Afternoon diving. Anybody game? Hopefully can get at least one dive in. My gills are drying up...
Hibiscus Sunday Sept 19
- Thread starter Scuba_Jenny
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Scuba_Jenny:
Um, me?
OP
Sometime after Noon. I think maybe 1PM. If weather good, maybe we can sneak another one in later also...
Hows it been down there lately? (viz, current, waves?) I'd love to hook up with ya'll too, but man thats a loooong drive if the conditions are sucky.. Let me know..
Thanks,
Vickie
Thanks,
Vickie
OP
I was out on Hollywood Beach this evening as we had Hermit Crabs BDay party at the beach. I was jonesin' to get wet. It looked nice. A bit of a current, but by the time we left (just got home a half hour ago), the wind died.
This is good, hope it holds out till tomorrow....
This is good, hope it holds out till tomorrow....
From a night dive report posted elsewhere last night:
Lisa (H2OAddict), Kevin (idive2) & I did go out on a night dive tonight. My beautiful side yard is now covered with sand. Yes, the reef is still there but greatly changed. Everything is covered in a thin layer of sand & many of the honeycombs are half filled with sand too. Still, it was a joy for all of us to get in the water after so long & we had a peaceful, serene dive.
We headed south &, although there was not a lot of life, we saw some pretty neat things. We saw a baby nurse shark, it's nose burrowed in the sand looking for food. It was perhaps a foot and a half to 2 feet long & swam away after tolerating our inspection for a few minutes. There was a large slipper lobster that was hanging onto a waving sea fan when I first spotted it. Several other lobster, Florida & slipper. A large porcupine fish, blinded by our lights & bumping into everything. Lots of crabs- at least two kinds. One large somewhat long-bodied squid swimming by itself. A group of three other squid that I saw on the way in. We saw a few fish sleeping in the newly shallow holes in the reef. Shrimp, a baby eel of some kind.
But the landscape is sadly changed & very different. We saw a lot of damage to the coral- rips, tears & I did not see many of my familiar landmarks. I was leading the dive- it was my 2nd checkout dive for a navigation specialty (thanks, Lisa) & about the time that we decided to turn back, the reef just disappeared- covered with sand & desolate as my heart is right now.
Kevin, Jenny, & Blondey are coming over tomorrow to dive & we'll go out to the 2nd reef to see what that is like. I'm hoping that we find it in better shape- it's as if the sand between the reefs was washed in & over the first reef. But, when Jenny & I were watching the very beginning of Francis, we saw the waves breaking over the whole series of three reefs out there so I suspect that we may see much of the same.
Lisa (H2OAddict), Kevin (idive2) & I did go out on a night dive tonight. My beautiful side yard is now covered with sand. Yes, the reef is still there but greatly changed. Everything is covered in a thin layer of sand & many of the honeycombs are half filled with sand too. Still, it was a joy for all of us to get in the water after so long & we had a peaceful, serene dive.
We headed south &, although there was not a lot of life, we saw some pretty neat things. We saw a baby nurse shark, it's nose burrowed in the sand looking for food. It was perhaps a foot and a half to 2 feet long & swam away after tolerating our inspection for a few minutes. There was a large slipper lobster that was hanging onto a waving sea fan when I first spotted it. Several other lobster, Florida & slipper. A large porcupine fish, blinded by our lights & bumping into everything. Lots of crabs- at least two kinds. One large somewhat long-bodied squid swimming by itself. A group of three other squid that I saw on the way in. We saw a few fish sleeping in the newly shallow holes in the reef. Shrimp, a baby eel of some kind.
But the landscape is sadly changed & very different. We saw a lot of damage to the coral- rips, tears & I did not see many of my familiar landmarks. I was leading the dive- it was my 2nd checkout dive for a navigation specialty (thanks, Lisa) & about the time that we decided to turn back, the reef just disappeared- covered with sand & desolate as my heart is right now.
Kevin, Jenny, & Blondey are coming over tomorrow to dive & we'll go out to the 2nd reef to see what that is like. I'm hoping that we find it in better shape- it's as if the sand between the reefs was washed in & over the first reef. But, when Jenny & I were watching the very beginning of Francis, we saw the waves breaking over the whole series of three reefs out there so I suspect that we may see much of the same.
Jenny, Kevin & I went out to the second reef this afternoon to see how it fared in the recent storm. As I suspected, the damage to it was just about the same as to the first reef- lots of coral heads with big, gaping holes, sand halfway up or more in all the honeycombs, lots of new small coral rubble scattered round the sand covered reef, sea plants, torn out & buried. It's going to take a while for it to heal & the tides to clean away the sand & debris. The number of fish that we saw seemed to be at a more normal level, for which I am grateful.
Jenny & Kevin saw a 5-6 foot nurse shark swiming around but, by the time I turned around, it was gone. Other than that, we just saw the usual denziens of the reef. We kicked out north to the pier & turned in to come back with the south current on the 1st reef. I did actually find that my beloved "nursery," an area with several large corals & usually teaming with life, was still there. It was changed a great deal but was still recognizable. Since that is one of my favorite spots to go out to just hang out & think, I am especially glad that it is there & not too damaged. And since that is a landmark that I use to locate my home, I didn't get to spend any time investigating it. So, hopefully an early rising day for me tomorrow- going to try to go back out there for some much-needed quiet time before work.
Sorry to sound so sad- to me, it's like my whole neighborhood got torn up.
Jenny & Kevin saw a 5-6 foot nurse shark swiming around but, by the time I turned around, it was gone. Other than that, we just saw the usual denziens of the reef. We kicked out north to the pier & turned in to come back with the south current on the 1st reef. I did actually find that my beloved "nursery," an area with several large corals & usually teaming with life, was still there. It was changed a great deal but was still recognizable. Since that is one of my favorite spots to go out to just hang out & think, I am especially glad that it is there & not too damaged. And since that is a landmark that I use to locate my home, I didn't get to spend any time investigating it. So, hopefully an early rising day for me tomorrow- going to try to go back out there for some much-needed quiet time before work.
Sorry to sound so sad- to me, it's like my whole neighborhood got torn up.
makinbubbles
Contributor
Scuba_Jenny:
Wish I read this note this Sunday morning instead of Sunday evening. Did a boat dive Saturday off Palm Beach. Things were sure messed up. 10-15 vis and everything covered in sand. The dive master said she didn't even recognize it as the reef shes been diving for years now.
Bob
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