Burrfish | Video Dude Productions

Saturday February 13th finds the Video Dude, along with 5 other very brave souls, out for a morning of diving, underwater hunting, and shooting video aboard a private boat. The air temp was in the low 50s with wind-chills down in the 40s, but the ocean was flat and water temps ran in the low 70s. I learned a new term for this kind of diving - “Viking Diving”- and the phrase definitely fit!

We were all guests aboard South Florida Spearfishing Club member Tom Campbell’s private boat for the morning, as we got all our gear stowed and began heading out for our first of two drift dives. Being as it is a private boat (and one of the six divers was the captain), we rotated through the first dive so that everyone got to dive. We were on a reef called “Pine Tree” just north of the Hillsboro Inlet and fairly shallow at about 40fsw. I was buddied up with Pat, a friend of Heather (one of my dive buddies), and off we went - he was in search of something to spear or snare, I was in search of good video. We managed to get two Lobsters - the second one put up quite a fight! - and that was about it. We had a couple of very curious Gray Triggerfish following us around for most of the dive, and I saw a school of Spadefish, two Pufferfish and 2 Burrfish.

After coming up from our dive, Captain Tom informed us that since the air temps were dropping, we were canceling our second dive. That was OK with us since, after we got out of the water, the wind was cutting through our wetsuits and chilling us to the bone! So we had a short morning of it, but everyone had a good time. The total catch was 15 Lobsters and one Mutton Snapper, so it wasn’t a total wash. Of course, on the way back into the Inlet, we get stopped by a Florida Fish & Wildlife officer who wanted to inspect our boat and our catch of the day. He was very friendly (and cold like us) and probably bored as we were one of maybe two boats out with divers aboard in this “viking” weather. We are released without a fine and head back to the dock - and a hot tub! - at Tom’s house.

9.20.09 - Bonnie’s Reef - Jupiter, FL

Hello everyone.

September 20th finds the Video Dude diving in Jupiter, FL with some of the gang from ScubaBoard. We’re diving with Jupiter Dive Center and heading out to catch the Goliath Grouper Aggregation. Captain Mike and Divemaster Chris get us all settled aboard the “Republic IV” and we head out in search of some of the largest fish around. Skies were beautiful, seas were calm and there was a great deal of excitement aboard the boat. I was diving with a couple of friends of mine, Paul and Thora, and everyone was looking forward to the dives.

In very short time, Captain Mike has us all out on “Bonnie’s Reef” where many Goliath Grouper have been recently spotted. We get geared up and ready to jump in with Divemaster Chris leading the way. Almost immediately, we see a big Green Moray who thrilled us all by free-swimming along with us for most of the dive. Additionally, during the combination of both dives we came across a Lionfish, a huge Hawksbill Turtle, several more Green Morays, a giant Burrfish and ultimately our goal for the day, the Goliath Grouper. Although the number wasn’t quite what we wanted, there were 5 or 6 swimming around together, each surrounded by their own “bait ball” of fish. It was an awesome sight to watch!

All too soon the dives were done and we had to retreat back to our dive boat. Everyone was in full chatter mode on the way back to the dock, marveling at everything we saw today. It truly was a spectacular day of diving! Thanks to Jupiter Dive Center, Captain Mike, Divemaster Chris and my dive buddies Paul and Thora for a great day of diving here in Paradise!!

The Video Dude

Below are some still shots from the video, which is now available for purchase (see link at bottom of post).

Video Dude Productions

Posts Tagged ‘Burrfish’

2.13.10 - “Viking Diving”

9.20.09 - Bonnie’s Reef - Jupiter, FL

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