A 5 WOW day! An open water student and I were at the bridge today at sunrise in preparation for the 8:16 high tide. We had a partly cloudy sky with an air temperature in the mid to high sixties; it was nice compared to what we've been experiencing lately. I didn't need a coat even though we had a pretty steady breeze from the east. The vis was around thirty feet and the water temperature was a constant seventy-two degrees. During the course of our one hour dive we saw three juvenile spotted eagle rays, or the same one three times, or two of them, or whatever. Anyway, the eagle rays (or ray) didn't shy away from us. Breakfast was definitely the focus and we were able to watch for several minutes without the eagle ray flying off. Over the sand south of the second set of pilings was a seahorse next to a sea urchin. It was a little red one. My student was fascinated. (So was I.) At the southern end of the solid bridge support by the boat channel was a medium-sized green moray. That is the first green moray I have seen at the bridge in over a year. I can't remember when the last time was. The little blue angelfish juvenile is still in the "canyon" along with a french angelfish juvenile cousin that was cleaning Atlantic spadefish. There are still lobster around, amazingly enough. On our way back east there was a giant ocean-sized southern stingray gracefully flying toward the channel. It appeared something broke its tail; there was quite a bend in it. The grand finale was actually an out-of-the-water-while-rinsing-gear experience. Two manatees swam along the seawall by the fish-cleaning table where we rinse off. For her first salt water scuba experience, my open water student had a spectacular one. That's why we do this, isn't it? Get in the water, Ham
