Hetland
Contributor
Got a late start Saturday and took the boat out to Ft. Pickens. Pensacola Bay was pretty flat, and the ride out was mostly pleasant. There was just enough wind to keep the mosquitoes at bay, and current was mild. My dive buddy and I suited up as the sun was dipping into the horizon.
Once we got under, we saw a fair bit sediment flying around, but viz was generally good enough so we couldnt complain. Currents for both dives ranged from moderate to non-existent. Water temps were comfortable. I was wearing a skin with a 3mm jacket, and never felt chilled. Ill have to check my comp, but Im sure we did not get any deeper than 50, with most of the dives in the 35 range.
Now for the good stuff: Pickens will reliably have a hearty dose of phosphorous in the water. While waving your hand underwater, the phosphorous will fluoresce, producing green pin-point lights. Our second dive particularly had great phosphorous effects. At one point we cut our lights, and swam with our hands in front of our faces. This produced a cascade of green particles that is hard to describe to someone who has never experienced such a thing. Too Cool.
There were plenty of the usual suspects at Pickens. I did notice a marked decline in the number of sea urchins from my last visit. Perhaps the hurricane had something to do with this. Thankfully, the jellies are all but gone. We saw maybe a dozen moon jellies, and they were all at the surface. We encountered what I believe were three different octopuses. One was a little shy, but let us follow him at a close distance without too much fuss. Another octopus followed us around, and a third charged us, spit at my buddy, flexed his muscles, and then ran away and hid in a pipe. Any dive with an octopus sighting is a good dive imho. We also saw lots of cowfish, two torpedo rays, spider crabs, a sting ray, a few flounder, lots of toadfish, a 3 grouper, spades, sheepies, damsels and thousands of little critters in every nook and cranny of every rock, tire, and toilet in the area. Towards the end of our last dive I saw a HUGE lobster .. or so I thought. What I saw was the biggest stone crab in the state of Florida. This guys claws were the size of my fists! He looked like Hellboy with those big ol guns!
All-in-all, we had a great set of dives. It will be very nice when Pickens is open again, and you can simply walk 30 to the water. In the meantime, I think Ill check Navarre out and see if there are any octos in the area.
Once we got under, we saw a fair bit sediment flying around, but viz was generally good enough so we couldnt complain. Currents for both dives ranged from moderate to non-existent. Water temps were comfortable. I was wearing a skin with a 3mm jacket, and never felt chilled. Ill have to check my comp, but Im sure we did not get any deeper than 50, with most of the dives in the 35 range.
Now for the good stuff: Pickens will reliably have a hearty dose of phosphorous in the water. While waving your hand underwater, the phosphorous will fluoresce, producing green pin-point lights. Our second dive particularly had great phosphorous effects. At one point we cut our lights, and swam with our hands in front of our faces. This produced a cascade of green particles that is hard to describe to someone who has never experienced such a thing. Too Cool.
There were plenty of the usual suspects at Pickens. I did notice a marked decline in the number of sea urchins from my last visit. Perhaps the hurricane had something to do with this. Thankfully, the jellies are all but gone. We saw maybe a dozen moon jellies, and they were all at the surface. We encountered what I believe were three different octopuses. One was a little shy, but let us follow him at a close distance without too much fuss. Another octopus followed us around, and a third charged us, spit at my buddy, flexed his muscles, and then ran away and hid in a pipe. Any dive with an octopus sighting is a good dive imho. We also saw lots of cowfish, two torpedo rays, spider crabs, a sting ray, a few flounder, lots of toadfish, a 3 grouper, spades, sheepies, damsels and thousands of little critters in every nook and cranny of every rock, tire, and toilet in the area. Towards the end of our last dive I saw a HUGE lobster .. or so I thought. What I saw was the biggest stone crab in the state of Florida. This guys claws were the size of my fists! He looked like Hellboy with those big ol guns!
All-in-all, we had a great set of dives. It will be very nice when Pickens is open again, and you can simply walk 30 to the water. In the meantime, I think Ill check Navarre out and see if there are any octos in the area.
