Dive Report 13 September

I had beautiful conditions at the bridge. The vis was thirty feet and the water temperature was eighty-six. Most importantly, there were maybe eight other divers. I was practicing skill sets with my steel doubles so I didn't bring my camera. Without the camera, of course, I saw a spotted eagle ray, a mantis shrimp, seven little squid hovering like a squadron of mini-spaceships, two species of searobins (I'm not sure which ones), four yellow garden eels (occasional Florida), and the resident octopus in the pvc pipe south of the bridge. There were two, probably, bluethroat pikeblennies having their breakfast. They were fascinating to watch as were the garden eels. Off the beach on the flood side of the tide I saw only one or two moon jellyfish. After slack high tide on the ebb I saw quite a few moon jellyfish under the bridge. I had one very minor sting that was hardly a sting at all. As I moved to the east off the beach toward the end of my two hour, one minute dive (in steel 108 doubles I could have remained until noon Friday...of NEXT week), there were almost no moon jellyfish. They seem to be more prevalent out near the boat channel and under the bridge in the main flow of the tide. A weekday dive on a 9:33 high tide is a very pleasant way to start the day. Get in the water, Ham

Dive Report 11 September

The good news is that MOST of the stingies are gone; my two students and I only encountered a few minor stings at the very end of our two and one half hour dive, well into the ebb side of the tide in very green water. On the flood side of the tide as the ocean water was coming in, the vis was fifteen to twenty feet and we had no stingies. I saw only one moon jellyfish on the flood tide. On the ebb tide I saw three or four, nothing like the hundreds a week ago. We are seeing only a very few moon jellyfish offshore. My students and I were in doubles so a two and a half hour dive was not a problem. In eighty-six degree water we wore only dive skins; I was very comfortable. We were focused on skill sets and getting used to the feel of the gear so we were not on critter watch. Nevertheless, we did see a beautiful goldspotted eel under the fishing pier and an octopus who resides in a plastic pipe south of the bridge. So the conditions are good again as long as you dive on the flood side of the tide. (EXTRA!EXTRA! The goliath grouper aggregation is going on offshore. We are seeing as many as fifty on the Zion Train wreck series dive.) Get in the water, Ham

Dive Report 4 September

Sea lice are STILL a BIG problem! I was hoping that the turbulence from Irene would have cleared out the "stingies", but they are still at the bridge and make diving there an unpleasant experience. Some have suggested that the stinging comes from chopped up moon jellyfish which are at the bridge in both whole and chopped-up status. My student and I were wearing dive skins, but we were both stung around the neck where the critters tend to get trapped and sting with a vengeance. My student had some nasty welts on his neck; I had one that looked like a spider bite. A friend accompanying us wore no exposure suit and although he exhibited no welts, he said he was stung many times. "Other than that Mrs. Lincoln" the vis was ten feet and the water temperature ranged from eighty-six to eighty-eight. We saw two batfish, an octopus, and (the highlight for me on an uncomfortable dive) a yellow garden eel. I am scheduled to take an open water student to the bridge on Tuesday; I want to delay it if I can for a more pleasant experience. Get in the water (after the stingies have gone!), Ham

Dive Report 23 August

The sea lice are still a problem! Carrie and I conducted a Discover Scuba with two students; one student for whom we had a dive skin only experienced mild discomfort with stings to her face. Her brother, in only a t-shirt, experienced many stings to his body. I was wearing a rash guard and found it uncomfortable, to say the least. Carrie was wearing a fleece dive skin and a hooded vest; she experienced no stings! The water temperature was 88! Vis was about fifteen feet. There are still moon jellyfish, but no where near as many as there were a week ago. We saw octopuses and a big mantis shrimp along with the usual suspects, but the sea lice took the lazy comfort out of the dive for me. Get in the water (fully covered as Carrie was), Ham

Dive Report 16 August

The water temperature was eighty-four and the vis was between fifteen and twenty feet, BUT diving at the Bridge right now, and for the past week, is an unpleasant experience as there are countless moon jellyfish and sea lice. By the boat channel it was almost impossible to avoid the thousands of moon jellyfish. The sea lice are invisible, but their sting is very noticeable. My very tough thirteen-year-old Discover Scuba student and I did a forty-eight minute dive mostly dodging the jellies and enduring the sea lice. We did see a batfish and played with an octopus under the blue sailboat in twelve feet of water where the sea lice and jellyfish were tolerable. Unless a diver is COMPLETELY covered (impossible to do for anyone other than a hazmat diver) he/she will experience the unpleasantness of the "stingies" at the Bridge right now. Hope for better conditions so we can "Get in the water" comfortably, Ham