Flower Gardens 5/13 to 5/14 on MV Fling

[PacketSniffer]

The weather was looking great to start out the 3rd trip this year to the Flower Gardens. Other trips have been cancelled due to weather. Because of this, we had a completely full boat. However, there is a lot of room on the MV Fling (and Spree).

Saturdays five dives were great. The sea was pretty much like glass. The current was there and provided a little challenge but nothing dangerous. We did have a few come up off the line and require the zodiac to fetch them but all was well. Temps at depth on Saturday were to 77f at West Bank and East Bank. Stetson had temps of 75f and 72f at #1. The 72f was down the wall at around 100'.

At East Bank, I spotted a pair of eagle rays majestically flying around. Unfortunately, my camera's onboard flash got stuck against the housing and couldn't open fully. So, no pics. :11:

We woke on Sunday at Stetson with the boat rockin' and rollin'. lol From glass to 5 ~ 7' seas, few were interested in a full breakfast that morning. Several brave souls decided to jump on the first dive which included yours truly. Kudos go out to our two Dive Masters that were determined to get us a line to the mooring ball. Kudos to the captains and crew that did some awesome piloting and giving us the opportunity to dive on Sunday. We were rewarded with awesome marine life. There were spottings of hammerhead shark, bull shark, sting rays, turtles, and more. This time, to my amazement, my compact flash card was completely full after just 3 pictures on this dive. That's what happens when you decide to bracket your shots and not think it's full. Grrrrrrr!

The second dive at Stetson looked like all of the marine life were given a free lunch card or something. They all took off. The place was like a ghost town. Of course, my camera was working perfectly. Doh!

All in all, it was a great trip to the Flower Gardens. If you haven't been out this year, you owe it to yourself to go. I went through Sea Sports Scuba for this trip and their trip leader "Andy" did a great job. Kudos to Andy!

There's an exclusive trip shaping up in August with Zendiving.com for a limited amount of divers to see (hopefully) the whale sharks after the coral spawn. Check it out over there if interested.

Here are some pics. Be nice. It's my second dive trip with the strobe (Substrobe-200). If anyone can offer any constructive criticism on how I might get better shots, I'm all ears.

Richard

 

[Debraw]

Thanks for the pics! Can't wait for our trip. Those seas looked scary Sunday.

 

[Willie]

Loved the picts. Thanks for the report.

Willie

 

[BIGG_BUDD]

Nice pics man...

 

[Teknadv3x]

Richard
could you post the download from your dive computer of the graph of your dive you seen the the big critters on Stetson Bank?





Thanks in advance
Dave

 

[PacketSniffer]

Richard
could you post the download from your dive computer of the graph of your dive you seen the the big critters on Stetson Bank?

I don't even bother with the software and downloading anymore. I did it for about the first three dozen dives and then blew it off. Suunto Dive Manager (or whatever they call it) pi$$ed me off with it's bugs and rigid structure. I copy all of the parameters right from my computer to the log book.

What particular info did you want?

Richard

 

[Teknadv3x]

I don't even bother with the software and downloading anymore. I did it for about the first three dozen dives and then blew it off. Suunto Dive Manager (or whatever they call it) pi$$ed me off with it's bugs and rigid structure. I copy all of the parameters right from my computer to the log book.

What particular info did you want?

Richard

Time of day. Was there any thermalclines and if there was what were the temps above & below.

Dave

 

[PacketSniffer]

Time of day. Was there any thermalclines and if there was what were the temps above & below.

Dave

There was definitely a thermocline.

The dive started at 08:06 at Stetson #1 and lasted for 51 minutes. Surface water temp was 77f. The temp changed at 60' to 75f which was a very distinct thermocline. Seventy-five degrees seemed to be the average temp before you got over the wall. At 75' to 90', the temp lowered again to 73f which was on the deep wall side. There were pockets of warm water though because I recorded 75f at 90' on the deep wall side. But, I remember the deep wall side being mostly chilly at 73f on our tour.

Post dive, the divers commented on how we saw the warm and cold water mixing together which was causing those strange visual distortions. I can't think of the technical term. It's the thing you see in the summer when you look out over the horizon and see the heat distort your vision. The thermocline at 60' was felt the most.

The Dive Masters jumped their dives probably around 10:00. They were up around 11:00 and reported more of the same big stuff (hammerhead, bull, eagle rays, moray, etc). When we jumped for our second dive at 11:30, EVERYTHING was GONE. I recorded about the same temps. The thermocline at 60' was still there. I did record a lower temp of 72f but I also traveled to some different areas and went further out/down the wall in hopes of seeing some sharks.

I hope that helps.

Richard

 

[Teknadv3x]

There was definitely a thermocline.

The dive started at 08:06 at Stetson #1 and lasted for 51 minutes. Surface water temp was 77f. The temp changed at 60' to 75f which was a very distinct thermocline. Seventy-five degrees seemed to be the average temp before you got over the wall. At 75' to 90', the temp lowered again to 73f which was on the deep wall side. There were pockets of warm water though because I recorded 75f at 90' on the deep wall side. But, I remember the deep wall side being mostly chilly at 73f on our tour.

Post dive, the divers commented on how we saw the warm and cold water mixing together which was causing those strange visual distortions. I can't think of the technical term. It's the thing you see in the summer when you look out over the horizon and see the heat distort your vision. The thermocline at 60' was felt the most.

The Dive Masters jumped their dives probably around 10:00. They were up around 11:00 and reported more of the same big stuff (hammerhead, bull, eagle rays, moray, etc). When we jumped for our second dive at 11:30, EVERYTHING was GONE. I recorded about the same temps. The thermocline at 60' was still there. I did record a lower temp of 72f but I also traveled to some different areas and went further out/down the wall in hopes of seeing some sharks.

I hope that helps.

Richard

Thanks Richard

 

[Dutchman]

What is life like onboard when not diving? Does anyone bring their non diving wives? Can you snorkle? Thanks