Once again, 24 intrepid divers and 7 crew gathered at Robbie’s
Marina on Stock Island for installment 2 of the 2010 once a decade keys wide
fish count and tar ball search. With the specter of oil slicks and tar balls
looming over us, we headed out to the Dry Tortugas to count fish and lobsters.
We arrived at the Tortugas North Ecological Reserve early on Thursday morning
eager to see what we could see. Team one hit the water with a resounding splash,
and, lo and behold, there were Permit here. Schools of Permit numbering in the
hundreds (and maybe thousands) greeted the divers, swirling and spinning around
the diver. We saw more Permit than we had ever seen in the past, so we moved
around the bank, looking for Permit. Along with the Permit, we saw the usual
denizens of the reef, including Black Grouper, Goliath Grouper, Gags, big Mutton
Snapper, but the talk of the trip would remain Permit. We had 4 lobster divers
with us from FWC, who were very successful at rooting the tasty crustaceans out
of their holes and measuring their carapaces, but the focus on this trip was
fish. The visibility would be outstanding for the entire 10 day leg, with
Pulaski Shoal (usually in the 20 foot range) with visibility of 100+ feet. The
water was far colder than expected also, with bottom temps near 70 degrees, even
up on the reef. We spent the first 5 days of the trip out on Tortugas bank, then
headed into the Park to finish up.
The park has installed new mooring buoys for use by dive operators, private
citizens, and whoever else needs a mooring. The moorings were installed on the
coral reef monitoring sites, so now the sport divers will tear up the reef
around the monitoring sites, but I’m sure far wiser heads than mine made the
decision where to put these sites. Speaking of wiser than me, we had the
opportunity to worry about the oil spill. Now, there are boats, airplanes, and
Autonomously Operated Vehicles patrolling the western shelf of Florida, and no
evidence of oil has been detected. NOAA, in their infinite wisdom, has decided
that, theoretically, there could be oil and tar balls, somewhere. So, they have
put out a forecast for where the oil and tar balls could be in 72 hours. If that
forecast line gets within 30 miles of the Spree, we have to sample for the
presence of oil in the water. No oil, go ahead and dive. Got oil, move 5 miles
and sample again. So, even though there is no visible slick, and no tar balls
have been reported, there is a theoretical line that moves back and forth across
the gulf and when that line gets too close, we get to jump through our butts to
make sure our divers are safe. I like another method. Open the window and sniff.
Look at the water. No smell or visible sheen, we get to go diving. Oh, well,
smarter heads than mine have dreamt about this for days.
The last day in the Tortugas was press day. Press day consisted of the
International Press Corps, a reporter and a photographer from the Key West
newspaper, the Sanctuary regional manager and Public Information Officer, the
Dean of the Rosenstiel School at University of Miami, and the head of the
Bachelor Foundation to come out and see what we do when we are out in the
Tortugas. They had a good time snorkeling around Texas Rock, and generally
agreed that Dry Tortugas is a pretty cool place.
I think so too. |