Monday's trip was way different from Saturday's trip. I made the 9AM charter on the Republic IV from JDC. What a blustery day. Winds out of the southeast at 10-15kts. Seas were 2-4'. A rolly, bouncy day we did have! We went to "Captain Mike's" for the first dive. Vis was 20' on the ledge and water temps were around 66. Brrrrr!!!!!!!!! About 10-15' off the bottom, temps became tolerable. A few Goliath Grouper swam by but on the reef at a distance. I shot 3 lionfish on this site. Not much current, lots of "whale snot" (which I guess is/are suspended particles) mucked up the water. Upon surfacing, we bounced and rolled our way over to "The Tunnels" for our second dive.
This was a little better than the first site. It was 68-69 temp on the bottom and vis was better at 30'. The marine life was better this dive too. GOLIATH GROUPER!! We saw 15-20+ of these big fish along the length of the dive. 7-10 Caribbean Reef Sharks (a couple of them had been tagged) swam by at different points of the dive. Saw only one loggerhead turtle, a southern stingray, and a large green moray. Along with the assorted resident tropicals. I didn't see any lionfish. I guess they were huddled together trying to stay warm.
That's the end of my Spring Break Dive Adventure. What fun!
This was a little better than the first site. It was 68-69 temp on the bottom and vis was better at 30'. The marine life was better this dive too. GOLIATH GROUPER!! We saw 15-20+ of these big fish along the length of the dive. 7-10 Caribbean Reef Sharks (a couple of them had been tagged) swam by at different points of the dive. Saw only one loggerhead turtle, a southern stingray, and a large green moray. Along with the assorted resident tropicals. I didn't see any lionfish. I guess they were huddled together trying to stay warm.
That's the end of my Spring Break Dive Adventure. What fun!