Palm Beach Dive Thread

[MrChen]

Two impressive dives today.

First dive was on Spearman’s Barge and Mid-Reef. The schools of fish on the big, flat wreck were huge and densely packed. I can toss my DPV behind me like a champ and crush a gas switch coming off a deep technical dive but can’t identify fish on a recreational dive to save my life. I feel like am such a rookie!

Second dive was the Princess Anne wreck. I burned up a whole tank at 28m / 91ft watching an adult nurse shark closely accompanied by approximately 200-250 green, bait-sized fish in the shape of a torpedo, enough to conceal a large part of the shark, and about 75-100 Jacks (trevallies) who were swimming in an outer orbit. The interaction amongst the three was absolutely captivating. The nurse shark was patrolling low and slow while the green bait fish swam excitedly but closely around the nurse shark. Periodically and unpredictably the green fish would just explode away from the shark and then just as quickly resume their tight slithering around the nurse shark. The Jacks would also periodically and unpredictably start their own dive bombing. The nurse shark sank down into the exposed ribs of the barge and although all I could see was his tail, it was clear he was working on something as he kicked up a ton of silt. The green fish went absolutely berserk crawling all over the nurse shark to the point it looked like a school of piranhas attacking their prey. What was really strange was the shark finally turned and although I could then clearly see its face, it would suddenly jerk violently but without any clear evidence of feeding. It made me think the shark was suffering from some neurological condition. Other witnesses couldn’t figure out what was going on either.

Anyways, two grey GGs (one adult, one juvenile) with white flecks showed up and kept us company for a bit.

Further like a rookie, my GoPro sat fully charged in the car.

That sounds awesome.

 

[NothingClever]

It’s definitely been added to the “List of Magical Dive Moments”.

Switching topics - I know for sure one of these days the stars are going to align and you, @Johnoly @Divin'Papaw and I are all going to land on the same boat . That ought to make for some awesome Palm Beach fun!

 

[MrChen]

I went out yesterday on my buddy's boat, north of the Palm Beach inlet.

Dive 1 was in 100+. We didn't see any fish or lobsters. We did see some lionfish and I almost shot a 30+ inch goliath grouper that was swimming slowly right at me. I decided to get a look at the patterns before pulling the trigger and was happy I wasn't trigger happy. Visibility was around 70ft, south current, a thermocline at about 95ft. It kinda sucked because we were navigating north against the current. Fortunately, we had our scooters and could still make progress.

Dive 2 was in the 90-100ft range. I caught 4 lobsters on this one. visibility on the top 5-8 ft was turning brown. We knew we had a south current this time and planned for it. Visibility was starting to drop to below 50ft.

Dive 3 was around 80ft. We dropped on a barge. The current was ripping south, and visibility was now around 40ft. There were a couple of goliath groupers and a nurse shark on the barge. Lots of fish, but with the current, we were struggling to stay with it. In fact, I overshot the barge on descent when I saw a mutton in the sand. I had to crawl my way back to the barge and mutton took off as soon as I looked at it. From the barge we headed east for some structure or patchy area. We lost each other in the degrading vis and on scooters. I needed 2 lobsters to limit and caught them. I caught a really large one with eggs, so I let it go. The 2nd lobster I found, I tickled it out of the hole, look up, and see a 20 inch mutton snapper. I grabbed my gun and barely clipped it on the top, it held and I send the fish to the surface on my stringer. Unfortunately, the boat didn't see it and I'm hoping someone will text me that they have my float. Right at the end of the dive, I saw another mutton and nailed it. I sent it up and shot my DSMB right behind it.

We did a short Dive 4. One of the guys on the boat had lost a speargun, so we used what was left in our dive 1 tanks to try and find it. It was a really cool spot with big cable reels. There were fish and lionfish all over. I saw several hogs, but they were small. I did shoot a large mutton, but he tore off. Visibility on this dive was around 40ft, hazy, and dark. There was no way to find the speargun. I would guess the depth of the site was 115ft, and I stayed around 100, max 102.

 

[MrChen]

It’s definitely been added to the “List of Magical Dive Moments”.

Switching topics - I know for sure one of these days the stars are going to align and you, @Johnoly @Divin'Papaw and I are all going to land on the same boat . That ought to make for some awesome Palm Beach fun!

I had a dive planned on JDC with @Divin'Papaw and @Johnoly was on the boat, so it can happen. DP and I have another dive coming up on PV next Saturday.

 

[johndiver999]

Two impressive dives today.

First dive was on Spearman’s Barge and Mid-Reef. The schools of fish on the big, flat wreck were huge and densely packed. I can toss my DPV behind me like a champ and crush a gas switch coming off a deep technical dive but can’t identify fish on a recreational dive to save my life. I feel like am such a rookie!

Second dive was the Princess Anne wreck. I burned up a whole tank at 28m / 91ft watching an adult nurse shark closely accompanied by approximately 200-250 green, bait-sized fish in the shape of a torpedo, enough to conceal a large part of the shark, and about 75-100 Jacks (trevallies) who were swimming in an outer orbit. The interaction amongst the three was absolutely captivating. The nurse shark was patrolling low and slow while the green bait fish swam excitedly but closely around the nurse shark. Periodically and unpredictably the green fish would just explode away from the shark and then just as quickly resume their tight slithering around the nurse shark. The Jacks would also periodically and unpredictably start their own dive bombing. The nurse shark sank down into the exposed ribs of the barge and although all I could see was his tail, it was clear he was working on something as he kicked up a ton of silt. The green fish went absolutely berserk crawling all over the nurse shark to the point it looked like a school of piranhas attacking their prey. What was really strange was the shark finally turned and although I could then clearly see its face, it would suddenly jerk violently but without any clear evidence of feeding. It made me think the shark was suffering from some neurological condition. Other witnesses couldn’t figure out what was going on either.

Anyways, two grey GGs (one adult, one juvenile) with white flecks showed up and kept us company for a bit.

Further like a rookie, my GoPro sat fully charged in the car.

FYI, The Princess Anne is a car ferry not a barge....
Perhaps a few "old" pics might be interesting to some? It used to be only about 40 feet to the top of the wreck.

 

[johndiver999]

 

[Johnoly]

....I are all going to land on the same boat...

Lol,,,that boat will be sunk on the bottom of the ocean, but technically it's the same boat. I said hello to Dean on PV yesterday as we pulled up next to each other. I like Pura Vida Divers !!

 

[Johnoly]

...spot with big cable reels......depth of the site was 115ft,

I know where you are talking about. We hit it maybe once a year since it's a public listed number. But it's good you published where it was lost so if we hear someone found it, we know who to tell them to contact. Most divers are really good about returning lost gear. (good karma)

 

[Divin'Papaw]

FYI, The Princess Anne is a car ferry not a barge....
Perhaps a few "old" pics might be interesting to some? It used to be only about 40 feet to the top of the wreck.

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@johndiver999 Awesome photos! I've never seen them before! I've been on the wreck many times but all since she's been torn up. Was it one hurricane in particular that did the most damage or has it been several over the years?

@NothingClever PA has always been an awesome dive every time I've been on it. I was repeatedly circled by no less than 8 bull sharks on one dive. Just sat and watched them pretty much the entire dive!

 

[johndiver999]

SS Princess Anne - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org