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| Jupiter Reef
Dive
(Dive Report by Barry Erhardt) |
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Saturday afternoon 11 April 2009
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Dive Locations: Bath and Tennis; Flower Gardensoff
the coast of West Palm Beach, out from the Breakers
Hotel
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Another great day for a dive with the Caloosa Dive
Club. It was a two tank dive on Jupiter Reef. The
weather good with the air temperature in the mid 80s and
the water temperature in the mid 70s. There were 10 to
15 mile per hour winds from the southeast and 3 to 5
foot waves. The boat had 14 divers aboard and we headed
out to a location called “Bath and Tennis”. Two divers
brought their spear guns and were hopeful to get a prize
fish. The day was partly cloudy and we could see the
people along the beach as we made our way out. It took
about 25 minutes to reach the dive site about a mile off
of the shore. We were treated to a sea turtle surfacing
before the dive. 14 divers entered the water and
followed the dive guide. A couple of divers had cameras
and we will look forward to seeing their photos. It was
a drift dive with a pretty fair current and depths from
40 to 60 feet. The reef ran from a sandy bottom toward
the beach. Visibility was approximately 25 to 30 feet.
The current made it challenging to take pictures.
Between you drifting along and the sea life moving
along, nothing stayed in one place for long. This is a
young and growing reef with a lot of sponges, tubes,
hard and soft corals, and a large variety of fish. There
were several young cropping’s of brain corals that gave
every indication of a young and growing reef. The reef
was teaming with colorful fish. On this dive we
encountered a 4 ½ to 5 foot loggerhead sea turtle.
Finning hard would keep you in place long enough to snap
a photo, but after that you had to go along to keep up
with the group who was drifting down the reef. The dive
lasted around an hour and we all boarded back on the
boat.
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| After an hour surface interval, we were ready for
our second dive. This dive was another drift dive at a
location called “Flower Gardens”. The boat captain told
us that he saw on his sonar a 10 foot hammer head shark
lurking around “Flower Gardens” and we would be treated
to something special. Only 6 divers entered the water on
this dive as some of the other divers we cold from the
first dive. The visibility on this dive wasn’t as good
as the first dive, but it was still around 20 feet. The
current was the same as on the first dive and the reef
was equally as good. The reef was teaming with fish and
a lot of colorful vegetation, sponges and corals. Around
35 minutes into the dive Barry Erhardt’s second stage
regulator swivel began free flowing. The dive guide saw
this and signaled to him and he signaled back that he
was OK. He just switched to his pony bottle and began
surfacing. The rest of the divers continued on their
dive. The group on the boat were treated to a Hawk Bill
Turtle surfacing to get a breath of air before
submerging again. Everyone returned to the boat and we
headed back to the dock. It was another great day for
diving. |
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Submitted by: Barry Erhardt
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On the dive:
1. Cheryl Black
2. Bob Sofranko
3. Ruth Sofranko
4. Brian Chouiniere
5. Lynne Casey
6. Barry Erhardt
7. Nancy Fuentes
8. Walter Wilt
9. Hank Littleton
10. Carolyn Littleton
11. Karen Kayser - Non-member
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