H2O Below Newsletter – March 2008

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seadoggirl

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Location
South Alabama
# of dives
500 - 999
“The weather is here. I wish you were beautiful. The skies are so clear. Life’s so easy today….”

As the Jimmy Buffet song says – the weather is ready for you to come join us on the Gulf of Mexico. It is getting warmer by the day both in the water and on the boat. This past weekend the air temps on the water were in the low-seventies and the water temps are not far behind that. As we walked on the beach and visited the cove last weekend, it was amazing how clear the water is even inshore. We may be looking at an early spring and we are ready.

The H2O Below was on the Russian Freighter this week and our new friends from the UK had a great dive. The visibility was about 20 feet due to the weather and the rolling seas but that is improving everyday. The phone traffic has picked up considerably and the schedule is filling up for the summer. Now is the time to call Captain Douglas at (850) 291-3501 to reserve a date.

New Stuff for the H2O Below
Last November at DEMA I watched several safety demonstrations and listened to many professionals talk about safety equipment onboard dive charter boats. I made a decision based on those discussions that I would do everything possible to insure that all necessary safety equipment was on the H2O Below. I have added several new items including additional O2 equipment and had ordered an AED after much thought and discussion with medical personnel.

I received the AED this week for the H2O Below. I believe we are the first charter boat in the South Alabama/Florida Panhandle to have one onboard. As anyone who knows me well will tell you, I and my crew are all about running a safe and professional operation. I felt that the additional money spent for this safety device is worth my customers lives.

Though I hope that we will never have to use it – I would hate to need it and not have it.

What are we seeing on the Oriskany?

My deckhand – Donna (tank lugging monkey) is trying very hard to learn her fish. She has located a website for Saltwater fish and below is her fish lesson for the month. We see a great deal of grouper on the Oriskany and without exception someone will ask about the difference between a Black Grouper, Red Grouper, Jewfish and Gag. Most of the fish that we see are Gags and the ones we are seeing on the Oriskany are plentiful. The Mighty O has been down for a couple of years now and the juveniles are wonderful to watch grow. Grouper are attracted to the structure and hiding holes within it.

Another interesting fact about grouper is that they don’t bite fish like snapper or some others. Grouper swallow their food whole and with internal “teeth” eat the fish. Grouper are a favorite local fish for both spear fisherman and pole fisherman. Like South Florida we have a fair amount of them but like everything else, we must be sure to be wise and cautious about over fishing and tossing back the small ones.

Below are the descriptions of all three of the most command grouper but we also see red rock grouper and others. Pictures of each are included so you can also learn what we are looking at down deep. Note the tails on each example that is one of the defining details of each.

Black GROUPER. groupbla.jpg

Description: olive or gray body coloration with black blotches and brassy spots; gently rounded preopercle.
Similar Fish: gag M. microlepis; yellowfin grouper, M. venenosa.
Where found: OFFSHORE species; adults associated with rocky bottoms, reef, and drop off walls in water over 60 feet deep; young may occur INSHORE in shallow water.
Size: common to 40 pounds, may attain weights exceeding 100 pounds.
*Florida Record: no Florida record because of identity confusion with gag, which are mistakenly called "black grouper."
Remarks: spawns between May and August; protogynous hermaphrodites, young predominantly female, transforming into males as they grow larger; larger individuals generally in greater depths; feeds on fish and squid.

JEW Fish groupjew.jpg

Description: head and fins covered with small black spots; irregular dark and vertical bars present on the sides of body; pectoral and caudal fins rounded; first dorsal fin shorter than and not separated from second dorsal; adults huge, up to 800 pounds; eyes small.
Similar Fish: other grouper.
Where found: NEARSHORE often around docks, in deep holes, and on ledges; young often occur in estuaries, especially around oyster bars; more abundant in southern Florida than in northern waters.
Size: largest of the groupers.
*Florida Record: 680 lbs.
Remarks: spawns over summer months; lifespan of 30 to 50 years; feeds on crustaceans and fish. NOTE: jewfish are totally protected from harvest in Florida waters

Gag groupgag.jpg

Description: brownish gray in color with dark worm-like markings on sides; strong serrated spur at bottom margin of preopercle, less noticeable in large specimens; fins dark, with anal and caudal having white margin. Often confused with black grouper; tail of gag is slightly concave, black is square; gag has white margin on anal and caudal fins, black does not; under 10 pounds, gag's spur on preopercle is distinctive, where black is gently rounded.
Similar Fish: black grouper M. bonaci.
Where found: adults OFFSHORE over rocks and reefs; juveniles occur in seagrass beds INSHORE.
Size: common to 25 pounds.
*Florida Record: 71 lbs., 3 ozs.
Remarks: forms spawning aggregations in water no shallower than 120 feet in Middle Grounds area, January through March; current research to identify similar aggregations off Atlantic coast is ongoing. Young gags are predominantly female, transforming into males as they grow larger; feeds on fish and squid.
How to Contact us…

Email – h2obelow@cox.net
Captain Douglas Cell - (850) 291-3501
 
Very informative, it was a pleasure reading this News Letter.

Gossip not long ago was about a new mask that was produced that didn’t magnify a fish under water as we know all mask seem to do. This mask was made to keep a natural size to viewing underwater objects, if so this would be a very nice asset to Spearfishing in keeping with the length limit. Have you heard of such Mask?
 
I would like to commend you on your decision to include an AED aboard the H20 Below :wave-smil. They are great tools, I have been certified to use them through work and they save lives. With the amount of divers coming to Pensacola it is only prudent that charter captains start looking into safety measures that that other high volume charter captains use in other areas. I am still amazed that most charter boats do not offer a stage bottle at 15 fsw or at least a second stage tied off at 15 fsw with the bottle on board to help divers who are very low on air or out of air perform their safety stop.
 
Gossip not long ago was about a new mask that was produced that didn’t magnify a fish under water as we know all mask seem to do. This mask was made to keep a natural size to viewing underwater objects, if so this would be a very nice asset to Spearfishing in keeping with the length limit. Have you heard of such Mask?

Those bubblehead masks do that, search for a picture of SeaYoda or Gulf Gulper to see which masks I'm talking about. They've been out for years.

I am still amazed that most charter boats do not offer a stage bottle at 15 fsw or at least a second stage tied off at 15 fsw with the bottle on board to help divers who are very low on air or out of air perform their safety stop.

Hanging gas at the safey might encourage some divers to use more of their backgas than they should be using. Proper gas management is part of diving, incase of emergency, I'm sure an in water dive buddy, dive guide/master would be able to help with a little extra gas.
 
Those bubblehead masks do that, search for a picture of SeaYoda or Gulf Gulper to see which masks I'm talking about. They've been out for years.


Hello Mat

From my understanding it is a low profile single lens mask that just hit the market early last summer. A few of us was out at Paradise not long after Brandy had his little bit of site trouble and we were discussing it between bounces. At that time Tim was suppose to look into it. I had forgot all about it till I seen this post.
 
I still stand by my earlier statement :) The bubblehead mask has been doing this for quite some time.
 
Being a tank lugger these days, I'm learning a lot about boats - especially the multi-passenger boats. The 'rules' are much more defined for bigger multi-passenger boats i.e. Coast Guard inspections, safety gear, insurance requirements, etc. Very interesting that divers are acknowledging and appreciating the additional safety equipment. You guys can not believe now expensive this stuff really is. The little mask thingy that goes with the AED is like a weeks pay for most of us. Damn it - no wonder everybody doesn't do it. But the safety aware boats are doing it. YEAH!
 
Thank God b/c some of us are bound to need it.....lol. Seriously, the H2O below gets an A imo and the tank lugger/lifesaver gets an A+ I may need all ya got :)
 
Somebody needs to comment on my fish summary! :D I'm trying to be informative and educational! How am I doing? I figured all your fish identification professionals would tell me more about grouper than the books know.
 

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