May 31, 2008 - The "Nursery" and The "Copenhagen"

Hello everyone.

Saturday afternoon, May 31st finds the Video Dude - along with Scuba Goddess Terri and former dive club member Paul - aboard Parrot Island Scuba's "Fathoms O' Fun" for what we hope to be an afternoon of relaxing diving in 30fsw on the Pompano Drop-off (also known as "The Balls" because of the mooring balls along the reef). My friend Joanie was to join us, but she awoke this morning with a head cold and didn't want to risk diving.

Also on board today was a friend of Terri's - Karla - who brought her friend Jennifer who was planning on doing some snorkeling while we dove. Jennifer is a paraplegic who is working towards her open-water certification (she's already done her confined water classes).

So it's just us three, and Captain Jerry gets us out to our first dive in record time. We drop down on a reef called "The Nursery" and begin to drift along with the current. The visibility was remarkably clear today (it can be hit-or-miss with the shallower reefs) the sun was bright underwater and the water temp was a balmy 80 degrees. As we drifted along we spotted all kinds of critters and fish darting in and out of the reef. There were Pufferfish, Burrfish, Arrow Crabs, Yellow Stingrays, Southern Stingrays, Blue Chromis, a Midnight Parrotfish, a Sea Cucumber, and so much more. We also got to see some fish behavior (well it IS mating season and we WERE on the Nursery!) and be amazed at the vibrant colors of the reef. Soon, to our dismay, it's time to come up.

After our surface interval is up, Captain Jerry takes us over to another of my favorite shallow dives, the "Copenhagen". A wreck of a wreck, the "Copenhagen" was a coal ship that ran aground in the early 1900s. In the early 1940s, the Navy used it for target practice and scattered it pretty far around the reef line. Scuba Goddess Terri actually found a piece of coal that was still on the wreck!

We drifted for a while on this one checking out the anchor and the plaque signifying this was an Archaeological Marine Preserve, and checking out the Scorpion Fish, Arrow Crabs, more Stingrays, Hermit Crabs, and a couple of very friendly Coronet Fish (about 4ft long) that tended to follow us throughout the dive. A very nice dive with 50ft visibility, and water temps around 81 degrees, ending up with about an hour and ten minutes bottom time.

A beautiful day of diving with good friends and a chance to make new friends in Paradise!

The Video Dude