The South Florida dive community has been suffering every since Hurricane Irma. Although, we were spared the worst of the storm, its aftermath has all but shut diving down. High seas during the storm, and winds from subsequent weather systems have kept coastal waters choppy and turbid. High water levels in Lake Okeechobee have necessitated that the South Florida Water Management District continue dumping brown and potentially hazardous lake water our local waterways compounding visibility problems. Inland sites like Blue Heron Bridge have been un-dive-able, and offshore sites have been variable, the gulf stream blessing some sites with clear water on an ephemeral basis. Despite the adversity, I happened into some fantastic diving this weekend.
Saturday featured a late high tide at Blue Heron and we decided it was worth the risks to complete a refresher for my girlfriends sister. We lucked out and found about 20 feet of visibility, not terrible for the bridge. I found schools of mullet (the mullet run nearly complete has been a complete washout this year), a box jellyfish (stayed a safe distance), Nudibranch, and a Seahorse.
On Sunday, I joined Dive Boat Diversity for two reef dives off Boca Raton and again lucked into decent visibility, 40+ feet. On the first dive I happened onto a sand diver being cleaned by a Pederson cleaner shrimp and spent about half my dive photographing the scene. On my departure from the cleaning station a trumpetfish decided I made convenient mobile camouflage and followed me for about 5 minutes. I also had two run in’s with the aggressive Boca moray eels. They were hoping to steal a meal, but I was only shooting photos…
On the second dive, I headed west of the reef into the sand and rubble on a mission. I’m not sure why, but I find sand as, if not more, exciting than the reef. I located my quarry, hovering gobies and sail fin blennies. Unfortunately, neither proved as photogenic as my sand diver on the first dive.
I’ll be out of the water with work for two or more weeks, but hope the conditions continue to improve…
