20200819_Eastern Ledge off Tower 19

 Martha and I got up at 6:00 am and drove down to Tower 19 on the Fort Lauderdale beach. No on else was coming, so we geared up and swam out to the buoy line. We began our dive by descending at 7:31 am, swimming under the Vessel Exclusion Buoy and swimming East towards the ledge. 

We then swam East over some rubble and small rocks. About 24 minutes into the dive I found two Caribbean Reef Squid (Sepioteuthis sepiodea). They swam with us for several minutes. I followed and photographed them.

Shortly after the squids left, a large Gray Angelfish (Pomacanthus arcuatus) began to follow me. 

She was curious and I got the shot below of her about to bite one of my bubbles. 

We came to small patches of staghorn coral, but nothing like I remember from years ago when Nova University managed a project to grow staghorn corals to replant at other places on the beach. We came to the end of the reef about 45 minutes into the dive.

We swam down a 10 foot drop off to 32 feet and Martha quickly spotted a large Eyed Flounder (Bothus ocellatus). I took some pictures and we moved North along the bottom of the ledge. The Flounder remained still even when I got quite close. 

 At 55 minutes, we came back up on the top of the reef and headed West to the beach. We separated as we swam: Martha going North looking for shells and me holding a 270 degree bearing. 

We swam this way calmly for 34 minutes  when Martha suddenly grabbed me and pointed to a Spotted Eagle Ray (Aetobatus narinari) who was to the North of us but traveling East. I swam and took several pictures, though only three of them are useful. 

It took a while to settle down after chasing the ray, then I photographed the Smooth Trunkfish (Lactophrys triqueter) below. 

We surfaced inside the buoy line six minutes later and in 6 feet of water  Our Dive Time was 112 minutes at a maximum depth of 32.2 feet. My Actual Consumption was 25.05 psi/minute; my Surface Air Consumption was 15.90 psi/minute and the Residual Minute Volume was .41 cubic feet per minute. 

20200817_Ledge at Tower 18

Martha and I drove to the beach at 7:30 am to meet with Chris, who came about 7:45 am. We first changed the o-ring in his tank, which reminded me that I need to replace the o-rings in several of my tanks. We talked about the dive yesterday and the importance of good buoyancy control. I got face to face with him and tried to get him to take a breath and rise in the water column, but he couldn't. 

We swam back to the beach and exchanged the 3 lb weights Chris carried for 2 lb weights which helped him control his buoyancy. We swam back out past the buoy line and descended at 8:02 am.

I then had him swim out to the Eastern Ledge on a 90 degree bearing and we swam with him, though I had to get him to slow down and focus on his buoyancy. He held the bearing well, but there were moments when his focus wandered.

Along the way, we swam with a small Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) who swam with us for 5 or 10 minutes. 

We also encountered several Spotted Goatfish (Pseudupeneus maculatus).

I got a shot of this  Ocean Surgeonfish (Acanthurus bahianus)

and this  Blue Angelfish (Holacanthus bermudensis). We were now 35 minutes into the dive and we went over the ledge and down to 34 feet. We swam North along the Ledge for a few minutes. Martha and I had short fill tanks, and were getting down to 1500 psi, so we used our buoyancy control to rise up onto the reef and head West towards the beach.

As we left the bottom I got this shot of a Bar Jack (Caranx ruber) who swam by just to see what we were doing.  

Above us in the water column was a small school of Ballyhoo (Hemiramphus brasiliensis). I took several shots, but I was shooting into the sun and most of the shots did not turn out well. 

We swam West and got inside the buoy line as we surfaced at 9:27 am and swam to the beach. 

Dive time was 85 minutes at a maximum depth of 34 feet. My Actual Consumption rate was 25.16 psi/minute; my Surface Air Consumption rate was 16.28 and the Residual Minute Volume was .42 cubic feet per minute. 

20200816_Yankee Clipper Jacks

I called Chris at 6:00 am, but got his voice mail. I left a message that we would be parked in the big lot and diving Tower 4. When we arrived at 7:00 am, the water was smooth and glassy so we parked behind Tower 2 and dove the Yankee Clipper Jacks. I got no response from Chris, so Martha and I got in the water about 7:20 am and began our swim to the Jacks. 

As we got to the Three-Tiered Reef, Martha saw a Manta Ray (with "horns") come out of the water and splash back down. This was about 7:45 am and we descended at 7:55 am. I discovered that I had forgotten to turn my air on, so Martha came over and helped me out. I could tilt my tank and reach the knob, but I was not able to open the valve. She did.

I did get this picture of a Bluestriped Grunt (Haemulon sciurus). 

Martha also spotted a large Cowry shell and zipped by me to pick it up just as I reached for it. Later, she told me she spotted the shell as I was taking pictures and that she held back until she would not interfere with the pictures.

We stayed on the North side of the Jacks and swam along the Jacks to the NE end. Martha searched for shells and took pictures like this Blue Angelfish (Holacanthus bermudensis). 

 

like this Nurse Shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum)' 

like this Cero (Scomberomorus regalis), 

Like this Porcupinefish (Diodon hystrix),

like these Atlantic Spadefish (Chaetodipterus faber) 

Like these Caesar Grunts (Haemulon carbonarium) 

Like these two French Grunt (Haemulon flavolineatum) working out their disagreement

and like this  Schoolmaster (Lutjanus apodus). 

                      took the photograph below as we looked back at I took the photograph below as                                             we looked back at the beach on our swim out to the Three-Tiered Reef.

                                

I took the photograph below as we looked back at the beach on our swim out to the Three-Tiered Reef.

 Lots of fish. Lots of pictures. Even a few free divers. We headed back to the beach at 1300 psi and surfaced inside the buoy line with 229 psi each.