Venice Beach 8/2/03 Report

[Walter]

Those are Pipefish and they are fairly common in the area.

 

[ReefGuy]

I thought they were pipefish, but I didn't think that pipefish were very agile or fast. This little guy flat out disappeared when he moved. Do you know of any good books or online resources to identify gulf sea life? I'm taking out my camera and taking pictures, but have yet to find anything to compare them to.

 

[Walter]

Pipefish often move slowly (I often catch them with my hands), but they can move quickly when they choose.

Humann's Reef Fish series is fairly good.

 

[H2OHead]

Harvo once bubbled...
Walter- I came up from Cape Coral hit the beach at 1pm . I want to try a new beach so i went to stump pass beach. I did not take my scuba gear because I was not sure of the weather (should have) I just snorkled around. I found more teeth in the sand on the beach then in the water.

Next time I'll dive out to the 17-20ft
range and check around.

I’m not sure where in Stump Pass you were, but I’ve been over most every inch inside and out and it is a nice place to go relax in the water (on a weekday that is with no boat traffic). Another pass you might consider is Gasparilla Pass. You have to plan to do it at the end of an incoming tide when it slacks to ebb, but drifiting in with the slight current makes for a nice dive. You start from the left shore (as facing the gulf) and swim into the pass, let the current take you, and you’ll hit a 35 to 40 foot hole. The place holds black grouper and the occasional lobster. Not much to see once you leave the 40 foot hole area, I have drifted the entire pass with a buoy and chase boat, but there wasn’t much to see. It’s an overhead environment with all of the boat traffic through there so you have to plan it like one.

Just off of the fuel docks in Boca Grande Pass is a great place to find black grouper as well. Tide and boats need to be factored in here as well.