Well,
another fantastic spring trip. The
sharks are still here, but have
moved to Stetson. We got to the West
Bank after a fairly lumpy ride out
(where did these waves come from?
NOAA didn’t forecast this!) at 7 AM,
and got ready to dive at 7:30. The
divers were treated to a big manta
ray, as well as a hammerhead, but no
tiger sharks. The crew was once
again busy setting moorings, so we
now have a mooring on WFG#1, 2, and
5. We had a visitor on the West
Bank, NOAA fisheries in the form of
the R/V Oregon II were conducting
reef fish surveys, and we tried to
stay out of their way. The seas were
3-5, winds SE at 15-20, temp up to
75, little to no current, air temp
87,
Some passengers opted not to do the
rig dive, so we motored off to the
East Bank. The seas were a little
calmer there, still no Tiger sharks,
so three dives were offered. Another
large Manta was sighted, as well as
a plethora of monster grouper,
blacks and tigers. A warning to
fishermen: The grouper at the Flower
Garden Banks has been shown to be
contaminated with ciguatera, which
cannot be cooked out. Eat them at
your own risk. Seas were 2-4, Winds
SE at 10-15, temp 75, little to no
current, air temp 89.
Sunday morning found us on Stetson.
Melanie could see the reef from the
boat, and spotted an Eagle Ray from
the boat. When the divers got in,
they spotted at least 5 stingrays, a
bunch of hammerheads, finally a
tiger shark, eagle rays, and the
other usual stuff, including
lobsters, eels, turtles, etc. Seas
were 1-2 feet, Winds SE at 5-10;
temp was 72, slack current, air temp
was 85.
Well, then I got into the water at
Stetson. You know it’s nice if I get
in. First, 5 hammerheads came by,
and Melanie got their picture. Then,
5 eagle rays came to see what was
up. She got their picture too. Then,
as she was taking pictures of the
eagle rays, another hammerhead came
in close behind us, grinned, turned
around, and shook his butt at me. I
don’t know what that means, but I
don’t think I like it. Lack of
respect, you know. While one was
shaking his butt at me, another
individual was shaking his butt at
Jean Anne. She thought he looked
hungry. I think he was just checking
out how meaty her thighs are. They
like the meaty ones, you know.
Anyway, that one dive was worth the
cost of the show. I can’t wait to
come back.
Captain Frank
M/V Spree |
|
