Saturday,
August 10
Blackwater Drift Dive
with Walkers Dive Charters
West Palm Beach
This
is by far one of my favorite
dives of the year because it
is so incredibly unique. We
outran a thunderstorm as
we motored out of West Palm
Beach at dusk. The seas were
calm - less than 2 feet and
the water a balmy 86
degrees, the kind of
water you could bask in for a
couple of hours. This is a
one-tank dive, but they let us
stay down for a heavenly 90
minutes. They submerge a metal
triangle with many lights
attached to a float which
gives you a vertical reference
down to 50 feet. Most of this
dive was spent 35-60 feet.
These numerous lights and the
divers' lights attract up from
the bottom a plethora of tiny
larval creatures that are
fascinating to behold. All
while floating in the
primordial soup marveling at
the planktonic creatures such
as curious squid, iridescent
comb jellies that are lit up
like a neon sign, salp -
chains of gelatinous spheres
hooked together to form a
strange wormlike creature,
larval eels spinning around in
circles before your eyes,
larval crabs that looked just
like spiders, teeny lobsters
with impossibly long antennae,
larval shrimp bouncing in
zig-zag patterns,
siphonophores - eel-like
creatures with a bulbous head,
hydromedusa - dainty jellyfish
with long thin hairlike
tentacles, and
leptothecada - dome-like
crystal jellies with shorter
tentacles. The best way to enjoy
this dive is to stay oriented by
the light ball and let the
creatures come float gently in
and out of your field of vision.
Absolutely magical!
-- Active Divers President
and Safety Officer Rachel
Davis
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