Reef
Reports
Full Moon Octopus Dive
Blue Heron Bridge
Friday, September 9
While we didn’t see the full moon
because it was raining most of the
dive, one of our groups was rewarded
with the octopus sighting. And this
evening it was an especially crabby
dive. Meaning crabs were literally
everywhere, and sometimes there were
more than one to look at. We saw
Florida swimming crab, yellowline
arrow crab, flatface swimming crab,
giant hermit crab, batwing coral crab
and a very large channel clinging
crab. In addition there were many
shrimp including the very unique
scaly-tailed mantis shrimp who has the
most advanced eyes in the animal
kingdom, with 16 photo receptors.
Large snook were dive-bombing our
flashlight beams and lobsters were
walking all about. Several nine-arm
sea stars were found in the sand,
along with juvenile yellow stingrays
and scorpionfish. The water is still a
balmy 87 degrees, with a depth of 23
feet at the East Bridge. This night
dive never disappoints and this was no
exception.
-- Active Divers Vice President
and Safety Officer Rachel Davis
Islamorada Afternoon Dive
Key Dives
September 11
Dive 1: Rockytop
Seas- under 1 foot
Depth- 23 feet
No current
Vis-15 feet
Criitters- Lobster, large turtle,
grunts, blue tangs, Sargent Majors,
moon jellyfish
Dive 2- Donut
Seas- under 1 foot
Depth -13
No current
Vis- 15 feet
Critters-large southern stingrays,
lobster, nurse sharks, barracuda, blue
tangs
-- Active Divers
Safety Officer Daryl Johnson
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