Posts Tagged ‘Green Moray’
Friday, June 11th, 2010
Hello everyone!
Thursday, June 10th finds the Video Dude once again aboard “Scubatyme III” heading out for a video shoot on the “Captain Dan” and Lighthouse Ledge. Captain Bob, Divemaster Amanda and Owner Enzo are all aboard along with 8 other divers, out to have a great day on the water. The seas are almost flat, hardly any current and it’s a bright sunny morning as we head out of the Hillsboro Inlet.
Captain Bob gets us out to our first dive site - the “Captain Dan” in no time, and we all prepare to jump in after Amanda comes back up from tying off the descent/ascent line. I am first down the line and only encounter a mild current on the wreck while making my way from the stern towards the bow and back. Friendly Horse-eye Jacks and Spadefish watch me closely as I document the wreck on video. All too soon it’s time to head back to the ascent line and do my safety stops on the way back up to the surface.
After switching out gear for the next dive, Captain Bob heads over to the ever-popular Lighthouse Ledge Reef for our second dive. Once again I am in the water first and going solo on this dive to shoot more video of the reef. Almost immediately after reaching the reef, I encounter a large Porcupinefish, a Green Moray Eel, a Spotted Moray Eel, Arrow Crabs, Pufferfish, Squirrelfish and tons of Grunts and Snappers. With the sun being out the whole dive, the reef was really “poppin’” with color and was the prettiest I have seen in some time!
That’s about it for this video project report. If you’re interested, there’s a link below to purchase ($20) your own video copy of these dives to share with your friends.
Diving the days away here in Paradise,
The Video Dude
Tags: Arrow Crabs, Captain Dan, Divemaster Amanda, Enzo, Green Moray, Grunts, Hillsboro Inlet, Horse-eye Jacks, Lighthouse Ledge, Porcupinefish, Pufferfish, Scubatyme, Snappers, Spadefish, Spotted Eel, Squirrelfish, Video Dude
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Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
Hello everyone!
Today marks another diving milestone for the Video Dude as I completed my 600th (non-teaching) dive. Super-FABOO dive buddy Joanie was my buddy for this momentous occasion as we boarded “Scubatyme III” and headed out to dive on the “Sea Emperor” and Lighthouse Ledge Reef. Captain Bob, Divemaster Amanda, and Owner Enzo were on board as well as 8 other divers as we headed out of Hillsboro Inlet to our first dive site.
In hardly any time at all, it seemed, we arrive at the “Sea Emperor” and Joanie and I are ready to get in first. We head down the line and find a good current on the bottom, but not so tough to swim into as we begin touring around the deck. Our friendly resident Southern Stingray came over for a visit and we played with it a bit before heading down to the sand to look for one of the resident Green Moray Eels that like to come out and check out the divers. We found the little eel pretty quickly (or did she find us?) and she came over to play with me while Joanie took pictures. Pretty cool being on the OTHER side of the lens for a change! After one more tour around the wreck, including a trip inside to rest from the current a bit, it’s time to head up to our safety stops, and then the boat.
After everyone gets their gear switched over, Captain Bob heads us over to Lighthouse Ledge Reef for a nice drift dive. This is my dive number 600 and Joanie and I get in first again and drop down to the reef and begin our drift. Since she is carrying a camera, I carry the flag and we drift lazily along until we encounter a couple of Spotted Eels, a Golden Eel, a couple of Pufferfish, Lobster, Grunts, Snappers and a Queen Angel or two. Very beautiful colors today and a nice relaxing drift dive.
After consulting my logbook, Joanie and I discovered that my dive number 500 was almost exactly 1 year ago (6.8.09) which was another reason to celebrate. 100 dives in a year! I am truly blessed! Thanks again to my Super-FABOO dive buddy Joanie and to everyone else I have met or dove with on the way to this milestone!
Keep on gettin’ wet!
The Video Dude
Tags: Captain Bob, Divemaster Amanda, Enzo, Golden Eel, Green Moray, Grunts, Hillsboro Inlet, Joanie, Lighthouse Ledge, Lobster, Pufferfish, Queen Angelfish, Scubatyme, Sea Emperor, Snappers, Southern Stingray, Spotted Eel, Video Dude
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Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
Hello everyone!
Monday, November 11th finds the Video Dude, along with Faboo dive buddy “Hall of Famous” Joanie, aboard Scubatyme III heading out to the ever-popular wreck of the “Sea Emperor” for a relaxing morning of diving. Captain Bob is at the helm and Divemaster Goddess Amanda is assisting everyone on deck as we head out on flat seas to our destination. Along the way we see a pod of Dolphins cavorting and jumping our wake. Captain Bob makes a couple of circles so we can see the dolphins and to give them a nice wake to play in. It was a great start to the morning and a good omen of things to come!
We arrive at the “Sea Emperor” and after Amanda ties off the descent line, Joanie and I head for the bottom. I nearly landed on the resident Stingray, who was out and about already. I had several face-to-face encounters, with the stingray occasionally brushing my camera and once even hitting it head-on! I always love to watch the grace of a “flying” stingray, they make it look so effortless! Captain Bob gave me some crackers to feed to the fish, so I went over to the sand and started feeding them so everyone could get pictures. We also found one of the resident Green Morays, and I found a 6ft Nurse Shark over amongst the pipes next to the wreck. We also came across a sick-looking Midnight Parrotfish who seemed to be having trouble just moving it’s fins to stay in one spot.
After our surface interval, we head over to Abbey Too Reef. Visibility on the bottom was much improved from the day before, but the east/west surge was stronger. We did see about 7 Lobsters all total though. No other critters besides the usual Grunts, Squirrelfish and Chromis.
So that’s about it. Good seas, Faboo dive buddy, better visibility and still warm water temps, plus a cool stingray encounter and a fish-feeding made for a great morning!
Still diving in Paradise (even in November!),
The Video Dude
Tags: Abbey Too, Chromis, Dolphins, Green Moray, Grunts, Joanie, Lobster, Midnight Parrotfish, Nurse Shark, Scubatyme, Sea Emperor, Squirrelfish, stingray, Video Dude
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Monday, October 12th, 2009
Hello everyone.
October 11th finds the Video Dude out to shoot video with his Faboo dive buddy, “Hall of Famous” Joanie aboard Parrot Island Scuba’s “Fish Food”. The weather was perfect and the seas were calm and, although we heard rumors of fast currents, we were still excited to be out diving! Due to the currents we were forced to change our first dive destination (which was to be a wreck) and ended up with 2 drift dives instead. Captain George and Divemaster Dale got us all situated onboard and we headed out to the reefs.
Dive #1 was on “Sunkist Reef”, a very pretty reef I have been on many times before but seems to always be different each time. Joanie and I dropped down to the reef and, although the current wasn’t nearly as swift as advertised, it was still good enough for us not to have to kick very much. We saw lots of schooling fish like Grunts and Porkfish as well as Blue Chromis, and we came across a MONSTER Rainbow Parrotfish that we both determined had to be 4 1/2ft long and about 2ft high! We had never seen one that huge before. It was tucked under a ledge just chillin’ and even had a 2ft Remora attached to it’s belly!! Additionally we saw a Stone Crab, Hogfish, lots of French Angels and 2 Squid. All too soon our bottom time is over and we have to head for our safety stop and then the surface.
Back on the boat, we change over our gear for the next dive, talk about what we saw, and I ask Joanie for predictions on what we’ll see on dive #2. She replies, “a Turtle, a Shark and an Eel!”. So, once we arrive at dive site #2 which is the ever-popular “Lighthouse Ledge”, we hit the water and drop down to the reef. Still a moderate current and, wouldn’t you know it, we almost immediately see a Hawksbill Turtle! Not long after we find a Green Moray, a Stone Crab getting cleaned by a Damselfish, and the final part of the prediction, a 7ft Nurse Shark!! Just in time too, cause our bottom time was up and we had to head back to the boat! Overall a Freakin’ Awesome day of diving with my favorite buddy! Next time I’ll get her to predict a Whale Shark and a Manta Ray too!!
Divin’ the day away here in Paradise!!
The Video Dude
Here are some still frames from the video (which is now available for purchase, see link below!):
Tags: Blue Chromis, Captain George, Damselfish, Divemaster Dale, Drift Diving, Fish Food, French Angels, Green Moray, Grunts, Hawksbill Turtle, Joanie, Manta Ray, Nurse Shark, Parrot Island Scuba, Porkfish, Rainbow Parrotfish, Remora, Squid, Stone Crab, Sunkist Reef, Video Dude, Whale Shark
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Monday, September 21st, 2009
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).
Tags: bait ball, Bonnie's Reef, Burrfish, Florida, Goliath Grouper, Goliath Grouper Aggregation, Green Moray, Hawksbill Turtle, Jupiter, Jupiter Dive Center, ScubaBoard, Video Dude
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Sunday, January 11th, 2009
Hello everyone.
Sunday, January 11th finds the Video Dude and Scuba Goddess Terri once again aboard “ScubaTyme III” heading out to dive a wreck and a reef. Enzo, Captain Dave and Amanda welcome everyone aboard and get us situated on the boat before heading out. It’s another beautiful day on the water under sunny skies and with very little wave action. We’re a little crowded today as the boat is full (a good sign for the local dive industry), but everyone is happy to be out diving and, a good omen for the day, on the way out to our first dive site we get a pod of about 20 Dolphins riding our wake and jumping out of the water!! Way cool!!
Captain Dave gets us out to Dive site #1 - “The Tracy” fairly quickly and DM Amanda jumps in to tie off our descent line. She comes back up to report a bit of a current on the bottom and nice visibility. Terri and I jump in first since we will be penetrating this wreck and I need to get some video footage before the crowd shows up. We get down to the wreck and head inside, poking around in various areas, shooting video along the way, then we head outside the wreck for a tour around the exterior. This is where I find the Spotted Eel just sitting there posing for my camera. Very cool!! Then it’s back up to the boat and get ready for the next dive.
Dive #2 is on “Sunkist Reef” - a beautiful reef we have been on many times. It always has something amazing every time we’re on it though, so it never gets old. Almost immediately after reaching the bottom, Terri finds a nice-sized Cowrie shell, and a few moments later a lobster snare. She was relieved to find that because she had just lost mine the day before and was gonna have to buy me a new one. The one she found was in new condition, so it is now mine!! I also found a deep-sea fishing reel in decent condition and along the drift dive we saw a free-swimming Green Moray, White-spotted Filefish, and a Giant Anenome. Then it was time to get picked up by the boat and head back to the dock.
Yet another in a series of beautiful dive days here in Paradise!
The Video Dude
Tags: Cowrie, deep-sea fishing reel, Dolphins, Giant Anenome, Green Moray, Lobster, reef, Scuba Goddess Terri, Scubatyme, Spotted Eel, Sunkist Reef, Video Dude, White-spotted Filefish, wreck
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