Manatee sighting AGAIN! The same two open water students who got to snorkel with manatees yesterday got to see one on scuba today! The water was crystal clear! The vis had to be fifty feet. The water temperature was seventy-two. We were in the water for one hour, fifteen minutes; in a 5mm wetsuit with a 3mm hooded vest I was comfortable. My students were again in double 3mm wetsuits and quite comfortable for the entire dive. A friend accompanying us was in a 3mm wetsuit. He said he started to feel chilled after fifty minutes. But for the critters we saw a little chill was a small price to pay. Fabulous day at the bridge for a 7:42 high tide. We watched the sun come up and by the time we were geared up it was just before high tide. What a way to start the day! MANATEES! WOW! Get in the water, Ham
Dive Report 25 January
Dive Report 24 January
Incredible dive at the bridge today!! We had to get up early (in the dark) to make a 7:03 high tide, but one of my students is visiting on a tight schedule so we made it to the bridge to watch the sunrise. Once we had daylight after a gorgeous sunrise we had very clear water for our confined work. The pool water right now is in the sixties so the bridge is a more humane choice with a water temperature of seventy-three. The vis was thirty feet plus! Once we finished the skill work we played around the little wrecks and then ditched the scuba gear for our three hundred yard snorkeling exercise. WE SAW THREE MANATEES IN THE SWIMMING AREA. They weren't swimming around; they were just lying in the sand. We got right up next to them and watched for several minutes. They didn't budge. They were ENORMOUS! After awhile we left them and continued on. We came upon some squid! Little spaceships just hovering there in four feet of water. THEN (incredibly there is more) we came upon two juvenile spotted eagle rays that did a 270 degree arc around us in absolutely no hurry. THEN, there was a medium-sized southern ray looking for breakfast paying no attention to us. What an incredible morning!! I had to inform my two open water students that it isn't always like this. Snorkeling with the manatees! I am still thrilled!. We were in the water two hours and thirty minutes. I was very comfortable in my seven millimeter suit (with a ton of lead) and my students were fairly comfortable in two three millimeter suits (and of course, lots of lead). Get in the water! It's worth it! Ham
Dive Report 15 January 2009
Again, what a difference twenty-four hours can make! Yesterday an open water student and I were at the bridge in seventy-five degree water with thirty feet of vis. Today was another story. Under a cloudy sky we had "teeeen" (a stretched ten) feet of vis in seventy-TWO degree water. Three degrees makes a difference. My student was cold today whereas yesterday we were in the water substantially longer and were comfortable. Oh well. Winter is here. In a 5mm wetsuit with a 3mm hooded vest I was comfortable. My student wore two 3mm suits with a 3mm beanie. She was chilled after almost an hour in the water so I suppose that isn't too bad. Maybe because the vis was so incredible yesterday we didn't think about the temperature of the water. We were in the water over two hours yesterday. Winter coming doesn't seem to phase the critters. There are plenty of fish and arrowline crabs and banded coral shrimp and blennies and gobies. We watched a juvenile gray angelfish clean an atlantic spadefish. Today we started with a juvenile spotted eagle ray right next to the beach as we did our pre-dive check. The diving is still great! Are you tough enough? Get in the water, Ham
Dive Report 5 January
