The continuing sagas of the Blue Heron Bridge

[BHB ScubaTroll]

If you can meet Hetland, myself and 2 others for some diving the week after Xmas, could you PM me?

I have dives scheduled for next week that are in "our ocean just east of that public works project crossing the intercoastal waterway". If I go to the bridge too, I will post it here the day (or night) before I dive.

 

[Scott L]

Yes, but we don't post it here as this is not the appropriate thread.

I have close to 160 dives and 240 hours underwater just this year. Some of that has been in the Atlantic, some in the Gulf of Mexico and some has been in the intercoastal. None of my dives was in fresh or spring water.

Touche. I actually find diving with the sound of boat screws nearby slightly unnerving and would generally much rather play about the Breakers Reef on a casual dive than BHB but I love diving period and you guys must have a specific reason to dive there. Happy Holidays! Scott

 

[DennisW]

Valhalla,

We dive the BHB because of the incredible critters you can find there. They are not as prevalent or as easy to find on the dives off the coast. And, you don't have to pay for a boat ride.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

Touche. I actually find diving with the sound of boat screws nearby slightly unnerving and would generally much rather play about the Breakers Reef on a casual dive than BHB but I love diving period and you guys must have a specific reason to dive there. Happy Holidays! Scott

Dennis hit right on it...

BHB is a photographer's "wet dream" (pun intended)! There are so many species that make it home, or temporary home, every year that allow a photographer the chance to shoot something different every day. Every month the bridge has residents which are considered uncommon to rare in Florida waters (i.e. the Side-gill Sea Slug). It might not be exciting for you to see, but for those of us who shoot underwater photos it can be a big deal to capture creatures in our waters that aren't supposed to be there, or aren't supposed to be there in abundance. This past year I've captured seahorses mating and nudibranch's too

Another reason is the quality of pictures. The shallow area allows for better lighting and the ability to stop, wait and setup for "the shot". Personally, 4 different star fish photos I took this past year are being used in the Deloach Identification DVD for Florida/Caribbean/Bahamas (not a big deal for everyone, but to this amateur shutterbug it's pretty cool).

Some reasons I've heard for diving BHB:

• It's great for training new and advanced courses
• Pictures that would never be found anywhere else
• We can get there on a moment's notice if we suddenly have the time to dive
• It costs next to nothing for a dive
• It's great to work out issues with new equipment
• Bottom times really allow one to work on skills

One person I see at BHB almost every time the charters get blown out is ScubaKevdm. Sometimes he has students, sometimes those who he was going to take out on charter and sometimes he gets out there with his camera and goes to town

 

[D2Diver]

Dennis hit right on it...

Another reason is the quality of pictures. The shallow area allows for better lighting and the ability to stop, wait and setup for "the shot". Personally, 4 different star fish photos I took this past year are being used in the Deloach Identification DVD for Florida/Caribbean/Bahamas (not a big deal for everyone, but to this amateur shutterbug it's pretty cool).

Way to go Jim Congratulations

 

[Randy g]

We are diving BHB next week for the first time and after looking at pictures everyone takes, we are really looking forward to diving there. We are both novice photographers and will be shooting pics with our new camera setups.

 

[D2Diver]

I dove the west side today and saw this little guy.....

not as pretty or colorful as some of the others that were recently posted, but still a neat sight.

Any seahorse is pretty & it is nice to know there are some on the West side
Thanks for posting
Deb

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

I dove the west side today and saw this little guy.....

not as pretty or colorful as some of the others that were recently posted, but still a neat sight.

You are going to have that when working with more natural lighting.

I was working on natural lighting, lighting before and lighting beyond the seahorse yesterday. Not much different from your shots. Your shots have even more color in them.

notice the bridge pylon behind this guy... I was shooting in the shadows, but wanted to save the color of the background... loss of color to the subject...

The same happens with some other subjects and natural lighting...

Mantis Shrimp

Salifin Blenny

Then, some subjects work out OK with natural lighting automatically

And, there are some I wouldn't even attempt natural lighting...

 

[luckydays]

... Personally, 4 different star fish photos I took this past year are being used in the Deloach Identification DVD for Florida/Caribbean/Bahamas (not a big deal for everyone, but to this amateur shutterbug it's pretty cool).

That is fantastic CT, glad your shots are being recognized by others as well as drooling mid-westerner's.

As you mentioned, another great reason to dive BHB is when the weather is crap on the ocean just east of that public works project crossing the intercoastal waterway at least there is a place to dive. On our trip this past week, we got blown out of the ocean for a few days due to weather. Instead of moping around the hotel and getting mad at mother nature, we headed to BHB for a few great dives since the winds and waves did not affect the diving there.

I like diving BHB and will gladly go back there again and again on my future trips to SE FL.

 

[Scuba_Dad]

Dennis hit right on it...


Some reasons I've heard for diving BHB:

• It's great for training new and advanced courses
• Pictures that would never be found anywhere else
• We can get there on a moment's notice if we suddenly have the time to dive
• It costs next to nothing for a dive
• It's great to work out issues with new equipment
• Bottom times really allow one to work on skills

One person I see at BHB almost every time the charters get blown out is ScubaKevdm. Sometimes he has students, sometimes those who he was going to take out on charter and sometimes he gets out there with his camera and goes to town

Not only "Pictures that would never be found anywhere else", there are critters you don't find anywhere else... or at least... extremely hard to find.

A couple years ago, Kathleen showed me a picture she took and couldn't ID... within minutes later, Debi (FLDiveJunkie) sent me a picture of the same fish... We came up empty trying to ID it... we knew it was a puffer... So, I sent it to my friend Alex who is a Level 5 FishID for REEF. He came back and said it was a Green Puffer, and he had NEVER seen one in the wild. When I told him where Kathleen took the picture, his comment was "That figures!"