Bull Sharks - Jupiter Trip Report 4/12/2013

[DiverDean59]

It looks like you need to be Nitrox certified for the 3 tank dive. Am I reading that right?

 

[The Chairman]

I'm jealous! I wish I was there. I shared this on the ScubaRadio episode that will be aired this Saturday from 3:00 to 5:00 pm EST.

 

[SSharkk]

It looks like you need to be Nitrox certified for the 3 tank dive. Am I reading that right?

For safety reasons, you are of course going to have shorter and/or fewer dives on a two or three tank dive day if you are breathing air rather than Nitrox.

A large percentage of Palm Beach County divers use Nitrox and it is widely available there. If you are not Nitrox certified it would be wise to call the shop you are diving with to discuss your options and the associated safety aspects of air verses Nitrox. Getting Nitrox certified these days has become a more streamlined process.

I am always looking for ways to increase my margin of safety. Larger capacity tanks and Nitrox have helped me greatly. Personally, I have not breathed air while diving in Palm Beach County since Nitrox became available to me nearly two decades ago.

---------- Post added April 18th, 2013 at 09:39 AM ----------

No reason to be jealous NetDoc. The sharks, turtles and giant groupers are all here waiting to meet you.
March, April and May during northward shark and fish migrations and leatherback nesting season are my favorite months to dive Palm Beach County, along with August and September during the giant grouper spawn, plus October, November, December, and January when the southerly migrations are in swing. February is lemon shark season with the far outside chance to see a kemp's ridley turtle. June and July is loggerhead sea turtle nesting time. Juvenile hawksbill turtles are in year round residence. Green turtles are not uncommon at any time. Did I mention the lemon shark spurt in August? Oh yes, BTW the Blue Heron Bridge ……..
This place is a never ending vicious cycle that will keep you poor and your brain whirring.

---------- Post added April 18th, 2013 at 09:57 AM ----------

I am jealous! We saw 8 or 9 reefies on the 13th on Juno Ledge/Tunnels. I still have not ever seen a bull.

djtimmy77 : Bill Walker, captain of the dive boat “The Wetter The Better” has a place where he reliably sees bull sharks. He home ports out of the Lake Park Harbor Marina and goes out of Lake Worth Inlet (Palm Beach). Scuba Diving in the Palm Beach area - Walkers Dive Charters He might set you on them if you request it.

 

[SSharkk]

I'm jealous! I wish I was there. I shared this on the ScubaRadio episode that will be aired this Saturday from 3:00 to 5:00 pm EST.

Thanks NetDoc. I just heard the podcast on Scuba Radio, the 4-20-2013, Hour 2 show.

The shark and turtle action should be on the upswing all the way through May and maybe beyond. Last May I had one dive on a three tank trip with 50+ bull sharks. It was an inspirational experience.

I am praying for a 100 Shark Day this year. We used to get 100 Shark Days off Palm Beach County in the mid 1980's with some frequency. Twenty or more per dive came to be expected. I don’t know the reason, but for some time we just quit seeing them in large numbers. The tally has been improving over the last few years. I sincerely hope we return to “those good olde days of yore.”

In the 80s I had the shark dive of a lifetime out of Lake Worth Inlet. By happenstance, very late, on a rough and gloomy day we dropped on a massive school of large bluefish in 130 feet of water. The thick school swarmed through us. The fish were so dense the divers lost sight of each other even though we ended up only a few feet from each other. After several minutes the bluefish school broke, and on the other side was a large pack of big bull sharks. The sharks were rocketing past us, headlong and close, in rapid pursuit of the bluefish. My best guess would be about 150 of the animals. It was a dive that put me on an adrenalin and endorphin overload for a week. In fact, I am getting a slug of excitement, right now, just by recounting it.

Palm Beach county diving is world class adventuring that even a working person can afford. The Really Big Days are seldom, but when everything converges it is breathtaking.

 

[The Chairman]

I love the diving in Jupiter, West Palm and Boynton Beach. Many warm memories of diving with different ops along that region.