Morrison Springs 10-10-04 Few pics

The beaches are blown out thanks to TS(TD - whatever)Matthew, so I have more freshwater pics from Morrison Springs. Enjoy!


Freshwater eels


Slider turtle in need of a manicure


Rainfall up-top


Divers below

Never dived fresh water so I always like to see stuff that you can find...I must say that fresh water eels give me the screaming heebie jeebies for some reason. My current passion is eels in the ocean, so know it makes no sense at all!

Thanks for posting them!

Very nice... I love the turtle.

Could you give me some info on Morrison and/or Vortex Springs? We're thinking about a 3-4 day road trip in the next month or so to try out the new car. We've thought about the springs, if I-10 isn't still torn up along the way, but we've never been there.

What's the water temps? anything we should know?

Dee:

We're thinking about a 3-4 day road trip in the next month or so to try out the new car.

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ROTFLMAO!!! Good one, Dee! Now that is an excuse to go diving that I haven't heard before! :rofl:

Hey....whatever works!

alcina:

I must say that fresh water eels give me the screaming heebie jeebies for some reason. My current passion is eels in the ocean, so know it makes no sense at all!

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I understand what you are saying, IMO freshwater eels lack the 'personality' you can photograph with the saltwater eels. I've only seen a single saltwater eel since being certified and it was pretty exciting despite its small size.

Dee:

Very nice... I love the turtle.

Could you give me some info on Morrison and/or Vortex Springs? We're thinking about a 3-4 day road trip in the next month or so to try out the new car. We've thought about the springs, if I-10 isn't still torn up along the way, but we've never been there.

What's the water temps? anything we should know?

Click to expand...

I-10 has been re-opened in Pensacola(Escambia Bay Bridge), which was the only place it was damaged to the point of not being able to cross. Its only 2 lanes at the moment, a single lane Eastbound and a single lane Westbound, both sharing the Westbound bridge. The Eastbound bridge still lacks several sections, not sure when things will be fixed. Expect traffic to bottleneck into one lane and slow down. The 2 lane section lasts for 3miles and then opens back up to 4 lanes.

Both springs run about 68ºF, I would definately recommend atleast a 3mm suit, gloves and/or hood per your own comfort level(I manage with just the 3mm, but I dive with others less tolerant). Vortex costs about $25 for a day pass per diver and can cater to whatever fills you need and they sell gear and rent it. They also have snacks, souveniers(sp?), artifacts, ect. Vortex allows camping, they have cabins, ect. The basin contains 2 training caves(swim-thrus) and you can follow the basin down to the mouth of the cavern at around 60'. If you are cave certified, you can go further, you'll need to get a key at the front desk if you want to go further than the metal gate they have down at the end of the cavern, first room? Not clear as I've never gone further than the mouth of the cave by the "Do Not Enter unless you are cave trained sign". Lots of fish in the basin, which averages at about 25-30', eels in the cave. Expect bream, bass, a few species of carp, a few turtles, and eels. The bottom is mostly rocky and is more forgiving to an accidental close kick - to a point.

Morrison is free, but no longer has a shop or fill station... or electricity(bathrooms and showers still have running water). The state doesn't allow camping or night dives. If the gates are open, you can drive right out onto the beachline and to the built in benches by the floodwalls. If the gate is locked, park next to the bathrooms, gear up, and make the walk(couple hundred feet) to the water. The basin is shallow(15-20') until it slopes down to about 50' where you'll find the opening to the cavern. There is quite a bit of flow coming from the restriction and you'll need to pick up your kicking and goof around with your bouyancy before entering the cavern . The flow stops once your in the cavern which reaches a depth of about 90'. Lots of fish in the basin and in the cavern(which also has the eels). There is a fissure at the bottom of the cavern with alotta flow, I'm not sure if people penetrate it or not, but I don't so I can't tell you much about it. Around the basin and following the edges of the spring run to the river are lots and lots of cypress trees which make a home for several fish. Expect bream, bass(several species), carp, mullet, pike, catfish, lots and lots of turtles, ect. The bottom is sand and alot of it is covered in decaying duckweed which is not forgiving to a close kick.

You'll want to get to either spring in the early morning to enjoy optimal visibility. You'll find more people at Vortex and they'll kick up the crap and reduce your visibility just as much as the lesser crowds at Morrison. Both dives are fun, Vortex appears to have more to keep you entertained at first glance, but also feels more 'man-made' and fake. IMO Morrison looks and feels much much more natural and offers much more to look at if you look around, especially by the treelines on the outsides of the basin.

http://www.suprbugman.com/albums/album08/P1010004.sized.jpg
Vortex

http://www.suprbugman.com/albums/album25/morison_springs_10_03_04_002.sized.jpg
Morrison

Need directions or anything else, just speak up.

Our freshwater eels are wonderful and interesting folks. They don't have any teeth to speak of, more like a sandpaper covered jaw, so though they can bite if they mistake a finger for a hot dog, they can't do any real damage. They are generally shy and prefer the dark, but those that are accustomed to being fed (Vortex in particular) will venture out in the daytime and can be quite friendly.
The eels that reach adulthood in Vortex and Morrison - when they are sexually mature they leave their springs and rivers, and begin the long swim across the Gulf and the Atlantic to the middle of the Atlantic ocean, the Sargasso sea. There they spawn, and leaving the fertilized eggs behind, they die.
The larval eels drift in the open ocean for up to a year, when they change from the flattened 2 inch leptocephalus larva into a more conventional eel shape. At this stage they are clear, and the elvers are called glass eels. As they grow and mature, the elvers migrate from the ocean into the rivers and streams from Greenland to South America, and some of them find their way into Vortex and Morrison, where they will spend from five to twenty or more years (The oldest eel on record is an eel named "Putte" which was caught as a glass eel in 1863 and lived in an aquarium until it died at the age of 85 years) before heading back to the open ocean to start the cycle again.
Neat people, our freshwater eels.
Rick

I hear they can nip I've been approached by them before but they just seemed to want to check me out more than anything. I had no idea they migrated into the ocean to spawn, definately interesting!

That's very interesting, Rick! I knew they were long lived but not THAT long.

Bug...thanks for the info and the pictures. Morrison sounds more to our liking, free is always good, but Vortex would be cool, too. Going that far, we'd probably do both. You interested in meeting us there? Beast has a weeks vacation he has to use before the end of the year so we can go there any time during the week or weekend. It's about a 10-12 hours drive for us, counting stops.

Absolutely, its only about a 2 hour drive for me and one of my only options at the moment since I can't reach Ft. Pickens or Gulf Shores beaches due to Ivan cleanup restoration.

I'll be at Morrison again this weekend with a different set of people. If not this weekend, it will have to be sometime next month as the 23rd a bunch of us panhandle SB'ers are doing a jeddie dive at Destin and there is a Mega SB dive party at Ginnie Springs on Halloween weekend. You are more than welcome to join us for those as well if your scheduling and time off allows. I am stuck with having to dive only on weekends though :/ Gulf Shores is the only place really close enough for me to dive on weeknights but its unavailable to me at the moment.