Snorkeling & Collecting Discussion Group

[lbiminiblue]

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!

Was going to say, some lipid tissue is actually not going to make you sink [emoji23]

I have ridiculously low body fat which Is great for me as a free diver - means I don’t need a weight belt and start sinking much sooner than the average person.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Was going to say, some lipid tissue is actually not going to make you sink [emoji23]

I have ridiculously low body fat which Is great for me as a free diver - means I don’t need a weight belt and start sinking much sooner than the average person.

That's the problem (if you consider being skinny a problem) that my wife has. That's why she uses a snorkel vest.

And if you intend to snorkel much (or get into scuba diving) a dive skin is a great investment. It will save you from sunburn over 90% of your body. And as a gut who just had a basal cell carcinoma removed off my nose... I always wear a dive skin. And now I wear a skull cap (dew rag) for my bald head and 100 SPF sun screen on my face and neck!

 

[MombasaLionfish]

@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.

I have seen those before the antenna is different mine is stripped Paguristes erythrops is not. They also have a deep blue eye and mine has a light green eye. But thanks for trying. I have been trying to get info on it for a while and I figured out its scientific name is Petrochirus diogenes which I know nothing about.

 

[dbraun15]

On a side note...Ron, Prayers for a smooth, quick recovery from your surgery!

 

[MombasaLionfish]

On a side note...Ron, Prayers for a smooth, quick recovery from your surgery!

+1

 

[ScottR]

That's the problem (if you consider being skinny a problem) that my wife has. That's why she uses a snorkel vest.

And if you intend to snorkel much (or get into scuba diving) a dive skin is a great investment. It will save you from sunburn over 90% of your body. And as a gut who just had a basal cell carcinoma removed off my nose... I always wear a dive skin. And now I wear a skull cap (dew rag) for my bald head and 100 SPF sun screen on my face and neck!

All the best to you buddy. The sun is powerful and I still to this day don’t wear sunscreen when I swim, surf and dive because it’s bad for the corals. I do keep my body as covered as possible but I feel like it’ll catch up to me soon. But in all honesty, the waters where I live have mostly NPS corals so I can’t be hurting anything.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Thanks guys. I really appreciate the support.

The wound is now painless, but in a location that makes it hard to 'seal' with band aids or gauze and tape. My mustache gets in the way and the bottom edge of my nose leaks the ointment out, it's a mess! But I'm dealing with it. It probably gets worse on Monday as the odds are they will do a skin graft and then I'll have stitches to deal with! But at least then I won't be packing an 1/8" deep hole with ointment that gets very liquid at body temps!

 

[ScottR]

Thanks guys. I really appreciate the support.

The wound is now painless, but in a location that makes it hard to 'seal' with band aids or gauze and tape. My mustache gets in the way and the bottom edge of my nose leaks the ointment out, it's a mess! But I'm dealing with it. It probably gets worse on Monday as the odds are they will do a skin graft and then I'll have stitches to deal with! But at least then I won't be packing an 1/8" deep hole with ointment that gets very liquid at body temps!

You’ll be back out in the ocean in no time. Speedy recovery!!!

 

[Peace River]

@Ron Reefman - Cheering for you and wishing you all the best right now!

 

[crusso1993]

@Ron Reefman - sending you healthy and healing vibes. Dealing with that in such a spot has got to be a real pain. Here's a pic of the top of my dad's head after some removal last week. The bad thing is he had to go back on his blood thinners the healing process is going to suck. I'm still not too sure why, at 86, he elected to have the removal performed. After all, it was not an aggressive type.

 

[Ron Reefman]

@crusso1993 , Ouch! My best wishes for your dad!

At 70 I went in for a routine physical and the nurse taking down data asked what medication I use. I said none and she asked, "Not even an aspirin a day?" No, nothing. She said, "Do you know how rare that is for somebody your age?" So I guess I'm fairly lucky.

 

[Island Reef 242]

@crusso1993 , Ouch! My best wishes for your dad!

At 70 I went in for a routine physical and the nurse taking down data asked what medication I use. I said none and she asked, "Not even an aspirin a day?" No, nothing. She said, "Do you know how rare that is for somebody your age?" So I guess I'm fairly lucky.

It is the Ocean and your reef tanks. All that salt in your veins helps to preserve you ;Hilarious Hope you heal quickly so you can take another dose of vitamin sea.

 

[soflmuddin]

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.

That is a flat tunicate. I see them all the time but in smaller colonies. Mostly on turtle grass. I tried them in the aquarium but I had no luck keeping them alive.

 

[Island Reef 242]

;Snaphappy Latest Pic Dump ;Snaphappy

All these were taken from Aug 1st to Aug 4th in my backyard, hope you enjoy ;Woot


A school of baby Grunts and Wrasses.


Elk Horn coral with a Jewel fish or two.


Its Lobster season, yum ;Drool


This is one of my favorite corals, the Scaled Lettuce Coral. This pic dose not do it justice. It has a slight green tinge to it, and glows a neon green under black lights. I would love to have one of these in my tank one day.


A happy anemone with some branching Coraline algae.


A small Spiny Lobster, catch ya next year


Some healthy coral.


A small butterfly fish, with a lettuce sea slug.


Cute baby ell. If only I had another tank to put him in.


A small Nurse shark with coral banded shrimp and Cardinal fish in the background.


This coral head is only the size of soccer ball and is sitting in a foot and a half of water at low tide, and has over a dozen Christmas Tree worms on it.


A fairly large Pipe fish.


Some nice looking Stag Horn coral, you do not see them around much. One of the coral restoration projects we have here in Nassau grows these and the spot where I took this pic is one of the places where they have transplanted them. They are growing great


Another Christmas Tree worm.


I have not seen one of these in many years, but I am sure they have seen me. Can you spot the fish I am talking about? Look but don't touch, they are venomous. Just another reason you should not stand on reefs. The elusive Scorpion Fish.

I did not do much collecting this past weekend as I was more interested in Lobsters. But I did get 2 small coral banded shrimp, and they are doing great.

Happy reefing everyone.

Chris

 

[GatorScott]

I wish I had your backyard lol

 

[Peace River]

;Snaphappy Latest Pic Dump ;Snaphappy

All these were taken from Aug 1st to Aug 4th in my backyard, hope you enjoy ;Woot


A school of baby Grunts and Wrasses.


Elk Horn coral with a Jewel fish or two.


Its Lobster season, yum ;Drool


This is one of my favorite corals, the Scaled Lettuce Coral. This pic dose not do it justice. It has a slight green tinge to it, and glows a neon green under black lights. I would love to have one of these in my tank one day.


A happy anemone with some branching Coraline algae.


A small Spiny Lobster, catch ya next year


Some healthy coral.


A small butterfly fish, with a lettuce sea slug.


Cute baby ell. If only I had another tank to put him in.


A small Nurse shark with coral banded shrimp and Cardinal fish in the background.


This coral head is only the size of soccer ball and is sitting in a foot and a half of water at low tide, and has over a dozen Christmas Tree worms on it.


A fairly large Pipe fish.


Some nice looking Stag Horn coral, you do not see them around much. One of the coral restoration projects we have here in Nassau grows these and the spot where I took this pic is one of the places where they have transplanted them. They are growing great


Another Christmas Tree worm.


I have not seen one of these in many years, but I am sure they have seen me. Can you spot the fish I am talking about? Look but don't touch, they are venomous. Just another reason you should not stand on reefs. The elusive Scorpion Fish.

I did not do much collecting this past weekend as I was more interested in Lobsters. But I did get 2 small coral banded shrimp, and they are doing great.

Happy reefing everyone.

Chris

That is awesome!!! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Ron Reefman]

@Island Reef 242, Chris, I'm with Gator Scott, I wish I had your backyard!

Thanks for sharing so many great photos! Maybe some day I'll get back to Nassau. My last visit was about 20 years ago!

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

;Snaphappy Latest Pic Dump ;Snaphappy

All these were taken from Aug 1st to Aug 4th in my backyard, hope you enjoy ;Woot


A school of baby Grunts and Wrasses.


Elk Horn coral with a Jewel fish or two.


Its Lobster season, yum ;Drool


This is one of my favorite corals, the Scaled Lettuce Coral. This pic dose not do it justice. It has a slight green tinge to it, and glows a neon green under black lights. I would love to have one of these in my tank one day.


A happy anemone with some branching Coraline algae.


A small Spiny Lobster, catch ya next year


Some healthy coral.


A small butterfly fish, with a lettuce sea slug.


Cute baby ell. If only I had another tank to put him in.


A small Nurse shark with coral banded shrimp and Cardinal fish in the background.


This coral head is only the size of soccer ball and is sitting in a foot and a half of water at low tide, and has over a dozen Christmas Tree worms on it.


A fairly large Pipe fish.


Some nice looking Stag Horn coral, you do not see them around much. One of the coral restoration projects we have here in Nassau grows these and the spot where I took this pic is one of the places where they have transplanted them. They are growing great


Another Christmas Tree worm.


I have not seen one of these in many years, but I am sure they have seen me. Can you spot the fish I am talking about? Look but don't touch, they are venomous. Just another reason you should not stand on reefs. The elusive Scorpion Fish.

I did not do much collecting this past weekend as I was more interested in Lobsters. But I did get 2 small coral banded shrimp, and they are doing great.

Happy reefing everyone.

Chris

So is this your way of inviting us all over for a yard party?

 

[Ds04384]

Hey Ron, I have a potential opportunity to drive down to the keys for a long weekend in mid September. Is that too late in the year to do some snorkeling in your experience?

 

[Ron Reefman]

Hey Ron, I have a potential opportunity to drive down to the keys for a long weekend in mid September. Is that too late in the year to do some snorkeling in your experience?

Heavens no! September is very warm water. The things that make it less than ideal are 2 fold, it's hard into the hurricane season, so watch this website for early warnings about them : https://spaghettimodels.com/
Mike has a ton of data there and by this time of the year I go there every day or every other day to stay on top of incoming hurricanes and tropical storm. Second is the local weather. You'll probably get to do good snorkeling in the morning and by anywhere from early to late afternoon on 3 days out of 5 you'll have thunderstorms pop up. They can be very spotty or they can get pretty big and intense. Having a radar app on your phone can come in very handy. You can see what direction storms are moving and how fast as well as how fast they may be blowing up to real intensity.

The good thing is the corals are happy and growing and the other inverts have had babies so there may be even more to see. If you have any questions at all, feel free to ask.