Jupiter, Florida Trip Report 05/22/2015

[SSharkk]

Jupiter Dive Center – www.jupiterdivecenter.com

Check In – Gerry Carroll, Lisa Carroll, Phil Berg, Sam Pitman

Captain/Deckhand – Mike Hoffman

Dive Guide – Lester Muloon

Three tanks, sites = The Deep Ledge, Captain Mike’s, Tunnels

Depths = 65 to 100 ft. Depending On Location

Flat seas, clear skies, air temp high 80s, water temp high 70s

Current – north, from 3.5 knots to slight, DOL

Vis – 50 to 80 feet, DOL

Species count:

58 + or - bull sharks - Bull shark - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2 silky sharks - Silky shark - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

10 + or – caribbean reef sharks - Caribbean reef shark - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2 nurse sharks - Nurse shark - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 very large southern stingray - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_stingray

17 goliath groupers - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_goliath_grouper

3 loggerhead sea turtles - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loggerhead_sea_turtle

1 green sea turtle - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_sea_turtle

1 school of kingfish - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_mackerel

1 school of bonitos - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_tunny

3 schools of jack crevalle - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crevalle_jack

 

[HalcyonDaze]

On the bull sharks, is that the number of individuals or the number of times you saw a bull shark? I generally stick to the number that I can see at one time, as they tend to tag along with the divers. Not that 58 in one dive on the deep ledge is totally unrealistic; back in February I did a dive in poor viz that probably had at least 20. I know I managed to get five in one photo looking down.

 

[drrich2]

Sounds great. I'm still hoping to see bull sharks & loggerhead sea turtles on a dive someday.

Richard.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

Sounds great. I'm still hoping to see bull sharks & loggerhead sea turtles on a dive someday.

Richard.

Dive Jupiter in the March-May timeframe. There will be plenty of both.

The bulls generally start stacking up in January.

[video=vimeo;128738746]https://vimeo.com/128738746[/video]

 

[Johnoly]

Jupiter, Florida Trip Report 05/22/2015

Looks like you pretty much hit the jackpot on those dives !

I'm just glad you didn't see any lobsters, cause everyone knows there isn't any in Jupiter :blinking:

 

[SSharkk]

---------- Post added May 26th, 2015 at 01:03 PM ----------

Very nice video HalcyonDaze.

 

[scubadada]

Dive Jupiter in the March-May timeframe. There will be plenty of both.

The bulls generally start stacking up in January.

[video=vimeo;128738746]https://vimeo.com/128738746[/video]

Was there feeding on this dive?

 

[HalcyonDaze]

Yes, you can see Cameron with the bait crate at a few points. We actually had trouble bringing them in close; for much of the dive they were content to hang about 30 feet below us and wait for the food to drop down to them.

 

[scubadada]

Yes, you can see Cameron with the bait crate at a few points. We actually had trouble bringing them in close; for much of the dive they were content to hang about 30 feet below us and wait for the food to drop down to them.

Thanks HalcyonDaze, Because the video was on your head, I was distracted by your camera and bubbles while watching the sharks. I went back a saw what you pointed out.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

Thanks HalcyonDaze, Because the video was on your head, I was distracted by your camera and bubbles while watching the sharks. I went back a saw what you pointed out.

Yes, the mask mount is not the best for doing video, especially when shooting a still camera at the same time. It's mostly a running backup; I have a 64-gig card and carry a spare battery in my dry bag so I just turn it on before I jump and turn it off when I get back aboard. I may try mounting it to the Olympus housing down the road. However, I do like having it hands-free and being able to catch those "blink and you'd miss it" moments. That's how I managed to get a distant but recognizable sailfish video on one deep ledge dive last month.

The still camera does make for some amusing scenes though. Part of one clip I haven't yet posted starts with the camera taking up the whole view; as soon as it goes down you see the tiger ambling right up to my face.