Missdirected
Contributor
Our Ledge (GulfCoastDiver, Kathleen and Me/MissDirected)
August 29, 2006
Met up with GulfCoastDiver and Kathleen. We talked about the weather a bit, as the local news stated we were going to have some serious seas today. Personally, I think they should be sanctioned for all the hype they give with coming storms these days. Better yet, I need to stick to NOAA!
Anyway, we set out on their boat and it was clear Hurricane Ernesto was no where in our forecast. The tide was changing as we headed through John’s Pass so there was quite a bit of splash. After that it was a very, very light chop. The sky was basically cloudless so it made for the beginning of a very hot day. Really hot.
Our plan today was to find a wreck called Gunsmoke. FYI, Gunsmoke is an old shrimper that was once used to smuggle marijuana. It sank in 1977. But skip that, we didn’t find it anywho. As we were anchoring for our first dive I spotted a small loggerhead. The first dive was a bit of a surprise. Lots of sand and some greens. Usually in that landscape that is all you are going to find. However, we found some beautiful coral heads of all different types, some approximately 3x4 foot. In this area that is pretty rare. Thing is we kept finding odd ones like that coral along with huge sponges, and a monster size starfish. A couple of the sponges we found were the size of a small tire. Needless to say we carried on with that dive as we were seeing so many great things. Water temp. 90 (no that is not a typo) depth 80ft.
We took a rather long surface interval today. We shared some really good Cuban sandwiches and a bit of pineapple. Chatted about the previous dive and our thoughts on where the Gunsmoke could be. We agreed on the plan for our next dive and hit the water.
Setting off on a 17 degree heading towards a marker we had set. Along the way, it started the same as the previous dive… All sorts of stuff! Another starfish, approximately 22” in diameter, coral heads, sponges, etc. Then we came upon an area that almost looked as though it had been dredged (it hadn’t but that is the best way to describe it). It was one big, beautiful, long, ledge loaded with life! We decided to stay and do our dive there. In that area we found arrow head crabs, hovering gobies, blue gobies, grouper (abundant), scamp, a short big eye juvenile, hogfish, queen angelfish, blue angelfish, gray angelfish, and a French angle fish! Under some of the rocks and overhangs we spotted an octopus (rather large), two types of urchins, brittle stars, leapord and oyster toadfishes (I have never spotted so many in one area). There were also an abundance of juvenile jackknife fish, these were soooo pretty with their brilliant gold markings. Also abundant were the high hats. Well I think that about covers it, with the exception of three different schools of fish I didn’t get a chance to identify. Temp was 88 here with a depth of 80. Pics were taken so hopefully when John and Kathleen return tonight they can add them to this report.
This ledge was truely a rare thing to see around here. It wasn't until recently that people started caring for our area. Hence, why so many dive further south. To see this many varieties of coral and sponge in one area - given the size as well - truely something very special.
It was a beautiful day! Coming in, the water was like sheets of silk, we were able to do 40n.
P.S Of course we seen the friendly tour guides aka The Great Barracuda. Additionally, we spotted another very large loggerhead after we had completed our second dive.
August 29, 2006
Met up with GulfCoastDiver and Kathleen. We talked about the weather a bit, as the local news stated we were going to have some serious seas today. Personally, I think they should be sanctioned for all the hype they give with coming storms these days. Better yet, I need to stick to NOAA!
Anyway, we set out on their boat and it was clear Hurricane Ernesto was no where in our forecast. The tide was changing as we headed through John’s Pass so there was quite a bit of splash. After that it was a very, very light chop. The sky was basically cloudless so it made for the beginning of a very hot day. Really hot.
Our plan today was to find a wreck called Gunsmoke. FYI, Gunsmoke is an old shrimper that was once used to smuggle marijuana. It sank in 1977. But skip that, we didn’t find it anywho. As we were anchoring for our first dive I spotted a small loggerhead. The first dive was a bit of a surprise. Lots of sand and some greens. Usually in that landscape that is all you are going to find. However, we found some beautiful coral heads of all different types, some approximately 3x4 foot. In this area that is pretty rare. Thing is we kept finding odd ones like that coral along with huge sponges, and a monster size starfish. A couple of the sponges we found were the size of a small tire. Needless to say we carried on with that dive as we were seeing so many great things. Water temp. 90 (no that is not a typo) depth 80ft.
We took a rather long surface interval today. We shared some really good Cuban sandwiches and a bit of pineapple. Chatted about the previous dive and our thoughts on where the Gunsmoke could be. We agreed on the plan for our next dive and hit the water.
Setting off on a 17 degree heading towards a marker we had set. Along the way, it started the same as the previous dive… All sorts of stuff! Another starfish, approximately 22” in diameter, coral heads, sponges, etc. Then we came upon an area that almost looked as though it had been dredged (it hadn’t but that is the best way to describe it). It was one big, beautiful, long, ledge loaded with life! We decided to stay and do our dive there. In that area we found arrow head crabs, hovering gobies, blue gobies, grouper (abundant), scamp, a short big eye juvenile, hogfish, queen angelfish, blue angelfish, gray angelfish, and a French angle fish! Under some of the rocks and overhangs we spotted an octopus (rather large), two types of urchins, brittle stars, leapord and oyster toadfishes (I have never spotted so many in one area). There were also an abundance of juvenile jackknife fish, these were soooo pretty with their brilliant gold markings. Also abundant were the high hats. Well I think that about covers it, with the exception of three different schools of fish I didn’t get a chance to identify. Temp was 88 here with a depth of 80. Pics were taken so hopefully when John and Kathleen return tonight they can add them to this report.
This ledge was truely a rare thing to see around here. It wasn't until recently that people started caring for our area. Hence, why so many dive further south. To see this many varieties of coral and sponge in one area - given the size as well - truely something very special.
It was a beautiful day! Coming in, the water was like sheets of silk, we were able to do 40n.
P.S Of course we seen the friendly tour guides aka The Great Barracuda. Additionally, we spotted another very large loggerhead after we had completed our second dive.
