The rabbit finds fossils.

[Ber Rabbit]

If some out-of-stater can come in on their first time and get 80, surely i can get at least one in a dive!

I can't help it the weather was perfect, I LOVED it but I can't help it! I just trusted and followed my guide he's the reason I found so many, I never would have managed to find 80 without him. Technically it's not my first time tooth hunting, just my first time doing it underwater. Ten years or so ago I hunted them on land in one of Cargill's Phosphate mines in Ft. Myers with a geologist friend. I've got one or two big ones (not megs though) from that trip but at the moment I can't find the display container I put them in-GRRRR.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Big-t-2538]

When do you reckon it will be warm enough for a 3mm? April?

You warm water weenies kill me.....3mil...it's 60 there now, that's plenty warm for a 3 mil....and if ber was warm with no gloves, well, I'd contemplate no hood and my shorty.

 

[simbrooks]

I can't help it the weather was perfect, I LOVED it but I can't help it! I just trusted and followed my guide he's the reason I found so many, I never would have managed to find 80 without him. Technically it's not my first time tooth hunting, just my first time doing it underwater. Ten years or so ago I hunted them on land in one of Cargill's Phosphate mines in Ft. Myers with a geologist friend. I've got one or two big ones (not megs though) from that trip but at the moment I can't find the display container I put them in-GRRRR.
Ber :lilbunny:

Ber, i didnt have Walter for a guide, i was going blind buddy-lined to Reefguy, but having troubles with bouyancy in my 5mm that day in 59F. I will attempt some time in the next few months. Oh and another thing, i work on Cargills phosphate mines and IMC's and Agrifos' and CF's and PCS's and Agriums' all either in FL or elsewhere in the world, dont get out in the field as much as i would like to though. Never contemplated looking for teeth there though.

Big T, i would swap you the OH waters for the UK ones i grew up in, pretty chilly there swimming with no exposure protection, except shorts and t-shirt. The www is my GF, i too have a 3mm suit and was pretty warm in my 5mm in that water. She doesnt like the idea of going down there unless its warm enough to have a bath. I would have tried my 3mm that day but was warned off it - then the bouyancy went awry.

Will write a thread if i decide to try that saturday, shame you cant get there Walter.

 

[Walter]

I'll likely be colder than you, Simon.

 

[MB]

The hardest part of this dive for me was resisting the urge to "mother" Walter and start hunting for teeth. I think I need to spend a little less time diving with students, that transition from instructor to plain old buddy didn't come easily.

I thoroughly enjoyed having Walter as a buddy, he really made my day!

I have frequently heard the words Mother and Walter in the same sentence but... Oh never mind...

Walter is unique as a buddy. You'll never be paired with a better diver, prepared to make wise decisions if needed, but also fully committed to enjoying whatever Nature sends your way. And you are correct about making a choice to follow a man who knows his backyard. On several occaisions I've wondered what the heck he is doing only to discover that there was some method to his madness. (of course I've also been around when I saw that that it was just madness, not method)

As for diving without students... Ms Rabbit, may I suggest that you establish some ratio, perhaps an annual ratio, that keeps some (large) proportion of your dives as NON-working dives??? I try not to let more than 50% of my dives per year be teaching or supervision dives, least I forget to relax and enjoy the dives as their own reward. Not that there're aren't also rewards to sharing the UW world with others, but its OK to be just a bit greedy and save some of your bottom time for yourself.

Glad you found teeth and jaw plates!

 

[Walter]

ROTFLMAO!!!! I usually get cards in May.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Actually last year just under 50% of my dives were pleasure dives but that doesn't mean I'm not mothering my buddy. You should see the look on Bruce's face when I ask his air pressure and he signals "The SAME 2000psi I had the LAST time you asked!" The dive with Walter was the first time I actually made an effort to be a buddy instead of a pest. The water was about the same depth as our pool, had it been a deeper dive Walter would have gotten "mothered" whether he liked it or not, I guess it's an addiction!

Speaking of madness did he mention the time he turned toward me and I had a piece of fossilized bone in my mouth instead of my regulator? I was trying to determine if it was bone or stone but the "tongue stick" method doesn't work underwater. I think he was wondering if I should have eaten a bigger breakfast!

Hey Simbrooks,
You really should get out in the field and see what you can find. I found a horse tooth in addition to the shark and ray teeth plus I have a whale vertebrae that the geologist gave me, he'd found it in the mine somewhere. There's all kinds of cool stuff to be had if you're patient.
Make a serious effort to get together with Walter at Venice, he's an excellent guide!
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[simbrooks]

Ber,
will again try to dive down there with Walter again one day, not sure when. I have a feeling a trip down there is coming in the next month or so, probably with other SB people.

As for the mines, we are always escorted around and i usually have one of my bosses with me, so not much time to go digging around. I deal more with cleaning up the phosphogypsum byproduct stacks than mining, again my mining stuff is more to do with containing wastes and construction than out there whilst they actually mine, oh well it pays the bills and buys the scuba stuff.