Destin Jetties dive report and pics 9/1/09

The now standard "wait and see how the weather is" turned out well for a couple dives this morning. There were storms out in the Gulf but none on shore. The sky was overcast as I left the house but was breaking by the time I wheeled the sand-yacht down to the water. Crowds were very thin at 08:45 but there were two divers headed out of the water and a few fishermen around. The water was a nice shade of blue and was calm on the surface. High tide was about when I started dive number one. There was an unusual medium strong current on the north side of the jetty that pulled out toward the pass. Viz was the usual hazy 20' - no June grass and few particles. Temperature was 83*. Upon reaching the point the current changed, flowing in from the Gulf. It was not so strong that you couldn't swim against it so I made my way to the south side of the jetty where I found another strange current. The flow was from the beach into the pass. All that movement seemed to keep the fish low to the rocks and in sheltered areas. I had one black sea bass that became my shadow all the way along the south side. He would even swim up to me when I stopped to look at something. On the way back He stayed on the south side - maybe he thought I was trying to muscle in on his turf? As I turned the corner to go back north, a school of jack crevalle swam up behind me and spooked me - they love to do that. I noticed the water getting more hazy and wondered if dive number two was going to be worse viz. I didn't get to think too long when that school of jacks started heading out of the gloom straight toward me - crazy fish! I came back to the north side and collected myself before exiting to swap tanks. Dive number two brought a lack of current and slightly better viz than dive one. I went out to the anchor, seeing the fish all out swimming because of the lack of current. On the way back I got another surprise - a small eagle ray was swimming along the trough headed toward the bay. I got two pics of his butt before I pulled a cramp in my thigh from trying to catch and keep up with him - he obviously was shy and didn't want to play. By the time dive two was over, there were two snorkle boats and several swimmers in the shallows. The crowd was still a lot less than the vacation bunch. Two great dives and a sunny walk back to the car - who could ask for anything more?

Great pictures Bill. I think this has been the longest I have gone without doing a Destin jetty dive.

Great pics. All the grouper close-ups look ultra-sharp. From your text, I did not expect to see an eagle ray pic because you seemed to suggest they were so bad. I was surprised to find out that they were actually pretty good and certainly better than the typical butt shot. Eagle rays are notoriously wary critters, and most people end up with distant, hazy shots. I've seen them on a number of occasions (never in Destin) and usually cannot get close; they just cruise off into the distance. It's great that you were able to see one at the jetties.

Nice shots (as always) Bill....am surprised at how much stuff was there..

I like glove shots, by the way, nice picture.

Now if we could just get you out of that shallow water and into the pretty deep stuff.

What is that in the 5th picture on posting #2? It's white and laying in the sand flat like a flounder but seems different than a flounder.

Pam, thats a flounder too.

Bill - awesome shots dude, looks like a winning day out at the Jetties. Its been awhile since I've been there too.

pamawi:

What is that in the 5th picture on posting #2? It's white and laying in the sand flat like a flounder but seems different than a flounder.

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The flounder around here can get white as snow in color - they change to fit their surroundings pretty quick too!


Puffer,
If I were rich I would go out on a boat more often - sadly I have sunk all my money into my sand-yacht .


SBM / GFWB,
You guy's have been playing in the dark so long I don't know if you haven't become like cave critters and lost all pigment or something .

Dave,
Thanks for the encouragement. I have only seen eagles at the jetties one other time and the camera I had was a cheap film job. The camera was rated to 100' but would freeze up below 40' - guess how deep the eagles were. I just let go of the camera and the eagles let me swim within 20' of them. They did a swim up the channel and looped slowly toward the jetty and back out to the Gulf. This guy was in a hurry to get somewhere. I had to swim hard and use maximum zoom to get those pics.

I think Bugman and I have both been in Saltwater numerous times this month....it just seems the elusive Yoda has become a Solo Diver. I think instead of SeaYoda we should call you Sea Hermit!

SBM / GFWB,
You guy's have been playing in the dark so long I don't know if you haven't become like cave critters and lost all pigment or something .

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