Goliath Grouper Dives on Mizpah, Amaryllis and Danny wrecks (a few pictures)

[sportxlh]

Dove the three wrecks noted above with Jim Abernathy Scuba Adventures this morning. The current was southbound on the first dive so Capt Jim dropped us on the Amaryllis and we slowly drifted over it and the rubble pile to the Mizpah. One Goliath in particular was incredibly friendly: it followed the divers around the Amaryllis and over the rubble pile at times seemingly posing for pictures and videos. It gently bumped into me and my GoPro camera several times. The other GG's kept their distance

Once we hit the Danny on the second dive, the current was back headed north. Most of the goliaths kept their distance but once the air divers surfaced, a few GG's moved in fairly close to the remaining handful of nitrox divers: not quite as close as the friendly guy on the Amaryllis but within three or four feet.

What a great morning of diving: thanks to JASA and the boat's crew.

The following are some screen captures from the GoPro video camera: not great quality but you'll get the idea of what we saw on the dives

 

[kathydee]

Nice! Sounds like fun . What was the water temp today?

 

[HalcyonDaze]

Nice. How many goliaths did you spot? I remember seeing reports of dozens if not 100-200 before all this thermocline nonsense. I'm going out to hit the Zion Train tomorrow afternoon.

 

[sportxlh]

Kathydee: temps were 76-80 degrees. There was a thermocline at about 75 feet on the first dive.

Halcyon: the GG's were not as thick as I've seen in the past. On the Mizpah, most scattered to the sand in groups of 2-4 though a couple stayed close to the wreck with divers., Towards the dive's end, a few more moved back in when only 4 divers were left. I probably saw a dozen or so at that site, but I'm sure there were more out of visible range. On the Amaryllis and rubble piles there were 4 or 5 random GG's swimming around with a couple that were particularly brave.

On the Danny many of the goliaths also scattered or dove into the wreck when the divers approached. at the end of the dive when only 2 of us were left, half a dozen came back around. At one point when I was down near the sand at the stern, one goliath lined up next to the hull on my left and two lined up directly to my right in the sand, just as if I were another GG hanging out. Unfortunately my battery had died on the GoPro by that point in the dive.

It was still a fantastic dive(s) despite not having 100's of GG's given a few approached divers very closely, sometimes gently bumping into the divers.