Dade & Broward County Wrecks post-Irma

[OceanEyes]

The mile long canal that I must navigate in order to reach the ICW and the Atlantic is still fouled with debris, both visible and submerged, so I’ve yet to take my own boat out.



If anyone here has visited any of the wrecks in North Dade and South Broward, I’d be interested to learn about their condition or repositioning due to the storm. Amongst the sites that I most often dive are the three Tenneco Towers, Andro, Crane, Tortuga, St. Henry, Deep Freeze, No.7, and I will on occasion venture as far north as the Jim Atria, or visit some of the deeper sites like the Cruz Del Sur and the Mystic Isle.



I’m also curious about the state of this years’ Goliath Grouper Aggregation, if the storm caused the fish to disperse, and the condition of the wreck sites in Palm Beach County where they are frequently encountered; the Castor out of Boynton Beach, Miapah wreck trek out of West Palm, and the Zion train off of Jupiter.



Should this thread develop any interest, I’ll gladly update it as I eventually make my own observations as I return to the sites that I love so well.

 

[OceanEyes]

As the canal that I use is still full of debris, I remain unwilling to take my own boat out, so hopped on Deco Divers’ AM trip out of Miami Beach Marina yesterday.


The original plan called for the first dive to be on the Blue Fire wreck, about 12 miles south of Government Cut. Initial drop yielded miserable visibility, maybe 3 feet, so we aborted and headed north to the Ultra Freeze wreck.


This dive afforded better visibility, perhaps 30’, but there was no current and thus any and all sand and silt kicked up by the divers turned the scene into a virtual blizzard that remained suspended over the site like a foul cloud. The wreck itself seemed undamaged by Irma, though she’s had some of her sponge and soft coral encrustation scoured away. Fish life was plentiful and diverse; featuring large schools of resident snapper and grunts, along with schools of bar jacks, creole wrasse, and scad passing bye.


Final stop was at a site that I’ve not visited in over a year, the Sheri-Lyn wreck. She was torn in half years ago, and her structure remains unchanged, (at least as far as my feeble memory presumes,) and she’s retained much of her encrustation. Unfortunately, most of the wreck is covered in a layer of sand and silt. Again, there was no current and visibility was similar to that which we encountered on the Ultra Freeze. Schooling fish activity was also akin to what I would expect, but as I was the last diver to ascend, was afforded a brief personal visit from a pair of pompano.


As I was shooting wide angle, (or at least attempting to do so,) I was of course thinking of the big picture. I did note however that I did not see many of the inhabitants that I would expect to find at this site, and have in fact observed on previous visits; gobies, shrimp, crabs, eels, scorpionfish, and etc.


Both the Ultra Freeze and Sheri-Lyn were infested by Lionfish when we arrived, but my companions culled all they could find.

 

[scubadada]

...I’m also curious about the state of this years’ Goliath Grouper Aggregation, if the storm caused the fish to disperse, and the condition of the wreck sites in Palm Beach County where they are frequently encountered; the Castor out of Boynton Beach, Miapah wreck trek out of West Palm, and the Zion train off of Jupiter...

Hi @OceanEyes

I dived the Mizpah on Sept 19. The visibility was terrible. Despite that, there were a fair number of Goliath Gouper on the wreck. The best views were from the inside, looking out at them through windows in the wreck. I dived the Castor on Sept 22. The visibility was much better, 20-25 feet. The current was brisk. There were 20-25 GG on the stern and about the same number on the bow. There were large schools of Horse Eye and Bar Jacks and small bait balls. I saw some groups of GG off the wreck but did not venture far due the the visibility and the current. Nice Bull Shark on the cargo deck on the way back to the stern. No idea of what it's been like since then

 

[OceanEyes]

Thanks for the update scuba dada.

The only dives I’ve made post Irma that far north have been black water night drifts with Pura Vida out of WPB. I’ve not seen any of the wrecks yet, but was told by one of the local divemasters that the upper deck of the Mizpah has collapsed and that the swim throughs that were such a delightful aspect of diving that wreck are no longer there.

 

[scubadada]

Thanks for the update scuba dada.

The only dives I’ve made post Irma that far north have been black water night drifts with Pura Vida out of WPB. I’ve not seen any of the wrecks yet, but was told by one of the local divemasters that the upper deck of the Mizpah has collapsed and that the swim throughs that were such a delightful aspect of diving that wreck are no longer there.

I don't know the Mizpah. Did my dive with Finch from Narcosis, we did a long swim through, I think from bow to stern on the port side and then returned midship, I think through the central hallway and up and out a stairway. Finch commented that there was much more sand on the floor. It was a very nice swim, despite the poor viz. I look forward to returning, under better conditions.

 

[OceanEyes]

Dived on the wrecks of the Etoile de Mer, Miguana, and Tacoma today. Bad news is that visibility was poor, and that the wrecks are all still covered with sand and silt. Good news is that the structures did not sustain major storm damage, and that there is still some healthy soft coral and sponge encrustation on all of the wrecks.

 

[iamrushman]

dove the wreck of the Okinawa tug on Sunday November 5 2017.....it's tilted to the side...the artwork of the bar is gone but the mermaid is still standing....was told by the captain that the hurricane Irma moved the wreck 200 yards south.

 

[OceanEyes]

There are not a whole lot of people adding to this thread, but as I note that it's received several views, I'll post a few more observations as it seems to be providing some folks with useful information.

Dived a pair of sites off of Miami Beach today, the Jupiter Starr wreck, and the Deep Freeze wreck. It's been several years since I've visited the Jupiter, so cannot accurately relate any structural changes to Irma. Like the vast majority of the local wreck sites, she's still covered with an alarming coating of sand, but her hull, (she rests on her side,) is still well covered by soft corals, and while fish life was not teeming, there was a healthy volume of life to be found. There were nearly a score of Lionfish on her when we arrived, but only a scant few remained when we departed.

Deep Freeze was in similar condition as regards soft corals, but much of her encrusting sponges are gone, and she too is covered with sand and silt. The only structural damage that I noticed was that one of the handrails on the forward starboard side companionway leading to the forecastle is now missing.

 

[iamrushman]

this week i dove the Cpt Dan wreck in Broward county on Sunday Nov. 19 2017...she is twisted and laying on her side about 10ft deeper than before Hurricane Irma due to some deep washouts....there are large holes in the bottom that can be penetrated from one side to the other....fortunately her corridors remain for some cool cruises down her length.....

 

[OceanEyes]

Thank you iamrushman. I visited the Okinawa for the first time about 10 days ago, so had no pre-Irma status to compare her to. I may hop on a Pompano Dive Center boat to visit the Capt. Dan tomorrow AM.