Blue Heron Bridge Trolls III

[Scuba_Jenny]

To be fair, you don't have to hit a button and wait for a safe time to cross the street, then go down stairs. But then again, sometimes coming out of the water on real beach dives, the first 6 feet feels like trying to walk out of quicksand, which is worse than stairs . It's definitely not as easy as it was prior to the construction, so if someone has any physical impairments, the expected walk would be more difficult. Ok, I'll stop crying about crossing the street, don't take my beach diver certificate from me just yet.

Now where did I put that violin?

 

[Pipehorse]

Went to the bridge for diving today. The park was moderately crowded. Lots of snorkelers and beach goers, not that many divers. Visibility was 15ft-20ft, slightly improved since yesterday, sea temp. Stayed on the westside for the entirety of the dive, did not encounter other divers until I was exiting east. Did a REEF survey of 53 species in 70 minutes. Some of you might recall the saga of hermit crab stuck in the beer bottle from March/April of 2022 that I wrote about here. Seems a Giant Hermit Crab was living in a beer bottle with the neck broken. The hermit crab had out grown the bottle to the point that only one claw could be stuck out at a time. Long story short, over a period of days I managed to get a shell for the hermit crab and it had a happy ending. I found another one today. This time a jar it can fit in, but with restricted mobility because it has a hard time clinging to the inside of the smooth jar instead of a curved shell. Not sure if I can make back to bridge for a while, hope he can tough it out until I can bring a suitable shell.

Respectively, Juvenile Gray Angel, Poor Substitute for a proper shell 1&2, and Visibility example using hammerhead statues.

 

[tarponchik]

Reminds me of Hawthorne of Sherman's Lagoon, who had a beer can as his house.

You can probably fill a glass jar like this one with coarse grit and some pieces of quartz and spin it in a rock tumbler for 3-5 days so the walls become not so smooth.

 

[MrChen]

Ohh!!,,,,Could we unbolt one of the bus stop benches from down on US 1 and put it at the cross walk?

Yes please

 

[bmorescuba]

During the pandemic, pretty much the only diving I did was a few short trips down to the bridge. I'm getting ready to leave for Indonesia (1st time!) and I wanted to finally finish editing those photos. These are from 2020 - 2023, maybe 10 dives total. Highlights are seashorses, frogfish, mantis shrimp, nudis, Zebra Sole, and a huge Goliath Grouper. When I saw the Goliath Grouper I was by myself on a rainy November day. Only a few other people in the water on the west side (this was before construction). Of course, I only had my macro lens, so I had to get back maybe 15 ft. It was just relaxing in the west side pylons. It didn't seem to mind me hanging out for 10-15 minutes. It was one of those magical BHB moments.

Full gallery here: Blue Heron Bridge 2020-2023

 

[bmorescuba]

Continued from above:

 

[ACHiPo]

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Amazing photographs!

 

[MrChen]

I made it to the bridge yesterday for the 7:30pm HT. There were far more beachgoers than divers. Divers started showing up at the last minute, including a couple training groups. I hemmed and hawed about east vs west. I ended up navigating around students towards the left since the currents were going west at the time. I found a lot of jawfish, 10+, no eggs. Found some nudis, flatworms, and shrimp. Unfortunately I would find them all at the same time and have to make a decision on what to take a picture of and lost the others by the time I finished with one. I'm still practicing my snoot. I tried using the Mini Flash 2 as a remote strobe for the first time and I couldn't get it to sync right with the camera, so I ended up putting the snoot on a wired strobe. Vis was 25-30ft but hazy. The current was strong after tide change. I spent most of my time near the boat by the bend towards the east bridge. Enjoy the pics!

Dusky Jawfish

Pipefish

Cuthona caerulea

Dondice

Orangespot Cratena

 

[MrChen]

Seaweed Blenny

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

nice shots!!!! Looks like a good dive!