Diving with Man-of-Wars

We entered the water near Tower 17, deciding that the Big Coral Knoll was North, not South. As we entered the water, there were a number of Portuguese Man-of-War jellyfish and I dropped down to try to get pictures, which was very difficult in the chop and so close to the surface.

We swam due East to the edge and found what I think was an Indigo Hamlet on the ledge. Got some good pictures of that.

The second dive was much like the first except that we did not see the Indigo Hamlet on that dive. We did find a Green Sea Turtle who was calmer than most and let me get some good shots.

We decided to continue exploring to the South of Tower 17. We found a baby Yellowtail Damselfish, some anemones, a Green Sea Turtle, some Atlantic Spadefish and finally another Green Turtle on the way back to the beach. We did not find the Big Coral Knoll.

Our second dive was colder, despite warming up during our hour surface interval. We headed back to where we had seen the turtles, but they were gone. Saw some butterflyfish and doctorfish with Isopods, but nothing really interesting.

Luis and I dove off the beach near Tower 17. I was looking for the Big Coral Knoll. We went in South of Tower 17 and my camera battery died on the first photograph. Luis got some pictures of a small nurse shark, a Blue Hamlet and a Sharptailed Eel. I swam along wishing I had brought the Intova, too.

Changed batteries in the camera and got some pictures, but no sharks or eels this dive. Just the usual reef fish. We went back in the water even further South but did not find the Knoll.

Diving Tower 17 with Dianne

Dianne and I went to the beach late in the morning. The wind was maybe 5 knots and seas were building but easily manageable. We swam East from Tower 17 looking for the Big Coral Knoll and ran into a Green Sea Turtle who appeared to be wrapped in fishing line or net. As we got closer, the turtle started swimming away and we discovered that it had been breakfasting on a Portuguese Man-of-War. I shot video and got some good still pictures as the turtle was swimming relatively slowly, trailing jellyfish tentacles far behind her. After a bit, I stopped following her and Dianne and I continued our dive to the edge of the reef. We ran into the same Green Sea Turtle a little later and I shot some more pictures. On the way back to the beach, we encountered some of the perfect circle amphipods, which I have still been unable to better identify. Chilly, but a good dive.


The wind and surf were both up on the second dive. Dianne got knocked over twice on the way out, but we did get out. This time we entered a little more to the South. We did not see the turtle again and not much else other than the usual reef fish. I got some good pictures of a Smooth Trunkfish and a Scamp.

Looking for Cushion Sea Stars off Tower 17

I complained to Matt that the Blue Heron Bridge had lots of Cushion Sea Stars and there were none off our beaches. He suggested that we swim past the reef at the Tower Park, so Luis and I decided to try it. Our plans were derailed when we found a big coral knoll and a Hawksbill Turtle. I shot three videos swimming with this old gal, then I spotted a young Green Sea Turtle and swam over to shot a video of that turtle. By the time we had finished with the turtles, I was on fumes. Still, we dropped off the ledge and swam East but never did see any cusion stars. On the way back, I tried breathing off Luis' regulator while he used his air source, but the exercise was not well executed and we lasted only a short time before surfacing.

Diving the Blue Heron Bridge

We got the the Bridge at 1:00 pm, parked and looked around. We decided to get in right away since there did not appear to be much current. We entered the water shortly after 2:00 pm and well before slack tide at 3:34 pm. My computer did not turn on for the first few minutes because were were less than 4 feet deep. We saw lots of

Cushion Stars, a Batfish and numerous reef fish, but we also saw an Eagle Ray and some Barracuda. As we were ending the dive, I got some video of a Manatee. Not bad for a max depth of 14 feet and an average depth of maybe 8 feet.

Diving the Little Coral Knoll at Sunrise

Luis and I met at Sunrise and A1A early this morning and went for one dive. We entered the water between Towers 14 and 15 and swam 100 degrees to find the Little Coral Knoll, then spent the better part of 30 minutes taking pictures. We did not find anything big: just a shy eel, some Giant Anemone and lots of reef fish. Swam North for 15 minutes looking for a turtle then swam back South, but must have swam right past the Knoll. We swam in to the beach and headed to the shop to fill tanks so we could dive the Blue Heron Bridge this afternoon.

Back to the Pelican to look for the Ledge of Turtles

I met Luis at the beach a little after 8:00 am and we dove off Tower 20. We found the staghorn coral forest. We found the Shark Rocks. We found a smaller set of rocks to the SW. We did not see


the Ledge of Turtles. We did not see any turtles. We did find a couple of eels, but that was it. Cold surface temperature. Cold water termperature. Hazy visibility. We quit after the first dive.

Exploring the Beach off Tower 16

Dianne and I drove to the beach to meet Luis, who was waiting patiently for us. We parked mid-way between Towers 16 and 17, and entered the water there. We swam essentially due East and found some rocks and staghorn coral patches on the way to the Eastern edge of the reef. Along the way we saw the usual array of life, but also several Freckled Seahare, a Blunt spined Brittle Star and some Varigated Sea Urchin. We dropped to the sand at the end of the reef and it was 35 ft deep. On the way back, we found a huge Florida Horse Conch devouring a Conch, shell and all. It was a long dive and I was a little chilly at the end, but dried off and warmed up quickly so that Luis and I could do a second dive.

On our second dive, we entered the water a bit more to the North, but not quite to Tower 17. We swam out due East and found the same huge Florida Horse Conch again. When we dropped to the sand, we swam even more to the North and came up on the backside of a Big Coral Knoll. It was difficult to get a good idea of the size and shape of this knoll, but it was raised and it had lots of coral.

On my own again

The air temperature was mid-70's and pleasant in the occasional sunshine. The wind was 10 to 15 knots from the SE. The surf was rough, the waves throwing water high on the beach and creating very strong rip currents and it rushed back to the ocean. These currents also washed sand from the beach and into the sea.

I went in between Towers 14 and 15, hoping to find the Coral Knoll. I missed it going out. I could see almost nothing. I got to the sand and 26 ft of water on the Eastern Edge of the Reef and turned around. On the way back, I found the overturned coral head that sits on the North side of the Coral Knoll. I recognized it even in the poor visibility and swam around the coral knoll looking for crabs and eels. There was a lot of sand in the water and while I took a few pictures, none of them turned out very well. Still, it was nice to find the coral knoll.