Underwater Video Services for your next scuba diving vacation in Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Boynton Beach, Hollywood, the Florida Keys and the Caribbean.
My Ultra-Faboo dive buddy Joanie and I were back at Blue Heron Bridge today to “see what we can see”. She has predicted a manatee sighting today, so we are anxious to get into the water. Today, we are joined by Michelle and Josh, a couple of people from Scubaboard who have never been diving at the bridge before.
After getting geared-up, we head into the water and, almost immediately we see a manatee cruising by! I kick over on an intercept course and was able to get the manatee on video. It seemed to be in a bit of a hurry and didn’t want to hang around too much, but the video came out nice anyway.
After our manatee encounter, we see a Southern Stingray with a stubby tail, then head over to the bridge pilings where the visibility got really milky and made it hard for seeing things from a distance. So we all switched to close-up mode and started looking for smaller critters. We ended up seeing several small Spotted Eels, Banded Shrimps, Arrow Crabs, Sea Cucumbers, Lobsters, Juvenile Angelfish, Spadefish, Juvenile Filefish and a couple of small Yellow Stingrays. Overall, it was a great dive and Joanie and I got to see the excitement in the eyes of Michelle and Josh as they got their first experience at the bridge.
Yes, we dive here in January!
The Video Dude
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Starting the New Year right by doing a dive trip, the Video Dude finds himself aboard Parrot Island Scuba‘s “Fathoms O’ Fun” , along with a group from ScubaBoard, headed out to the “Captain Dan” and “Grouper Bend” Reef. A great day to be out on the water and though the air was a bit chilly, the sun was out.
Captain Jerry and Divemaster Keith get us underway and off to our first dive site with their usual skill, and in no time we are there. After Keith jumps in and ties off the descent line and comes back with a report on conditions, we all jump in and head down the line. Visibility at the bottom was about 50ft, but it was a bit dark at 110fsw. Had to use my video lights for most of the dive. Lots of divers were doing penetrations and looking for Goliath Groupers and there were lots of the usual fish types on the wreck. After a 35 minute bottom time, it’s time to head back to the line, our safety stops, and ultimately the boat.
After gear changeover and our surface interval, we arrive at our second dive site and jump in to start our drift dive of the reef. Most of the group were hunting for Lobster and I, of course, was shooting video. I found a large King Helmet shell, and the rest of the group caught about 2-3 Lobster each. Grouper Bend is always an interesting reef and today was no different. With the sun out, the colors really “popped”.
A great day of diving with friends here in Paradise!
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).
