HalcyonDaze
Contributor
I'm still hesitant about the idea of taking less-experienced divers on these trips, but I will note there have been some altered circumstances on the Emerald dives.
First, while in the past Randy has occasionally had DMs/Backup Food Guys, he's gone and acquired a DM with shark-feeding experience (Hawaii and Stuart Cove) in the past few months. There's more supervision now; last month was my first trip on the Emerald with the new DM (Randy was out sick that day) and I was asked not to take my lionfish spear on the dive, which was a departure from the "anything goes" days. Second, the dive profiles have changed - it used to be a routine of one dive on the deep ledge and two on the Esso Bonaire. This spring it's been more frequent to start on the Bonaire and move north to some other wrecks that are in shallower water (70 ft in the sand; on two of those sitting on the wreck puts you at 60-65). On the last trip I did Saturday, the profile was as the OP described - fly the deep ledge above 90 ft and work up, then do two wreck dives in the 65-70 range with a gradual ascent. Nitrox mixes from the shop were pretty high; 35-37%.
Things were getting crowded at the Bonaire. For a while it seemed Emerald was primarily doing the Bonaire and the Miss Jackie (Calypso Dive Charters) was mostly down south at Lemon Drop #3, with both operators occasionally hitting the other sites. It's only my inference, but it seems like the star players (tigers and hammers) were being spotted more frequently at the Bonaire. Calypso has been doing more dives on the Bonaire; a couple days out of the week JASA would come up to dive the wreck as well and on weekends there would also be a private boat doing film work there. A couple of the non-baited charters also still dive the wreck; JDC's Republic IV usually moves in after the feeders have cleared out in the afternoon. Channel 78 got to sounding like air traffic control. Apparently now there are also two additional players on the field; Deep Obsession (formerly JASA) is now an independent charter and will be doing several shark dives per week and there's a five-pack operation that was rumored to be starting up this month (details on that were sketchy).
Like it or not (and while I like shark diving, I'm cautious about any drastic shifts), baited shark dives are an expanding niche up in northern Palm Beach County. It's a question of supply and demand; now the question seems to be will there be a sufficient supply of diving sites and interested divers for 4-5 dive charters (there's also one established snorkel charter and one newcomer, which will likely stick to the deep ledge). I think Lemon Drop #3 has been practically abandoned and with the newer sites and Bonaire being in a relatively close north-south line, it seems they draw the same sharks (I know it's the same tigers and at least a number of the same lemons).
Just as a note, as a personal project I've been keeping track of the "usual suspects" and yes, most of the sharks on the wrecks are repeat customers - four of the six or seven tigers spotted this year have all turned up annually since 2014, and they've been regulars in each of those years (one was more commonly seen at Lemon Drop #3 and apparently moved up this year). Only one of the "newbies" has actually turned up on a regular basis. However, there are a lot more tigers in the area; Bimini Biological Field Station tagged 14 tigers in the Jupiter area in 2014, and as near as I can figure none of them were members of the Wreck Trek Crew. A vessel doing goliath grouper research in May 2015 incidentally caught a total of 16 tigers in the area in one day - only three of those were on the Wreck Trek. That makes me think the wrecks are just where that group of tigers is hanging out. They're seasonal to boot - at least two of those regulars seem to have packed their bags for the summer, and the others will probably follow suit in the next month or so. Some might turn up sporadically in the fall, and then around late winter the crew will be back together again.
First, while in the past Randy has occasionally had DMs/Backup Food Guys, he's gone and acquired a DM with shark-feeding experience (Hawaii and Stuart Cove) in the past few months. There's more supervision now; last month was my first trip on the Emerald with the new DM (Randy was out sick that day) and I was asked not to take my lionfish spear on the dive, which was a departure from the "anything goes" days. Second, the dive profiles have changed - it used to be a routine of one dive on the deep ledge and two on the Esso Bonaire. This spring it's been more frequent to start on the Bonaire and move north to some other wrecks that are in shallower water (70 ft in the sand; on two of those sitting on the wreck puts you at 60-65). On the last trip I did Saturday, the profile was as the OP described - fly the deep ledge above 90 ft and work up, then do two wreck dives in the 65-70 range with a gradual ascent. Nitrox mixes from the shop were pretty high; 35-37%.
Things were getting crowded at the Bonaire. For a while it seemed Emerald was primarily doing the Bonaire and the Miss Jackie (Calypso Dive Charters) was mostly down south at Lemon Drop #3, with both operators occasionally hitting the other sites. It's only my inference, but it seems like the star players (tigers and hammers) were being spotted more frequently at the Bonaire. Calypso has been doing more dives on the Bonaire; a couple days out of the week JASA would come up to dive the wreck as well and on weekends there would also be a private boat doing film work there. A couple of the non-baited charters also still dive the wreck; JDC's Republic IV usually moves in after the feeders have cleared out in the afternoon. Channel 78 got to sounding like air traffic control. Apparently now there are also two additional players on the field; Deep Obsession (formerly JASA) is now an independent charter and will be doing several shark dives per week and there's a five-pack operation that was rumored to be starting up this month (details on that were sketchy).
Like it or not (and while I like shark diving, I'm cautious about any drastic shifts), baited shark dives are an expanding niche up in northern Palm Beach County. It's a question of supply and demand; now the question seems to be will there be a sufficient supply of diving sites and interested divers for 4-5 dive charters (there's also one established snorkel charter and one newcomer, which will likely stick to the deep ledge). I think Lemon Drop #3 has been practically abandoned and with the newer sites and Bonaire being in a relatively close north-south line, it seems they draw the same sharks (I know it's the same tigers and at least a number of the same lemons).
Just as a note, as a personal project I've been keeping track of the "usual suspects" and yes, most of the sharks on the wrecks are repeat customers - four of the six or seven tigers spotted this year have all turned up annually since 2014, and they've been regulars in each of those years (one was more commonly seen at Lemon Drop #3 and apparently moved up this year). Only one of the "newbies" has actually turned up on a regular basis. However, there are a lot more tigers in the area; Bimini Biological Field Station tagged 14 tigers in the Jupiter area in 2014, and as near as I can figure none of them were members of the Wreck Trek Crew. A vessel doing goliath grouper research in May 2015 incidentally caught a total of 16 tigers in the area in one day - only three of those were on the Wreck Trek. That makes me think the wrecks are just where that group of tigers is hanging out. They're seasonal to boot - at least two of those regulars seem to have packed their bags for the summer, and the others will probably follow suit in the next month or so. Some might turn up sporadically in the fall, and then around late winter the crew will be back together again.
