Snorkeling & Collecting Discussion Group

[Ron Reefman]

And so we move on to Day#3 of our snorkel trip. It’s the last day and as it turned out, the best day of the rip! Although the weather had been good the first 2 days, it was spectacular for the last day. Sunny, hot, almost calm winds, almost flat water, what snorkeler could ask for more? Our aquarium club friends had taken a charter out to Looe Key which is 5+ miles out on the Atlantic side of the Keys and is part of the 2nd biggest barrier reef in the world (after the Great Barrier Reef off Australia). We’ve been there a number of times and maybe unlike most snorkelers, we enjoy the shallows where we can interact with the ocean floor and even lift rocks to see what’s underneath. Out at the big reef it’s 1005 look but Do Not Touch!

So here is Little Money Key from above and from the Zodiac looking back to the southwest at the boat ramp just 1/4 mile away. The island is at the southwest end of the Seven Mile Bridge about 1/4th mile off the boat ramp that is right at the end of the bridge. It’s a bit bigger than an average size lot for an average residential home in an average middle class neighborhood and it has 1 house on it. We find it unused 9 out of 10 times that we visit the snorkel area just off the north side of the island. The shot of my feet off the side of the Zodiac is just to show how clear the water was. You are looking through about 3 feet of water at the bottom.






This is one of the 2 sea stars I collected. The other is a light green brittle star. We saw others, but I only wanted 2, one for each tank. I’d say the sea star population out here was a bit below normal and could still be a result of Hurricane Irma form a year and a half earlier.




The common sps finger coral seems to do quite well out here. The bottom is littered with both dead and alive versions. Unfortunately, it is sps coral and therefore illegal to collect ($500 to $1000 fine) and after all, I don’t believe it’s photosynthetic, so it would be difficult to keep anyway.




This one is less common in the shallows as far as we’ve found. It looks a lot more like an sps coral that is more common out on the big reefs some 6 to 8 miles away to the west and south. I wonder if it will still be there when we go back in a couple of weeks with the Ocala Aquarium Club?




I’ve collected green zoas out here and I’ve noticed they have some slightly different pattern as you go from one colony to another. The zoas in the first pic have just a single spoke that divids it in half. The second one has multiple spokes. I also know that under quite strong led lighting (high in my tank) they morph into an almost sky blue color and lose all the spokes of their pattern. But they still grow and reproduce well. The last photo is a view of the underside of a rock that has these green zoas growing on it. On top they look like any zoas in our tanks, but the ones that are underneath have to stretch to get to the light and food!






Elaine saw this little guy, a Dusky Damsel I believe. I'd like to have one of these if only they weren't so aggressive. In fact, a blue and yellow damsel actually bit at my glove a couple of times when I tried to pick up an empty and broken queen conch shell. Pretty obvious to me that it was home to the damsel and I wasn't welcome!




Oh and lets backtrack to yesterday for a second. Here is a photo of a juvenile angelfish we saw at the very end of the day while in the shallows off the beach in front of the marina.




Of course as some of you know, I love anemones and here are a couple of Curly-Q nems that are ultra common around here. They don’t seem to get very big and the tend to attach along the edges or even the undersides of rocks. I’m holding this rock upside down.




My favorite blue sponge. I brought a small one home being very careful to keep it under water all the time and in less than 2 weeks it’s almost gone. Sponges are a serious love/hate relationship for me. I love the look and variation in both colors and shapes. But I hate that 99% of them do NOT do well at all in reef aquariums. Maybe if you had a dedicated sponge tank and feed it specific food, but I don’t know of anybody who has done it successfully.




Here is a curious tale. Elaine found this 16” horse conch out in 3-4 feet of wate just out from our Zodiac. She absolutely loves horse conchs. The shells get so big and the body is such a bright orange. Well, can you see the bit of algae near the bottom of it’s foot? When Elaine gave me the conch and was going to take a photo of me with it, I tried to tidy it up and pulled at the algae. I got some, but it was actually inside the conch’s mouth. After the photo, Elaine took the conch back to where she found it and set it on the bottom. As she did, the horse conch spit out a West Indian Conch that it had obviously just eaten. The algae was attached to it’s shell. The inside of the West Indian Conch shell was cleaned out completely. Elaine picked up the shell and we brought it home.




We saw a few big urchins and I didn’t see any small ones. The first photo is how we typically find them, all camouflaged in shells and other debris. The second one is one I cleaned up for a photo. It took him about 90 seconds to cover himself again after I put him back on the bottom!




The only small urchin we saw, was a long spine urchin that is uncommon in the bay side water and only just recovering from a serious disease and repopulating the ocean side reefs. So this was kind of special for both of us. These guys get huge when full grown. From the spine tip on one side to the spine tip on the other side they can be as big as 18 to 24 inches. This little guy fit in my hand and the spines were super fine. I held it upside down to inspect it’s mouth and I could feel the spines through the thick layer that is the inside of my dive glove!



We had so much fun here that even though our friends were coming back from the big reef and going snorkeling just 5 miles away at the Horseshoe, we decided to stay and have lunch in the boat (crazy relaxing) and do another snorkel here after lunch. I'd guesstimate that we have snorkeled at Little Money Key about 8 to 10 times over the last 10 years and every time but one was special. That one time was in the early summer after the Keys had been hit with a severe cold snap in the winter which killed a lot of fish. That summer the amount of yucky slimy algae that covered everything made for an awful experience. This time there was some harder algae over growing the bottom in places that were extra shallow. I assume due to the hurricane and the run off from the island itself after the hurricane.

Before the Irma in 2017, Little Money Key was a lush green island that was so dense with foliage that it was difficult to nearly impossible to see the house on the island. Now the only green left on the island is at the very northern tip which was away from the prevailing winds and saltwater push during Irma. The house is very easy to see and the other 90% of the island is dead trees and dead mangroves.

 

[Ron Reefman]

And just to compare, here are some before and after photos.

This is from back in 2015 I believe and you can just see the house through a small opening in the trees.



Here is the dock that leads into the house on the island before Irma. You couldn't see the hose for the trees!



The island as viewed last summer, a full year after Irma, from the boat ramp 1/4 mile away with a good telephoto lens. The wind and salt spray and waves would have been moving almost exactly from right to left in this photo. And it doesn't look much different today except the dock has been rebuilt and the house itself has been repaired (I think). Why rebuild the dock if you aren't going to fix the house?

 

[dbraun15]

The long spine urchins were very common in Belize...those were the only urchins I saw on my trip...really like hearing about the adventure...thanks for sharing!

 

[Ron Reefman]

It's Wednesday and we are packing up for another weekend snorkeling in the Keys. Elaine and I will be there Thursday thru Sunday and helping 17 people from the Ocala Reef Club who are coming in for Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately for them, Saturday is forecast to be 20 mph winds from the south and may make any snorkeling or even scuba diving on the ocean side of the Keys, and the big reef, less than fun. Rough water for snorkeling and poor visibility for scuba diving. We'll try to snorkel Little Money Key since the good area to snorkel is the lee side of the island (to the north and northwest). If that doesn't work out, we'll try the Horseshoe which is even more protected than Little Money. But in any event, Elaine and I should have better conditions on Thursday afternoon and Friday.

I think the windy conditions are due to the low that has moved south over the Florida panhandle and is predicted to move into the Gulf of Mexico and track west along the northern rim of the Gulf. It's expected to become a Tropical Storm Thursday or Friday and one forecast model even has it becoming a Cat 1 hurricane Friday or Saturday. It will be drawing up windy from the southeastern Gulf as far south as the Florida Keys. And as bad as that is for us, my concern is for the rain, flooding and potential wind damage this could do along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana and Texas.

Be safe.

 

[crusso1993]

It's Wednesday and we are packing up for another weekend snorkeling in the Keys. Elaine and I will be there Thursday thru Sunday and helping 17 people from the Ocala Reef Club who are coming in for Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately for them, Saturday is forecast to be 20 mph winds from the south and may make any snorkeling or even scuba diving on the ocean side of the Keys, and the big reef, less than fun. Rough water for snorkeling and poor visibility for scuba diving. We'll try to snorkel Little Money Key since the good area to snorkel is the lee side of the island (to the north and northwest). If that doesn't work out, we'll try the Horseshoe which is even more protected than Little Money. But in any event, Elaine and I should have better conditions on Thursday afternoon and Friday.

I think the windy conditions are due to the low that has moved south over the Florida panhandle and is predicted to move into the Gulf of Mexico and track west along the northern rim of the Gulf. It's expected to become a Tropical Storm Thursday or Friday and one forecast model even has it becoming a Cat 1 hurricane Friday or Saturday. It will be drawing up windy from the southeastern Gulf as far south as the Florida Keys. And as bad as that is for us, my concern is for the rain, flooding and potential wind damage this could do along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana and Texas.

Be safe.

You guys be safe too. Especially if the weather system does develop into a Cat 1!

 

[Ron Reefman]

Thanks for thinking of us. ;Happy

We'll be safe. Only 1/4 mile off shore and about 500 miles south of the tropical storm. If it goes Cat 1 it will be even further west and more like 600 miles away. But it will create 20 mph winds in the Keys being sucked straight up north! Now the Ocala crew may be on a 30' double deck pontoon boat... assuming the boat rental outfit will even let them take it out. I'm about 65% to 35% in favor of their letting the boat go. IDK, 17 people on a double deck pontoon boat... sounds a bit like all the 3rd world passenger ferries that capsize!

 

[Ron Reefman]

We had a wonderful time this trip. The wind was a bit of an issue, but we just did the lee sides of the islands where we were in calm water. Thursday and Friday Elaine and I snorkeled alone and on Saturday about 15 people from the Ocala Reef Club joined us. Originally we were going to meet up at Little Money Key, but the 30' pontoon boat they had rented wasn't available as the previous renter had damaged it. So we left our Zodiac on the trailer and drove to the Horseshoe and they all met us there. It was a perfect spot as they had everything from kids to scuba divers and the Horseshoe fits all their needs. Although Elaine and I have been there a number of times, this was the first time for everybody in the club. I think they had a good time as they snorkeled all morning, left for lunch and then returned to snorkel again all afternoon! Some even went back for more on Sunday!

Everybody was friendly and we really enjoyed meeting so many new people who shared both our interest in reef aquariums and in snorkeling! Everybody greeted everybody else with open arms. Even the wildlife like this swimmer crab had open arms! BTW, from tip to tip he had about a 10" to 12" reach!

 

[Ron Reefman]

We took the Zodiac out along Spanish Harbor Key on the Florida Bay side and traveled from the west end up to the Horseshoe. It's mostly grassy but there are sponges and a few animals. Here is an assortment of my photos and I'll do Elaine's in a day or two.

You can see we there only just off shore, but it's almost impossible to get to this stretch of waterfront from the highway.




I've always been a fan of sponges, I just wish we could keep them in out aquariums. The big orange sponges are one of my favorites and here I found a small sample that wasn't attached to anything. It was the perfect size for use in an aquarium but it would only die so I didn't collect it.



In this area we saw quite a few of these orange tunicates. I believe they are called mangrove tunicates. I did collect a clump ot these many years ago and they only survived in my tank for a month, so now I just take photos!



Curly-Q anemones are very common in this area. Most are small and many are under rocks. This was a big one, maybe the size of a softball. What really caught my eye was the greenish color of the tentacles as they got close to the center. I've never noticed any quite like this one before. Because these are so common, in fact they are almost like aiptasia in some areas, I collected one smallish one about the size of a quarter.



Again, due to my fascination with sponges, I saw this colorful specimen attached up high on a rock. I just love the color and really wish I could have these in a tank.



Once we got to the Horseshoe we spent some time exploring along the outside of the western arm of the quarry. There were a lot of urchins and upside down jellyfish. I collected on very small urchin that isn't much bigger than the eraser at the end of a pencil. I only took photos of the jellyfish. They get big and the prefer slightly dirtier water than most aquariums would keep for a mixed reef. Most were green but a few were very blue like this one.



Just so you get a feel for them, the one above is settled on the sandy bottom where they like to be. The typical 'bell' of the jellyfish is facing down. So I picked one up (I wear dive gloves) and took a photo of it swimming so you could see the entire body.



Some of the rocks extend up out of the water and an unusual chiton that likes being exposed to the air become attached so they spend part of the day in the water and part out of the water. We were there at low tide so they were easy to find. But they are almost impossible to remove and even if you could, they tend to climb out of aquariums and will even push past screen covers. I tried one a few years ago and it literally climbed out and fell on the floor! I did manage to find one chiton that does stay in the water 100% of the time. You'll see it when I share the photos of all that I collected.



There are lots of juvenile and young fish around the rocks and mangroves along the west side of the Horseshoe. I just turned on the flash and stuck the camera in a dark arsh and got this photo!



There aren't a lot of sps coral colonies in the shallow near shore waters. So when you see a colony like this one, about the size of a soccer ball... well, it's just kind of special and makes me think the water quality isn't so bad and I'm glad the State of Florida protects all sps corals from collecting. Besides, I don't think these have zooxanthellae that do photosynthesis like 99% of the corals we keep in our reef tanks.



I lifted one good size rock to see what might be underneath and was surprised at the companions! A rock boring urchin (they literally eat holes in the old coral skeleton rock), a good size fire worm (the white fuzzy stuff will hook in your skin and hurt like crazy) and a small green brittle star.



And finally a question for anybody to try and help us answer. The question is: what is the orange stuff in these photos? The first time I saw it I thought it was some type of sponge I hadn't seen before. It is soft to the touch and it seems to just be a thin film attached to the rock and even the algae. I got Elaine's attention (she was photographing something else) and showed it to her. her first though was that it's somebody's eggs. Now I'm thinking she might be right, but I'm very unsure. And if they are eggs, who do they belong to? We know what the eggs of most common mollusks look like, and these don't even come close. I considered collecting a small sample but was worried they wouldn't do well in my collection container (a big orange Gatorade cooler) and might foul the water. Anybody have any ideas? Even better, is anybody absolutely sure they know what these are? Fist is an overall view and the rock is about the size of a softball. The second is as good a close up as I could get at the time.



Oop! One last photo. This is a spaghetti worm that exited it's parchment tube. This is another animal I'd like to try in my tank. But the 2 times I've tried, they failed to even make it home. They build their tube under rocks, live inside the tube and extend those long tentacles out and collect only very tiny bits of food. But they are very delicate and do not survive collection well. And even if they did, I'm not sure they would survive in a mixed reef aquarium.

 

[tripdad]

Are there any nudibranchs that frequent the area? Kinda remind me of nudie egg cases. Very cool, thanks for sharing!

 

[Ron Reefman]

Are there any nudibranchs that frequent the area? Kinda remind me of nudie egg cases. Very cool, thanks for sharing!

I believe there are some... although I can't say that I've seen any.

 

[EmilyXLC]

This is something that I’ve always wanted to get into! Now that I live in Florida, maybe I’ll finally get my chance.

 

[Ron Reefman]

@EmilyXLC , as Yoda said, do or do not, there is no maybe... well, that's not quite what he said.

You should absolutely get down to the Keys and try some snorkeling. The Keys have lots of fun places to visit and snorkeling out at the big reef and at the sites you can do just off the beach are both fun. Personally we enjoy the shallow off the beach spots. The big reef is a look but don't touch kind of place. The shallow off the beach sites allow you to touch, pick up and examine things, and allow collecting up to the legal limits (except for State Parks which do not allow collecting).

Elaine and I have been kicking around doing a Keys trip without our Zodiac and snorkel gear. Just our cameras, bathing suits and money. We'd hit more of the tourist sites and points of interest and all the while, take a lot of photographs. There are so many iconic views to see in the Keys. Here are a few examples!

 

[Ron Reefman]

Now that I am dealing with just 1 small 40g tank at home, I do... OK, I should do less collecting and more photography. But Elaine seems to always see things I don't see. Lucky for me, she takes lots of photos.

So lets start with a few shots of the area we know as the Horseshoe. It was created when the road down to Key West was being created (not for the Flagler Railroad Bridge as I may have told people previously... my bad).

Let's start with a view out along the right side arm of the quarry. The people in this photo are some of the 17 who came from the Ocala Reef Club. This was their first 'field trip' to the Keys and they reached out to me for any help I could provide. As it turned out, the boat they had reserved had been damaged by the previous renter and there was no good replacement for them to use. So rather than meeting them at Little Money Key which requires a boat (1/4 mile off shore) We met them at the Horseshoe. This was the first time any of them had been to the horseshoe and everybody seemed to have a good time. Even the scuba divers in the group got to explore inside the quarry which is about 40 feet deep. One of the divers was even nice enough to collect a coral banded shrimp and a red flame scallop at my request! Thank you very much!




This is the view from the other end of the quarry arm and looking in towards shore. There are things to see along the length of this arm if you take the time to look. Even I had ignored the small rocks here as barren. But I was shown that some of the rocks had limpets and nerite snails! The end of the arm where this photo was taken is where the wildlife reall starts to increase and diversify.




This is the left side arm of the quarry and at high tide. At low tide it is connected enough that you can walk out . This side has bigger rocks and a very different wildlife than the other arm. There are a lot of juvinle fish among the rocks and big schools of fish 10 to 20 feet down the vertical wall that is 5 feet or so away from these big rocks. On the outside of these rocks it's quite shallow and a very short distance from there it becomes mostly sea grasses. Around the mangrove trees is sandy bottom but it's very shallow and there are a lot of upside down jellyfish.




Up near the rocks we saw some Butteryfly fish. (nice photo Elaine!)




A juvenile barracuda (curious but mostly harmless to humans).



A juvenile black grouper which we don't often see here. In fact I didn't see this one at all. I was busy collecting a rock flower anemone when Elaine saw this one.




A parrot fish tucked in with some small grunts and some feather dusters.




And looking through an arch formed by two big rocks, a school of small grunts. These are by far the most common fish in the area of the rocks that make up the left arm of the quarry.




Condy anemones are now protected in Florida. I think they are starting to make a comeback, but they still aren't anywhere near as plentiful as they were just 10 to 15 years ago.




A curly-Q anemone which is quite common, but this one happened to have an anemone shrimp in attendance. It's often the case that these half clear bodied shrimp get located because of their antenna and not because of their body.




I nice stony yellow coral with a couple of feather dusters.




We both love these red hermit crabs with the pea green eyes. We've seen them small, this one is a bit smaller than Elaine's hand and we've seen them get really big and using a queen conch shell. I think this one is in a good size pear shell.




Of course there are Florida spiny lobsters (no claws). It's not lobster season. Some of us think they have an internal calendar and when lobster season starts, lobsters go into hiding!




You've seen a couple of pics of upside down jelly fish. They do seem to congregate in the sandy shallows near the mangroves. We suspect the mangroves being a nursery for many fish, that small prey may be plentiful in the area. Here Elaine got a shot of an entire field of upside down jellies!




Next time I post up some pics of the things I collected while I was sorting them out at home. BTW, weeks later and everything I collected is still alive in my 10g holding tank... well, except for a couple of cerith snails that have been eaten by the small horse conch I collected by mistake!

 

[MombasaLionfish]

Now that I am dealing with just 1 small 40g tank at home, I do... OK, I should do less collecting and more photography. But Elaine seems to always see things I don't see. Lucky for me, she takes lots of photos.

So lets start with a few shots of the area we know as the Horseshoe. It was created when the road down to Key West was being created (not for the Flagler Railroad Bridge as I may have told people previously... my bad).

Let's start with a view out along the right side arm of the quarry. The people in this photo are some of the 17 who came from the Ocala Reef Club. This was their first 'field trip' to the Keys and they reached out to me for any help I could provide. As it turned out, the boat they had reserved had been damaged by the previous renter and there was no good replacement for them to use. So rather than meeting them at Little Money Key which requires a boat (1/4 mile off shore) We met them at the Horseshoe. This was the first time any of them had been to the horseshoe and everybody seemed to have a good time. Even the scuba divers in the group got to explore inside the quarry which is about 40 feet deep. One of the divers was even nice enough to collect a coral banded shrimp and a red flame scallop at my request! Thank you very much!




This is the view from the other end of the quarry arm and looking in towards shore. There are things to see along the length of this arm if you take the time to look. Even I had ignored the small rocks here as barren. But I was shown that some of the rocks had limpets and nerite snails! The end of the arm where this photo was taken is where the wildlife reall starts to increase and diversify.




This is the left side arm of the quarry and at high tide. At low tide it is connected enough that you can walk out . This side has bigger rocks and a very different wildlife than the other arm. There are a lot of juvinle fish among the rocks and big schools of fish 10 to 20 feet down the vertical wall that is 5 feet or so away from these big rocks. On the outside of these rocks it's quite shallow and a very short distance from there it becomes mostly sea grasses. Around the mangrove trees is sandy bottom but it's very shallow and there are a lot of upside down jellyfish.




Up near the rocks we saw some Butteryfly fish. (nice photo Elaine!)




A juvenile barracuda (curious but mostly harmless to humans).



A juvenile black grouper which we don't often see here. In fact I didn't see this one at all. I was busy collecting a rock flower anemone when Elaine saw this one.




A parrot fish tucked in with some small grunts and some feather dusters.




And looking through an arch formed by two big rocks, a school of small grunts. These are by far the most common fish in the area of the rocks that make up the left arm of the quarry.




Condy anemones are now protected in Florida. I think they are starting to make a comeback, but they still aren't anywhere near as plentiful as they were just 10 to 15 years ago.




A curly-Q anemone which is quite common, but this one happened to have an anemone shrimp in attendance. It's often the case that these half clear bodied shrimp get located because of their antenna and not because of their body.




I nice stony yellow coral with a couple of feather dusters.




We both love these red hermit crabs with the pea green eyes. We've seen them small, this one is a bit smaller than Elaine's hand and we've seen them get really big and using a queen conch shell. I think this one is in a good size pear shell.




Of course there are Florida spiny lobsters (no claws). It's not lobster season. Some of us think they have an internal calendar and when lobster season starts, lobsters go into hiding!




You've seen a couple of pics of upside down jelly fish. They do seem to congregate in the sandy shallows near the mangroves. We suspect the mangroves being a nursery for many fish, that small prey may be plentiful in the area. Here Elaine got a shot of an entire field of upside down jellies!




Next time I post up some pics of the things I collected while I was sorting them out at home. BTW, weeks later and everything I collected is still alive in my 10g holding tank... well, except for a couple of cerith snails that have been eaten by the small horse conch I collected by mistake!

I have the same hermit crab it has gotten huge since I have had it. What kind is it?

 

[EmilyXLC]

So, if there ever ends up being a R2R snorkeling group meetup in Florida, PLEASE make a post for it. For the past week, I have been having dreams about doing it & now it’s a must! I’ve never been before & now that I live in central Florida, I feel like I don’t have an excuse.

 

[Ron Reefman]

@EmilyXLC , have you ever been snorkeling anywhere? Even in somebody's swimming pool? And how comfortable are you in the water? There are snorkel vests that can really keep you afloat. My wife is a good swimmer, but she is slender and doesn't 'float' as well as some other people, so she wears one whenever we snorkel, even in very shallow water. It's just more comfortable for her. Bur there are also people who are very uncomfortable putting their face down in the water and breathing through a tube!

I think a R2R snorkel trip sounds like a great idea. I'd even be willing to do a lot of the prep and background work. However, I won't be in the water for at least a month or two as I just had a surgery to remove a basal cell carcinoma from the side of my nose and I will probably be having a skin graft done next week. YUCK! But mid fall (Oct and early Nov) is a good time to snorkel. Thunderstorms are tapering off as is the threat of a hurricane and the water is still plenty warm. Even better would be next spring. The water gets warm fairly early and there is time before the thunderstorm and hurricane seasons even get started.

 

[EmilyXLC]

@EmilyXLC , have you ever been snorkeling anywhere? Even in somebody's swimming pool? And how comfortable are you in the water? There are snorkel vests that can really keep you afloat. My wife is a good swimmer, but she is slender and doesn't 'float' as well as some other people, so she wears one whenever we snorkel, even in very shallow water. It's just more comfortable for her. Bur there are also people who are very uncomfortable putting their face down in the water and breathing through a tube!

I think a R2R snorkel trip sounds like a great idea. I'd even be willing to do a lot of the prep and background work. However, I won't be in the water for at least a month or two as I just had a surgery to remove a basal cell carcinoma from the side of my nose and I will probably be having a skin graft done next week. YUCK! But mid fall (Oct and early Nov) is a good time to snorkel. Thunderstorms are tapering off as is the threat of a hurricane and the water is still plenty warm. Even better would be next spring. The water gets warm fairly early and there is time before the thunderstorm and hurricane seasons even get started.

I've snorkled in pools before and in the little reef pool at Typhoon Lagoon, but never in the ocean. I'm relatively comfortable in the water, but would most definitely need some sort of flotation device because I'm chonky. This is something that I have always been interested in taking up as a hobby, along with scuba diving. I would LOVE for this to be a R2R thing that we do every so often-- and no worries about the need to wait-- I need time to purchase whatever I need for this.

I hope your procedure goes well! : )

 

[Ron Reefman]

@MombasaLionfish, we looked for your hermit crab and believe it is a Red Banded Hermit (Paguristes erythrops) which grows to be 2" to 4" in size.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I've snorkled in pools before and in the little reef pool at Typhoon Lagoon, but never in the ocean. I'm relatively comfortable in the water, but would most definitely need some sort of flotation device because I'm chonky. This is something that I have always been interested in taking up as a hobby, along with scuba diving. I would LOVE for this to be a R2R thing that we do every so often-- and no worries about the need to wait-- I need time to purchase whatever I need for this.

I hope your procedure goes well! : )

Emily, there are basically 2 kinds of snorkeling in the ocean. In the Florida Keys, most snorkelers end up going out about 5 miles into the ocean as that is where the primary reefs are at. The water out there can be zero to 30+ feet deep and because most of it (all the good areas) are in parks or preserves, you are not allowed to even touch anything. Now there are huge coral heads and it's very cool to see, but it's not the South Pacific and the corals are not nearly as colorful (my opinion). We go out there every 2 or 3 years just to see how it's changed.

The other snorkeling that only a small minority do, is called 'off the beach' snorkeling. That's what we do 3 to 5 times a year. We used to do long weekends when we were working. Now that we are both retired, it's easier to do monday thru friday trips. Less people, easy motel reservations, less crowded beaches, less crowded boat ramps and easier parking! This kind of snorkeling is typically in shallow water. We do 90% of our snorkeling in water that is 2' to 4' deep. We love Bahia Honda State Park but there are 2 issues. First, Hurricane Irma really beat up the ocean side beach and did quite a bit of damage to the off the beach snorkeling area. Second, I'm always willing to collect unusual critters when I snorkel and that's not allowed at the State Parks. So we have found several really good spots that suit our desires. Some are reachable by car and just walk off into the water and some are small islands off shore that require a boat or a kayak.

These are the places where you can touch and pick up stuff and even collect (within the legal regulations). We've been doing this for 15 years now and even just last month we saw a few things we had never seen before! That fact, and the fun of exploring new locations keeps us coming back time after time. We love doing it. We both enjoy photographing it (it only takes a 'tough' camera that is waterproof to about 30' or so. I bought an Olympus Tough 1 camera in mint condition an ebay for $150. And, as you can tell by this thread, we enjoy sharing it all as well.

So if you ever have any questions, please ask. I want anybody who is going to do a snorkeling trip to the Keys to have a safe, fun adventure!

 

[saltyhog]

I've snorkled in pools before and in the little reef pool at Typhoon Lagoon, but never in the ocean. I'm relatively comfortable in the water, but would most definitely need some sort of flotation device because I'm chonky. This is something that I have always been interested in taking up as a hobby, along with scuba diving. I would LOVE for this to be a R2R thing that we do every so often-- and no worries about the need to wait-- I need time to purchase whatever I need for this.

I hope your procedure goes well! : )

Emily, my wife likes to use the term "fluffy"! One good thing is that body fat increases your buoyancy so you may not need as much help as you think. Another option (though slightly more expensive) is what we call a "shorty" wet suit. It will definitely help with buoyancy without interfering with your ability to dive down to the bottom when you want to. It also has the benefit of keeping you warmer. Even in 84 degree water I get a little cool after 30-45 minutes in the water! Water is a great conductor of heat!