Snorkeling & Collecting Discussion Group

[JumboShrimp]

Shout-out to @Paul B ... when I was growing up we owned this slice of private beach on Long Island Sound; we actually owned to the High Tide Line, as determined every 10-years. I could walk the beach for miles any day of the week and never encounter another soul. (It was actually lonely for a kid, to tell the truth.) I still have our sea glass collection, including browns and rare blues (pieces of broken Pepto Bismol bottles, if I recall).

 

[Ron Reefman]

hey ron thanks for the recomendation...

Well I didn't get down to the Horseshoe last time, which bummed me out. So that's on my list. Basically any place I can collect that's accessible from shore.

I'm sure the kiddos will want some shells but I don't where to go for that.

Here is some basic info about the Horseshoe. The area in blue is almost always worth snorkeling, both inside and outside the rocks that make up the Horseshoe. Even strong southeast winds (the norm) have little effect here in terms of waves. Wear gloves and pick up rocks to look underneath. Lot's of animals hiding there. Inside the shoe the bottom slopes away quickly and the middle is said to be 40 feet deep. The boat channel is 15+ feet deep and can be dangerous as some good size boats go through at faster speeds than I'd like. The grassy areas can have stuff to find if you are OK with being in shallow water (2 to 3 feet) with grass that can be 18" tall. The grassy area on the left, in the lower right corner has some open areas with upside down jellyfish. They are cool to see and safe as long as you are careful (they don't move much so they are fairly easy to avoid). But they can sting and it's like a nasty sunburn for a few hours. At low tide the shallow areas can be almost too shallow to snorkel, at high tide they can be interesting. If the weather cooperates and the wind is low, the orange area can be very good snorkeling as well. But this are gets the southeast wind so waves are an issue way more often than near the Horseshoe.

If you want shells, come to Sanibel. The beaches there and at Lovers Key and Ft Myers Beach are littered with them. The Keys and Atlantic coastline don't have many shells. This is Sanibel and this is one morning's worth of shell collecting!

 

[kzenoni]

My husband and I love snorkeling and we love The Florida Keys. We usually go at least once a year. His grandparents lived in key colony beach, marathon for over 50 years. We have snorkeled all over Florida, Mexico, Bahamas, etc but we love snorkeling in the keys. One of our favorites is Looe Key and horseshoe cove. We also found a great place to pull off at low tide under the bridge on Missouri key. Our kids really enjoyed that.

 

[Brooklyn623]

Caught a juvenile cocoa damsel today in the Panhandle of Florida at the Jetties. An absolute beautiful specimen. **This is an EXAMPLE of what I caught. I do not own the rights to this picture. I get mixed reviews on damsels. Keep or toss? I have a 100g mixed reef tank. Thank you!!!

 

[happyhourhero]

Caught a juvenile cocoa damsel today in the Panhandle of Florida at the Jetties. An absolute beautiful specimen. **This is an EXAMPLE of what I caught. I do not own the rights to this picture. I get mixed reviews on damsels. Keep or toss? I have a 100g mixed reef tank. Thank you!!!

They get big, mean and ugly.

 

[Paul B]

Shout-out to @Paul B ... when I was growing up we owned this slice of private beach on Long Island Sound; we

Good Morning JumboShrimp. That looks an awful like our beach here except we have 176 steps to get down to the beach. I am going there now for my morning walk and I know, like all days I won't see anyone as far as I can see in both directions which is the way I like it early in the morning. Just me and the horseshoe crabs.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Caught a juvenile cocoa damsel today in the Panhandle of Florida at the Jetties. An absolute beautiful specimen. **This is an EXAMPLE of what I caught. I do not own the rights to this picture. I get mixed reviews on damsels. Keep or toss? I have a 100g mixed reef tank. Thank you!!!

That's a nice looking fish while young. But like many fish, they get much more plain looking as they mature. I believe they can get to be about 5 inches long when fully grown. In an aquarium they may stay a bit smaller. Like all damsel fish, they can be quite aggressive.

To be perfectly honest, if I caught it, I'd be willing to try it in a holding tank for a couple of weeks. If it seemed OK, I'd be willing to try it in my DT. But at the first sign of there being an issue, I'd pull it and getting it out of my tank wouldn't be a big issue. I know many reefers would have a tough time catching a fish in their tank.

Good luck with whatever approach you take.

 

[Brooklyn623]

That's a nice looking fish while young. But like many fish, they get much more plain looking as they mature. I believe they can get to be about 5 inches long when fully grown. In an aquarium they may stay a bit smaller. Like all damsel fish, they can be quite aggressive.

To be perfectly honest, if I caught it, I'd be willing to try it in a holding tank for a couple of weeks. If it seemed OK, I'd be willing to try it in my DT. But at the first sign of there being an issue, I'd pull it and getting it out of my tank wouldn't be a big issue. I know many reefers would have a tough time catching a fish in their tank.

Good luck with whatever approach you take.

Ron what I failed to mention is a 5 foot hammerhead snuck up on me from behind and and touched my right forearm as it glided by. I am 110% certain I messed my pants. I hopped onto a close slippery wet rock with ape like accuracy balancing on a few toes and my fingertips.

 

[littlefishy]

Update on the bucket from page 34. We have had red tide in the area (maybe from the Piney Point phosphate mine spill?) and a general increase in goop and algae. As you can see on the top of it in the pic, about half of what was on the bucket died, but a lot of new beautiful growth is on the bottom of one side, and , surprisingly, on the inside. There were also several small shrimp and 2 tiny gobies (3/4") inside.







Also, 2 weekends ago my sister was using a small dip net with my nephew in a patch of grass near the Ringling bridge and caught a neon green shrimp about 1/2" long, and an almost as green pipefish. I've seen grey/green of both, but never anything like this color. Unfortunately my boy suffered 2 cuts across his little foot at the same time, filled with thst nasty marl/muck that tends to be around barnacles. We took him home and cleaned it while he screamed. Tramatic for all of us! They both healed within a week, fortunately. Anyway, no pics of the shrimp and pipefish. Looking forward to more collecting this summer!

 

[Ron Reefman]

Update on the bucket from page 34.

Also, 2 weekends ago my sister was using a small dip net with my nephew in a patch of grass near the Ringling bridge. Unfortunately my boy suffered 2 cuts across his little foot at the same time, filled with thst nasty marl/muck that tends to be around barnacles. We took him home and cleaned it while he screamed. Tramatic for all of us! They both healed within a week, fortunately. Looking forward to more collecting this summer!

I love the update on the bucket, it looks crazy cool!

Sorry to read about your nephew's foot. That's why we always wear beach booties or dive boots when dragging a net in the shallows. And we always wear dive gloves when snorkeling. You only need to get stung once by a fire worm to learn your lesson!

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I love the update on the bucket, it looks crazy cool!

Sorry to read about your nephew's foot. That's why we always wear beach booties or dive boots when dragging a net in the shallows. And we always wear dive gloves when snorkeling. You only need to get stung once by a fire worm to learn your lesson!

I always wear a wetsuit when snorkeling. Fire coral, tide shift and not paying attention hurts a little lol.

Speaking of that, July 2nd is the date for when I head back down to Stuart to spend a week collecting. Hopefully the silt has settled from dune restoration and it will be better for fish this time. Need me me some baby Atlantic blue tangs.

 

[Paul B]

Littlefishy, I would so throw that entire bucket in my tank. No problem.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I always wear a wetsuit when snorkeling. Fire coral, tide shift and not paying attention hurts a little lol.

Speaking of that, July 2nd is the date for when I head back down to Stuart to spend a week collecting. Hopefully the silt has settled from dune restoration and it will be better for fish this time. Need me me some baby Atlantic blue tangs.

Based on current weather forecasts it looks like we will be snorkeling in the middle Keys the 2nd week in July. Probably the Horseshoe, the oceanside of the island from the Horseshoe, Bahia Honda State Park and Little Money Key. If the weather and waves are really calm, maybe even Money Key.

 

[Ron Reefman]

As it turned out, the 2nd week in July was when Tropical Storm Elsa went through and we stayed home. But the first week of August we did go to the Keys. The report follows and photos will come soon!

Do you want the short version or the long version… how about both and you can pick.

SHORT VERSION: We went to the Florida Keys and did 2 days of snorkeling, collecting and taking photos. The weather was very cooperative and we had a good time. Now we are home safe and sound.

LONG VERSION: We were all packed and ready to go on Sunday afternoon for our Monday morning departure after I had blood drawn for my up coming physical. But Sunday evening my 40 gallon aquarium had a different idea. About 7 PM Elaine noticed water on the tile floor in front of the tanks. Turns out there was a very small leak about 1/3 of the way down a back side seam.

So, I broke out a 10 gallon back up tank, moved 10 gallons of water from the 40 gallon tank to the 10 gallon tank and started moving Rock Flower Anemones and a few corals. Then moved the HOB (Hang On Back) filtration system and the led light fixture to the 10 gallon tank. Of course, the HOB filter pump locked up and wouldn’t start. Then I found it was nearly impossible to get it apart and clear the debris from the armature of the motor. But eventually it all got done and the floor and stand got wiped down and things were looking better. Of course, it was now about 10 PM.

Monday, I went to the doctor’s office for the blood draw at the scheduled time of 8:20 AM. I didn’t get in until 8:45… how do they get so backed up in just 20 minutes? I got home and soon we were on our way.

We stopped for a late lunch at the Marathon Ale House just a mile from our motel and had too much to eat. We parked the Zodiac by the boat ram and then unloaded our car. We both laid down, tired from the 5 hour drive and both to stuffed to feel like doing anything. So much for Monday.

Tuesday morning, we got up and had breakfast out by the water and then got ready to go snorkeling. We hooked up the boat and drove to the southwest end of the Seven Mile Bridge boat ramp and put in. We were both surprised that there weren’t any other trucks or trailers in the small parking lot. We motored over to Little Money Key which is about a quarter mile off shore and set our anchor.

The wind was probably just below 10 knots and the water was quite calm as we were on the lee side of the island. The water was clear and we spend 2 hours doing a trip of about 200 yards out and then back again a bit closer to shore. My goal was to collect some snails and ceriths which I needed. Then anything else that I found irresistible. But I don’t have much room at home now that the 40 gallon tank is gone and replaced by a temporary 10 gallon tank. So irresistible became a fairly tall bar to clear. One small red and white striped serpent star and an unusual (to us) shrimp that I collected out of a flat sponge that was tangled up in some algae. I saw it, wasn’t sure what it was, was surprised that I was able to get it into my collection bottle. The bad news is, it was the only casualty of the trip.

So we ate lunch in the Zodiac and relaxed for about an hour. We did see a small shark attack something, probably a fish, about 25 yards away from us. The water roiled for 10 or 15 seconds and then went flat. We lost sight of the shark for a bit and then saw it swim off to the southwest away from us. That was the first time either of us has seen a shark go after food other than on TV or in the movies!

A bit later we got back in the water and did another 90 minutes of snorkeling going the other way from the boat. All together we saw quite a few full size Queen conch, a couple of West Indian conch, some ugly brown zoas (I took my 5 polyp limit), a big sea biscuit, a couple of big serpent stars, a lobster, a few big crabs, 2 baseball sized, burgundy colored crabs, the normal assortment of fish, sponges, gorgonians and such.

Back at the motel I set up a bucket with fresh sea water I collected off the beach. BTW, this motel has a very small swimming area and 2 people were standing in the water fishing. One had hooked a small tarpon that had been in the marina getting scraps from fishermen who were cleaning their catch. The tarpon was too big for the rod & reel this guy had and they had quite the fight. Eventually the tarpon got away. I collected my 5 gallons of water and we all got up to the beach (it’s elevated about 2-3 feet above the water). At that point a 3-4 foot nurse shark came in and did a loop right were we had been standing. I’m pretty sure it was the sound of that tarpon thrashing around that got the shark’s attention and it came in looking for an easy meal. But it was cool to see it up close and personal from just a few feet away safely up above the water.

Wednesday morning I did a 100% water change for the animals I had collected. I do a 50% to 100% water change every morning and evening while holding live animals. It was also a bit windier, so we decided to leave the Zodiac and just go snorkel at The Horseshoe. The water outside the Horseshoe was really quite murky after you got 15 feet away from the edge of the horseshoe. So we snorkeled off the end of the quarry and along the inside edge of the western (left side) arm of the Horseshoe. We found lots of interesting things to look at. I collected a couple small samples of algae, a couple of chitons, some snails, some nerites, a couple of urchins and a few tiny hermit crabs. We saw a lot of urchins, both big and small, more emerald crabs, a few upside-down jellyfish and a couple of Rock Flower Anemones (I didn’t collect any). We spent 3 hours in the water and although we both were suffering some pain from the pressure of our dive masks, but neither of us was ready to quit the snorkel.

After that we had some lunch out at the snorkel site and then did some looking around at the rock wall being exposed by the out going tide. I found lots of tiny hermit crabs in cerith shells crawling around at the water’s edge. There were also a lot of small clams imbedded in the rocks along with some nerites and the big chitons that we often see attached to rocks above the water at low tide. These chitons are nearly impossible to remove. They have a crazy strong hold on the rocks and they tend to be ‘tucked into’ the rocks so that it’s impossible to get anything under the edge of the chiton to try and pry it off. I happened to find one attached to a rock that was surrounded by rock that was so fractured, that I was able to pry the entire small chunk of rock loose and took the 2” piece of rock and the chiton!

We decided to call it a day and went back to the motel and relaxed in the pool and chatted with some of the other motel occupants. They were all first time visitors to the Blackfin Motel. We had to stop and think about how long we have been staying there. It seems we have stayed there 2 or 3 times a year since at least 2004. I have to admit, that represents 17 years of out lives that seems to have really just flown by. But we sure are having fun!

 

[Ron Reefman]

Elaine had so many great photos that I wish I could post them all!

Our favorite spot, Little Money Key, and it still looks devastated from Hurricane Irma! But the environment underwater is in pretty good shape.



We saw better sps coral here than I think we have seen in a few years. But surprisingly, absolutely no geen zoas that we almost always see here.



Another really nice coral was this rose coral. It's a bit bigger than most of the rose coral we find in the area. Of course we can't collect any sps coral and I wouldn't have room for any in my tank anyway!



Best of all, Elaine found this beautiful yellow colony of sps coral in less than 2 feet of water.



The gorgonians that are growing off the end of the dock on the island are doing quite well.



We see lots of Emerald crabs here, but very rare that we see a Stone crab! This youngster didn't seem to mind being photographed.



We have never identified a crab we've seen as a Channel Clinging Crab (Minthrax spinosissimus). This guy's body was about 6" wide and not really very afraid of us swimming around him or taking photos.



Elaine loves to see the Queen Conch and we both think it's a good sign for the environment that there were quite a few. We saw a dozen or more in the small amount of bottom we covered.



I had found several small serpent stars, but Elaine found this beautiful example of a red brittle star. With legs stretched out it would have been about 8" to 10" in diameter.



Photos from our day at the Horseshoe to follow.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Day 2 at the Horseshoe.

A rock boring urchin. They get big, they are strong and the literally bore holes in rock. But they sure are pretty!



Another big yellow sps coral colony. These are fairly uncommon in the shallow patch reefs, but we saw 2 other smaller ones as well.



Cute serpent stars always get my attention. I just wish they didn't spend all their time under rocks... especially in an aquarium!



Urchins were everywhere!



This is a Ciliated False Squilia (Pseudosquilla ciliate) which is closely related to a Mantis shrimp. We see a number of mantis shrimp when we snorkel. But the are always small and they move so fast that even if you have the camera ready, you can't photograph them. This was a VERY rare one that didn't dart off.



We always see Mangrove Tunicates in the Horseshoe, but they are impossible to keep alive in an aquarium... or so I've been told.



There are lots of Flame Scallops in the holes in the walls of this quarry. But they are all down 20 to 40 feet deep and I can't free dive that well! This was an unusual sighting in the rocks near the surface.


Elaine loves to photograph fish. We always see quite a few young Sargent Majors when we are here.



And there are literally schools of these Striped Grunts around the big rocks at the Horseshoe.



Parrot fish are a bit less common here, but we do see them and many appear quite mature.



And then there are the big hermit crabs! He's so ugly he's kind of cute!

 

[Ron Reefman]

And then a few photos from above the water.

Our view of Pretty Joe Rock while we eat breakfast near the water. The small 'house' is available for rent and comes with a boat!



At the other end of the day we go out to see the sunset behind Pretty Joe Rock, always looking for the 'green flash'.



Our Zodiac anchored out at Little Money Key while we snorkel nearby.



Elaine got this cool shot of a Cormorant just getting ready to take off from the dock at Little Money Key.



As you look out into the Horseshoe, this is the left side arm and all the action is just below the surface. Outside the arm the water is only 2 to 4 feet deep for hundreds of yards. Inside the arm the bottom slopes away at a 45 degree angle until it's about 10 feet deep and then it goes vertical down about 40 feet.



This is a broken link of the old Flagler Railroad Bridge as it parallels the US-1 auto bridge coming to the northeast end of Spanish Harbor Key.



This is the view in the back of our Zodiac after lunch. Snorkeling for 2+ hours can tire you out! But shortly after this was taken, we were back out for another hour and a half!

 

[vetteguy53081]

And then a few photos from above the water.

Our view of Pretty Joe Rock while we eat breakfast near the water. The small 'house' is available for rent and comes with a boat!



At the other end of the day we go out to see the sunset behind Pretty Joe Rock, always looking for the 'green flash'.



Our Zodiac anchored out at Little Money Key while we snorkel nearby.



Elaine got this cool shot of a Cormorant just getting ready to take off from the dock at Little Money Key.



As you look out into the Horseshoe, this is the left side arm and all the action is just below the surface. Outside the arm the water is only 2 to 4 feet deep for hundreds of yards. Inside the arm the bottom slopes away at a 45 degree angle until it's about 10 feet deep and then it goes vertical down about 40 feet.



This is a broken link of the old Flagler Railroad Bridge as it parallels the US-1 auto bridge coming to the northeast end of Spanish Harbor Key.



This is the view in the back of our Zodiac after lunch. Snorkeling for 2+ hours can tire you out! But shortly after this was taken, we were back out for another hour and a half!

I must say- this is one of the BEST diving threads ive seen yet and the clarity of pics, tears my camera apart. Great Job !!!

 

[Ron Reefman]

Thanks. Every one of those photos was shot by my wife with an Olympus Tough camera. She even does selfies! And I pass along any compliments to my wife!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks. Every one of those photos was shot by my wife with an Olympus Tough camera. She even does selfies! And I pass along any compliments to my wife!

Is it the model TG-6 or TG-87 ??