 to now. After that much time you start to notice they really are individuals; Patrick is fairly easygoing, Sassy Cassie is curious but really wants the food (I'll frequently see her trying to jam the entire crate in her mouth), and DJenny is like the "clever girl" from Jurassic Park that'll have you looking in all directions.
Bulls generally have two settings - on or off. The majority of the time, they stay away from the divers - one reason why you're advised to stay at the DM's level or above is that dropping down below the group forces the bulls deeper. The few times I've seen them mix it up with the group, it's been in lower-visibility conditions. Obviously, there's plenty of accounts and footage of them getting very up-close-and-personal around freedivers and spearfishers.
Overall, glad you had a fun trip even with some weather issues - I remember when I first got into diving sharks were something I always wanted to see and even a lousy nurse shark was cause for excitement. Now I have a chance to see multiple species in one day just a couple hours up the road, and have gone across to do Tiger Beach twice.
Great report!!
Excellent detailed write up on your experience. I am doing this dive in August. Thank you, thank you for getting me oriented and ready for this adventure. I am new, intermediate diver so your article is research I really needed.
Rythmmaker
Contributor
I was all set to do this dive through Emerald Dive Charters, but doing some research, I discovered several very unsettling facts about Randy Jordan - the captain and owner:
1. He was the guy I read about here a few years ago who lost a finger to a puffer after try to get it to inflate for some paying customers. I remember being shocked that a puffer could/would bite off a finger, and not happy about a dive operator harassing marine life. But I didn't know it was the same guy until I read his blog on their web site. Here's the story in his own words: http://www.emeraldcharters.com/randy-stories/puffer-fish/
Here's the thread from 2003: Puffer fish bites off diver's finger
2. Last summer his boat lost divers (as in they got separated from the boat and found themselves adrift at sea) not once, but TWICE. In the same year.
source: Diver reports self, 6 others, missing off Palm Beach County | WeatherPlus
3. Also last summer he was bitten while hand-feeding a shark and had to airlifted to a hospital for "reattachment" surgery.
Source: http://weatherplus.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2017/05/31/captain-of-jupiter-shark-encounter-charter-is-bitten-requires-airlift-to-hospital/
EDIT: Great writeup and review. Thanks for posting. I REALLY wanted to do this dive, but after all this...?
1. He was the guy I read about here a few years ago who lost a finger to a puffer after try to get it to inflate for some paying customers. I remember being shocked that a puffer could/would bite off a finger, and not happy about a dive operator harassing marine life. But I didn't know it was the same guy until I read his blog on their web site. Here's the story in his own words: http://www.emeraldcharters.com/randy-stories/puffer-fish/
Here's the thread from 2003: Puffer fish bites off diver's finger
2. Last summer his boat lost divers (as in they got separated from the boat and found themselves adrift at sea) not once, but TWICE. In the same year.
source: Diver reports self, 6 others, missing off Palm Beach County | WeatherPlus
3. Also last summer he was bitten while hand-feeding a shark and had to airlifted to a hospital for "reattachment" surgery.
Source: http://weatherplus.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2017/05/31/captain-of-jupiter-shark-encounter-charter-is-bitten-requires-airlift-to-hospital/
EDIT: Great writeup and review. Thanks for posting. I REALLY wanted to do this dive, but after all this...?
HalcyonDaze
Contributor
You missed the bit where he was spearfishing (not feeding) a couple years ago and lost two fingertips to a line wrap when a bull shark took his fish.
Shark feeding is like playing 5-finger fillet or juggling knives for a living - your hands are working around sharp objects on a regular basis and a mistake on your part is going to result in injury. And that mistake is going to happen eventually. If you're lucky, it's going to be minor - the only bite on a trip I've done was in the Bahamas, where the feeder caught the "Forrest Gump Special" from a single lemon shark tooth, packed some gauze on it, and went back in the water. I have yet to hear a clear account of what happened Memorial Day weekend last year, but I've heard about three different sources by now indicating Randy's hand was simply in the wrong place when a tiger shark was nibbling on the bait.
Personally, I didn't go back out on Emerald until about nine months after that cluster of incidents in May 2017. The captain running the boat at the time of the two lost diver incidents was, as I understand, a new hire and was soon replaced. The four trips I've done this year have all been on the weekends; Randy's former understudy Josh was running the show with Lauren (a regular-turned-DM) acting as safety diver/backup feeder. I haven't felt unsafe on those dives and overall they're stricter on protocol than a couple years ago.
Randy will sometimes go out during the week to run spearfishing trips or do feeds with his regulars, but I believe he still doesn't have 100% use of the injured hand.
Shark feeding is like playing 5-finger fillet or juggling knives for a living - your hands are working around sharp objects on a regular basis and a mistake on your part is going to result in injury. And that mistake is going to happen eventually. If you're lucky, it's going to be minor - the only bite on a trip I've done was in the Bahamas, where the feeder caught the "Forrest Gump Special" from a single lemon shark tooth, packed some gauze on it, and went back in the water. I have yet to hear a clear account of what happened Memorial Day weekend last year, but I've heard about three different sources by now indicating Randy's hand was simply in the wrong place when a tiger shark was nibbling on the bait.
Personally, I didn't go back out on Emerald until about nine months after that cluster of incidents in May 2017. The captain running the boat at the time of the two lost diver incidents was, as I understand, a new hire and was soon replaced. The four trips I've done this year have all been on the weekends; Randy's former understudy Josh was running the show with Lauren (a regular-turned-DM) acting as safety diver/backup feeder. I haven't felt unsafe on those dives and overall they're stricter on protocol than a couple years ago.
Randy will sometimes go out during the week to run spearfishing trips or do feeds with his regulars, but I believe he still doesn't have 100% use of the injured hand.
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