FEBRUARY 12, 2011

DIVE REPORT: WEST PALM BEACH (double-click on white box in upper right corner for easier read and better pics; all rights reserved):

All things considered, the diving was not too bad.  We were assuming the worst; the weather forecast said that we would have 6 to 8 foot seas Saturday morning.  That was not quite accurate.  The morning seas were very flat; but, we had no sunshine, the bottom temps. were 66 to 70 degrees, a slight southern current, and because we had no sunshine the visibility was 30 to 50 feet.  The air was also cold; we entered the water with air temps. of 53 degrees, and, with no sunshine, we were freezing, especially between the dives. 

But, there were a lot of turtles in the water — at least on the first dive.

We headed south to the 60-foot reefs; we heard the visibility was not too bad there the day before.  And, as noted above, the visibility was pretty good; if the sun had been out, we likely would have had 60 to 80 feet of vis.  The first dive we encountered a lot of turtles; at least 12.  Most were Loggerheads, but at least three were Greens, including one of the smallest Greens I have ever seen in these waters.  A couple of nice Green Morays on the dive also, including a very photogenic and cooperative one toward the end of the dive.

Strangely, the second dive, which was just to the south of the first dive, we encountered not a single turtle.  Very unusual considering we regularly see many turtles on this section of the reef. A Goliath Grouper has been hanging out on this section of the reef for a couple of weeks now and has apparently made it her temporary home.  She is fairly shy, it is difficult to get within 8 feet of her before she heads for the protection of the reef.

As we surfaced from the second dive, the winds were starting to blow.  The seas went from flat to at least 3 to 5 as we headed back to the marina.  Hopefully, the winter diving season is nearing its end and the water temps. and air temps. will start increasing in a few weeks.

  Doug Kahle