Venice Beach

Venice Beach Shark Tooth Dive
Again I trek out in the dark. Seems to be a trend here in Florida, nothing is close. I am going to Venice Beach to try my hand at collecting shark teeth.
I am meeting a local diver who regularly dives this site, Walter. Why are all the shark teeth collecting in Venice? This is the explanation Walter gives “Sea level rises and falls. In the past Florida has been both much larger and much smaller (wasn't there at all) than it's current size. For that reason, you'll find marine fossils (including shark teeth) any where you bother to look in Florida. You'll also find terrestrial fossils quite some distance out into the Gulf. Shark teeth are common because sharks constantly shed their teeth. Over millions of years, billions of teeth were shed. Some of them fossilized. You can dig anywhere in Florida and find shark teeth. Quarries and construction sites (assuming you get permission) are excellent places to find fossils (including shark teeth). Rivers and streams naturally dig and uncover fossils. They are favorite fossiling sites. When sea level was much lower than now, there was an ancient river digging up fossils. That river ran through what is now off shore Venice. “
When I arrive, the sun is out and Walter is already there and assembling his gear. We walk down to the water which is like glass, my assessment at least. It is also fairly clear which is unusual for this area. Near perfect conditions. Woo Hoo lets dive!
Three additional divers arrived and we kitted up and headed into the water. The beach sand was dark with a black tint to it. At the waterline there was an initial drop of about 2 to 2 ½ foot and then the shoreline gradually gave way to a gently sloping white sandy bottom.
We surface swam out about 100 yards and dropped down about 17 feet to the first tooth bed. I had no idea what we were looking for, but everyone else was busy picking things up right and left and I saw nothing.
Well…. not nothing. I played with some very friendly sea perch and had a stubborn match with a teenaged sea robbin. I poked and prodded and flicked this little fish and he held his ground, looked me right in the eye and dared me to do it again. He refused to move, until I opened my goody bag to scoop him in and then he fanned out his wings and took off like a shot. There were huge hermit crabs, their shells about half the size of my fist and sand dollars, they had sand dollars! I could have used them in September but I was still glad to have them now.
I really needed to concentrate. And suddenly, there it was, a tooth, and another one and another one. I was getting the hang of this. A few times one of the other divers would stick something in my hand for my bag that I did not recognize so I would tuck it away for later.
While I found about a dozen “dentist quality” teeth the size of my thumbnail I would occasionally get my fishy attention deficit and stop and play with the local residents. There were these worms that would immediately retract into the sand if you came near them leaving a clear sac (The best description I can come up with is it looked like a condom) floating in the water. Does anyone know what these are?
We made our way along the bottom at an average depth of 17 feet for 62 minutes before heading in as members of the group were starting to chill.
We opted to pack up our gear and head into town for lunch and a lesson in identifying the teeth we collected.
Venice Beach is a quaint old town, originally developed by the railroad as a retirement community for it’s employees. We sat at an outdoor café, had lunch and compared finds. While one of the divers found 2 megaladon teeth several inches long, I did not. But I did find upper and lower bullshark teeth and those of the sand tiger shark among others. Some of the unusual items the other divers put in my bag were the discarded barbs from rays along with portions of their dental plates.
After a quick walk around the town center while enjoying some icecream and conversation I headed home
The dive was relaxing, fun and informative, I will do it again.
Love
Cheryl

Florida Springs

Dive with the Manatees - Crystal River
This isn’t a dive, it is more of a snorkel trip, but did we dive it anyway? Heck yes!
It was definitely dark at 5AM when I left, I can’t get away from this crack *** of dawn stuff. I was about 20 minutes from the shop where we were meeting when my cell rang. It was Scott making sure I was on my way. Last night we were a group of about 8 but by the time I got to the shop we were down to 4 divers for varying reasons. Myself, Scott a business man from Boston, Brian a twenty-something from central Florida, and Harley a retired marine.
We rented a pontoon boat just for us and we were off. Not really, after loading all the gear on the boat I couldn’t find my BC. Total panic and then....crap ! On the floor.... in the garage, I left it on the floor in the garage....God I hope Dennis doesn’t run it over with the truck. Dopey, dopey, dopey. Oh, well, I went in and rented a BC, this was not a real hold up though since we actually spent the first hour on the boat, at the dock , just hanging and chatting because the thing would not start. Turns out it needed a new battery and the fuel hose was loose. As diverse a group as we were, we were all kinda alike. Scary isn’t it.
We may have raced the other boats at idle speed (nothing over 3 miles an hour), grounded the thing.... just once, it was an accident, had a staring contest with a plastic owl, and had our dive flag stolen...but there was still more to the day.
Our first stop was 3 Sisters Springs. On the way out there I was totally confused when I saw a fin come up out of the water in the river. Shark! There is a shark in the river....no a dolphin.... no 2 dolphins! Cool! Two dolphins just playing and jumping around, I never expected that.
There is a manatee sanctuary set up and roped off just outside of the springs and no one is allowed to enter it. While we could see several large manatees just lazing about inside the area, there were several more outside and swimming among all the divers and snorklers.
After gazing for a while we headed up to the springs. It is a natural inlet called 3 Sisters Springs because it is a combination of three spring areas that contain many sand boils and vents that produce 12 million gallons of water daily. The land surrounding the springs is privately owned property and the only access to the springs is blocked by concrete posts to stop the boats from entering. As we swam into the spring a large adult manatee came swimming down to us and just sat for a few minutes being petted before moving on. They are BIG but very gentle. We swam around finding all 3 springs but because of the shallow depth (less than 10 feet in most places and less than 6 in many also) and all the snorklers standing up and stirring up the bottom, the water was silted up and visibility was poor. I logged 17 minutes at 6 ft and got stepped on twice.
We headed back to the boat and on to Kings Spring. The headwaters of Crystal River, Kings Bay is fed by a number of fresh water springs that produce 600 million gallons daily at a consistent 72 degrees F year round. The largest and most famous spring is Kings Spring which is about 75 feet across, dropping down to about 30 feet, where there are two entrances to a cave that goes to a depth of 60 feet and goes back about 50 feet.
On the way we passed several boats of woman revelers and the “gentlemen” onboard shouted their hellos and we had to stop Scott from turning our boat around and following one group. But in all fairness they did overtake a boat full of guys and yelled to them to flex their muscles for me, which they were more than willing to do. I hope the picture comes out.
We arrived at Kings Spring and there was a large sanctuary area set up there too. These sanctuaries are set up each year to protect the manatees from boat and human traffic while they winter in the protection of the river and care for their young until spring when they move back out into the ocean. About a third of the way into the sanctuary area is a cutout that you can dive in and we were heading to that area. Again the water visibility was poor due to the bottom being stirred up by all the sight seers but this area is somewhat deeper than the last one and had many fish swimming in and about the rocks.
About 15 feet down on the bottom, nestled in among some rocks is a cement monument honoring the Manatee Sanctuary. The baby manatee statue on it looked so real we sat for a minute to watch it before realizing our mistake. In this area there were many different levels of rock outcroppings and ledges with different fish swarming beneath them. Just beneath one particularly large ledge the water went from silty green to crystal clear instantly. We knew we had found the spring and right behind it was a cavern, which the guys just had to try. They were able to get to a depth of 50 feet before turning around and coming back..
Once back on the boat we were stowing things away when Scott jumped in to rinse off. Unfortunately we had already removed and stored the ladder. We thought it a good idea to just tow him along behind us but Harley tried to pull him in on the platform on the front of the boat. Let us just say, while amusing for Brian and I, it did not work out.
It was time for us to head back in and call it a day.
This is more of a snorkeling trip than a scuba dive. It is something that should be experienced by divers and non divers alike. Very relaxing and enjoyable, and the company was great.

Manatee Springs
On Sunday we headed up to Manatee Springs. Our first dive was Catfish Hotel Sink. Catfish is a source-sink system. The sink, which is at a depth of 45-50ft marks the entrance to a 500 foot cave that connects to the next basin. The source part of Catfish is at the high end of the pool where it is relatively muddy. The entire sink is covered in Duckweed, as are you and every square inch of your equipment when you exit. I was told to keep an eye out for alligators. As you enter the sink you drop below the Duckweed into clear blue waters which are very easily silted up. There is a large cavern and at the back of the cavern the entrance to the cave system which links many of the surrounding springs. Hundreds of catfish are swimming about in areas that look like ledges but are actually just the canopy of duckweed, which can best be described as natures little green version of shipping popcorn. 80 gazillion little green balls which stick to anything and everything, go everywhere and cannot be corralled or controlled. By hitting this blanket of green with your air bubbles or a flow from your reg a hole immediately opens that gives a fantastic view up to the surface through the crystal clear water and beyond to the surrounding cedar and cypress trees backed by the sunlight. A tremendous sight. While I watched diligently for gators none were to be seen.
We then moved over to Manatee Spring which is a first-magnitude spring producing 81,000 gallons of freshwater every minute or approximately 117 million gallons daily. Water from the spring flows into the Suwannee River and then the Gulf of Mexico. While the name implies that Manatees are there.....they are not. But I was promised that there were baby flounder in the sand and turtle and alligator sightings. The guide said if there weren’t he would do a stupid people trick. I told him if I didn’t see an alligator this time he had best or I wanted a refund.
The entrance to the cave at this site has tremendous flow and you had to hold on to the rocks to keep from being carried away. There were several small fish but no flounder or turtles and definitely no alligators. Let us just say that the “stupid human trick” was truly stupid.
The dive did take all the remaining duckweed out of our equipment though. While the springs and caverns were interesting to see and something everyone should check out..... once...... to skew a quote from our own RJP, Look a rock, and another rock...oooh a million rocks, now lets go dive Jersey.

Florida Keys

Day One Dive #1

Sometimes the journey is just as important as the trip. It started with a phone message. “All you women are alike. If you have a phone answer it! If you want to dive pick me up Friday morning.”
Who was this? Does it matter? I’m diving Friday.
As it turns out it is Jonny Rocket himself, alive and diving southern Florida
It was 6AM when I left Friday, dark and the weather report was for rain, Friday and Saturday. Well I was going to be wet anyway, so what. My husband had loaded the car for me with everything I could possibly need, including a 7ml wetsuit. Gotta love him. And I was off.
Good thing too cause Jonny called me at 6:10 “Where are you? I‘m leaving now, see you there”
5 ½ hours later I was in Key Largo greeted with sunny skies, a big bear hug and “get your stuff lets go”
We were diving the Spiegel Grove with Conch Republic Divers.
The USS Spiegel Grove is a Landing Ship Dock (LSD 32), which has been sunk to create an artificial reef in Key Largo. The vessel is 510 feet in length, 84 feet wide. She resides at a depth of 134 ft near Dixie Shoals in Key Largo. The depth at the highest point of the ship is 60-65 ft, depending on the tide level. Since her sinking in 2002, the Spiegel Grove had been lying on her starboard side. Due to the waves/currents/surge from Hurricane Dennis, the Spiegel Grove now sits upright.
According to the Captain there were 5-8 seas and lower than normal viz but there was no problem we were going on a 42 foot round hulled boat and it was to be a piece of cake.
The ride out was …… I have to find a word….what word means no one could stand, tanks popped their bungees and fell over, and everything was wet?
The captain briefed us on the site and in we went, granny line to the mooring ball, mooring ball beat me up a little with the waves but I was good and down the line we went. The “lower viz” was about 60 feet and the wreck quickly came into view. The line ended at the top deck at a depth of 85 feet and the water was a cool 75 degrees.
The Spiegel Grove is a spectacular wreck to come down on. Being so recently sunk and then righted by the storm there is not a great deal of growth on her. It is like descending on the actual ship as it was floating on top of the water and not laying under it. You could make out every detail and see every line and curve. It was kind of eerie but sooo impressive. Upon arriving on the deck you had to just go vertical and “stand” on it and look around.
After a quick tour of the deck, Jonny was itching to see what was inside. Huge swim throughs are cut throughout the ship with the ones in the top compartments being visible to each other.
We dropped down a deck in we went and immediately, I was stuck. My problem? A large yellow pony bottle failed to make it through the cut out. Back up center myself and off again. Coming out the other side we were on another deck with another tour and on to the next swim through. I could not tell you what rooms we swam through but according to Jon we went in at the radio room, turned left at the ladies powder room and came out the snack bar. I don’t think so but I need to do a little research to prove him wrong.
There was none of the infamous current on the site and the marine life included Goliath Grouper and Parrot Fish. 36 minutes at 94 feet and we were on our way back up the line.
Upon ascending, the seas were picking up a bit and since I was using a bigger steel tank than I am used to and carrying the mega pony, getting back on board was a bit of a challenge, but I was up to it and on the second attempt was up the ladder and on board.
What a great dive, I couldn’t wait for the second time down.
What do you mean we aren’t diving this wreck a second time? I always get a second shot at the wreck, where are we going? How big is that wave?

Dive #2
USCG Duane
The USCG Duane is a 329-foot cutter that was decommissioned on August 1st, 1985, as the oldest active U.S. military vessel. The ship was intentionally sunk on November 27, 1987, to create an artificial reef. This ship was sunk deep down to ensure that it would not conflict with navigation in the area. The Duane lies outside of the reef line and can have a ripping current. The Duane sits upright on the sandy bottom at 120 feet offering nearly 70 feet of relief. On clear days the outline of the hull can be seen from far above. The crow's nest and mast become visible just 50-60 feet below the surface.
Remember the trip out to the Spiegel Grove? We got to the Duane the same way, except the seas had picked up a bit. The captains briefing ended with, look up on your ascents and please don’t get hit in the head with the boat.
We tied in, suited up and down we went. Once under the water, again there was virtually no current and the visability on this site was at about 80 feet, the water temp 77 degrees.
I love this wreck. We were greeted at the mooring ball by a 3 foot sea turtle who stayed around for the rest of the dive. Down the line we went and the crows nest came immediately into view. Down the line to the deck at about 94 feet and again you had to stop and just turn in a circle and take it all in. The Duane has been in the water longer than the Spiegel Grove and has much more marine life on it, but the ship itself is not to be ignored.
Arriving at the deck and just turning in place to take it all in, first the intact crows nest, having to tilt your head back to catch site of the very top (banging your head on your tank valve, the price you pay) and swimming in and out of the nest are barracuda, 10 or 20 of them at 3-5 feet each and swimming around the very tip, our turtle friend.
Now you turn slowly taking it all in and as you come about 180 degrees you are greeted with the most amazing site, luckily you are supposed to breath in because you just do. Flying above the bridge is a huge American flag. It catches you off guard and gives an aura of pride to the wreck in an eerie sort of way.
The variety of sea life was absolutely amazing and entertaining. With angel fish, pilot fish, parrotfish, barracuda, sea cucumbers, funky little worms, our sea turtle and much more.
Jon entertained himself growling and chasing a barracuda, I followed with my camera to capture the moment he got bit. After 24 minutes at 101 feet I was on my way up the line with another group of divers while Jon got some extra time in on his rebreather. Hand over hand, slow ascent about 20 feet up and POP!! S**t, my O ring? At depth! Where were the bubbles, the free flow? Hey Cheryl, you have mega pony. Stop holding your breath, breathe. Nothing, no free flow, no bubbles, just air, in my reg, where it should be. Strange. And up I went with no further problems, there at least.
The seas had picked up some, do you see a trend here? Being tossed around on the tag line waiting my turn and this little man pops up from the granny line and jumps in front of me on the line. No problem, I just hold on and I will get in, it happens.
Then it happened, I looked up and coming right at the boat was a rogue wave, a tsunami, 200 feet tall! The crew all left the dive platform to grab hold of something and here I was on the trail line, planning how I was going to be washed out to sea and inflate my SMB and at least get to ride back in Helicopter or passing cruise ship.
OK, maybe it was only a 12-15 footer, but dont tell Jon that, he was still on the line doing a stop and had to drop to 30 feet cause he was being tossed around so badly underwater at 15 feet. He should feel bad leaving me with these other guys who left me in the water to be washed out to sea by giant tidal waves. And let me tell you, to say a 15 foot wave viewed from the water line with only a yellow piece of nylon tethering you to the boat is pretty unnerving, is an understatement.
The wave passes followed by its possee of smaller rollers and the crew very quickly pulls me in and out of the water and back on the boat. I now have to break down my gear because as soon as Jon surfaces we are…. getting out of there. Upon removing my regs from the valve the O ring pops out into my hand. ???? Cant be. This is crazy.
Jon is now back on the boat, big grin, story about the smokestack, telling me (with a wink) to stop whining about the little bit of chop. Aaannnd, did I notice that my camera housing was cracked? DOH!? My little Walmart special, good to 35 feet, that regularly took decent pics at 85 feet, dove the Speigel and did over a 100 feet on the Duane, it exploded on the ascent! My POP on the upline! And all pictures of the 2 dives, flooded.
Jeeshhh!!

Day 2 Dive #3
After diving the Duane and the 200 foot wave incident, I needed dinner and a drink. Like Jon, I like my beer in a green bottle, but the guy is never happy
Leave my beer alone Jon!! I like it, I like the screen printing on the bottle and Latrobe is a foreign country, you ever been there?
6:30 the next morning everyone is up, our dive is not scheduled until 12 but we are pacing and the restaurant is not open for breakfast yet, so we jump in the car and run down to the marina to see what is going out earlier.
The Bib Wreck. The USCG Cutters Duane and Bibb are sister ships located ¼ mile apart. They were sunk in 1987 to form an artificial reef and are about a mile south of Molasses Reef. Both are in 130 feet of water. The Duane stands upright below the surface, the Bibb lies deeper because it lays on its starboard side with 120 to the deck
Another sunny day and the seas have flattened out to a much more manageable 2-4 feet but the current has picked up tremendously.
We are off in a smaller boat this time for the Bib. The Captain informs me I must be ready to hit the water as soon as we arrive because my dive buddy, Jon, bless his heart, wants a longer run time today and our Captain doesn’t want to hear him whine if I am slow and he doesn’t get it.
Upon arrival I am shuffled to the swim platform as the captain briefs us on the wreck warning us that the currents are much stronger here and the fact that the wreck is on its side is very disorienting. They then push me off and we are diving. The current is killing me, I am pulling myself along the granny line and getting nowhere! This current is killer. All of a sudden I am pulled and lifted from the water. The trail line is wrapped around mega pony and I am tied to the boat. The crew has pulled me in and untangles me and I am off.
Down the line we go, carefully watching for fish hooks, slowly on down to the deck at 120 feet with about 80 foot of viz.
The whole ship is strange after diving yesterday. Very weird looking over the side and seeing the crows nest shooting out into the distance. The current is still quite strong on the bottom and diving over the port side of the ship skews my sense of direction (don’t say it).
There is not a great deal for me to explore here as I am uncomfortable going much deeper and the current is tiring. After 21 minutes I ascended the line with another diver who now has first hand (left to be exact) knowledge of fire coral.
As the other divers joined us for the surface interval we had an amusing conversation about gullible divers and the “stories” surrounding wrecks. Being generally in the gullible category I listened intently for what I should not believe. There has never been a barge that sank while carrying circus animals to the next town. All of the elephants did not suddenly move to one side and tip the barge thus sinking it and drowning the animals. I will never go ivory hunting under water, no not me.
And as the last divers surfaced, we prepared to move on to our next dive. A reef. I have never dove on a reef. I look forward to it. And I have another camera, maybe I can get a picture this time.


Dive #4
As we head to our final dive, I am contemplating all that has happened so far. I make a mental note that I have to work on my ascents. I don’t pay enough attention to what is going on above me. I am so busy multi tasking with the depth and timing and jon line and venting and on and on, I don’t look up, hardly ever. I need to be more aware of what is above me, where the boat is if there are any divers above me, anything else in the water, is the mooring ball being tossed around? I have to look up more, much more.
The Pickle Wreck/Reef is a coral reef with a wreck lying amongst it. The story of the wreck is that a barge carrying pickle barrels filled with cement powder was sunk during the Civil War and the seawater breached the barrels causing the cement to harden and the barrels disintegrated over time and what is left of the wreck is now cement slabs in the shape of pickle barrels.
Should I believe that one?
This is a slow leisurely drift over the reef just sucking in all of the sites. Colorful tropicals, corals sponges and aneomes (spelling?) Jersey has colors, the problem is that the colors are brown, umber, tan, beige, green, light green, moss green, sea green, sage, cerise, pea green, dark green and more brown.
I took lots of pictures, I have 10 recognizable ones
http://www.wreckvalley.com/gallery/v/USA/keys+2007/
If you know what any of the fish are please feel free to let me know. There is a parrot fish and a squirrel fish in there.
53 minutes at 25 feet. What a great way to end the dives.
We got back to the dock, loaded our gear, said our goodbyes and headed home, my last obstacle? I am a Jersey Girl through and through. If I get to the gas station and no one helps me fill my tank….I will have to call Triple A to come and do it.
Now I have to plan more dives, dive with the manatees, dive with the sharks and dive for shark teeth. If the teeth are there why arent the sharks? Maybe this place is where the shark tooth fairy stores her stash.
Love
Cheryl

Deerfield Beach Ledge

DEERFIELD BEACH LEDGE
Our next dive was a drift dive on a ledge with no particular name. To the Captains credit we were dropped directly on the ledge and this was a truly relaxing and amazing dive.
I wish I recognized more fish because I had about a gazillion questions. Many of the fish here were quite mature and therefore large. The sponges and coral were thick and colorful with hundreds of varieties to observe. I know there were stoplight parrotfish and other parrotfish, squirrelfish, batfish, hogfish, sheepshead, trunkfish, one that looked like a rock, and another much smaller green eel and a spotted moray eel.
As we cruised along I was intently looking under the ledge when my buddy put a hand on my arm. I looked up and was face to face with a small sea turtle. He was very curious and just swam around us for quite some time before taking off. Way cool kinda describes it.
This is the first time my dive was defined by the type of gas I was diving and not my tank size. My computer told me to call the dive at 50 minutes 62 feet with 1200 lbs left in my tank. Nitrox is in my future.
The surface chop had picked up some and we floated for a few minutes on the surface with other markers coming up around us and the boat came right in and picked us up and we were on our way home.
I like the reef dives.
Of course I needed gas on the way home but I will not bore you with my story of getting lost in the Panther preserve since I dont have pictures because I was scared too get out of the car. Lets just say I may have scared myself enough to learn how to pump gas. Florida has a sick sense of humor on where they put gas stations, there are only 30 panthers left and the reason is probably because they all try to cross this road.

Empress Wreck

Sea Empress - Deerfield Beach /Florida
It wasn’t dark this morning. Of course I was heading out for an afternoon dive but still, it wasn’t dark
I was meeting a group of divers in Deerfield Beach to dive the Sea Empress., a 90 ft. barge sitting upside down in about 70 feet of water. It was originally loaded with cement conduits (those big round cement pipes they use for storm drains and sewers) which spilled out and into the sand. The group I am going with are all friends and their diving ranges from Cave divers to new divers.
The day was beautiful, 78 degrees and cloudless blue skies, the water was a bit choppy but not a problem.
This wreck offered our diverse group a little bit of everything. The upper level of the deck was at approximately 45 feet with a wide band of openings which allowed divers to see or drop down inside the interior of the barge. At the sand where the were large cement pipe sections providing hidey holds for an array of sealife and sponges and corals. At the sand level along the barge were several additional access openings to the interior.
After a tour of the exterior of the wreck all around and some swimming around and through the pipes in the sand, my buddy (a cave diver) was dying to get into the wreck. I was not so excited so we agreed he would swim through and I would swim at the openings above. And in he went.
This is where it gets interesting. You can yell “Stop it!“ Through your regulator. Do sea creatures understand you? I think so. As my buddy disappeared under the barge I went to swim up and out of the corner of my eye saw movement in the sand. Like the mothership in a science fiction movie this huge mass lifted up and out in a cloud of sand. A stingray about 4-5 foot across. (it was as wide as my arm spanned so that is how I figured it). And it immediately swam towards me. Now going through my mind was Steve Irwin, The Deep (I dont understand it, it just did), the SciFi channel... It veers off at the last minute and now I am just a wee bit nervous. I mean I have mondo knife right? Trust me last thing on my mind. This ray now circles and comes back, repeating the same path again. I am now moving up the side of the barge trying to get to an area where the other divers were and this ray repeats the path 2 more times. Now being the mother of 2 boys, I have had enough and in my mother of all mother modes kicks in and I just yelled “Stop that!” through my reg. And he did.
Finally getting a visual on my buddy I follow along the length of the barge until he comes up to meet me and in trying to describe the ray to him a smaller one of about 3 foot swims by and I can see him grinning in his reg.
We make one more circuit of the wreck and in and out of the pipes and there in the next pipe is a GI-NORMOUS green eel. Longer than me, longer than my buddy (god I hope he wet his suit then for laughing at my ray story). And so we slowly back out and start to fin away. Our friend, Mr Mean and Green..... Follows us. Now going through my mind is all the advice I have been given so far about alligators and sharks....I only have to swim faster than one other person, unfortunately there is only one other person with me, so I keep him between me (a hand on his tank helps that) and the eel as we slowly move towards the anchor line. About 2/3 of the way there Mr Mean and Green gives up and moves on.
I still have almost 1000 lbs in my tank and my big brave dive buddy looks at my gauge and thumbs up. Not sure I can swim faster than him in an emergency I agree. As we head towards the line the smaller ray comes into sight again, and as we watch him, what rises out of the sand below? The mothership. My buddy just looks at me and I nod. We sat at the anchor line and just watched these two rays swimming around and after a while I peeked down through the slats in the barge and swimming there like a big floating ribbon was our buddy the eel.
We watched a bit longer, they are amazing creatures and their movements are so graceful and then up the line we went. 75 degrees, 45 minutes at about 69 feet.
Upon surfacing, we were discussing our encounters and the Captain explained that these guys had been living here for some time and for many years divers fed both the rays and the eels and they were very used to looking to divers for food. A ban was put in place stopping this practice as several divers had been bitten, especially ones without snacks for the fishies. Hence why they were so quick to approach us.

Deerfield Beach

Sea Empress - Deerfield Beach /Florida
It wasn’t dark this morning. Of course I was heading out for an afternoon dive but still, it wasn’t dark
I was meeting a group of divers in Deerfield Beach to dive the Sea Empress., a 90 ft. barge sitting upside down in about 70 feet of water. It was originally loaded with cement conduits (those big round cement pipes they use for storm drains and sewers) which spilled out and into the sand. The group I am going with are all friends and their diving ranges from Cave divers to new divers.
The day was beautiful, 78 degrees and cloudless blue skies, the water was a bit choppy but not a problem.
This wreck offered our diverse group a little bit of everything. The upper level of the deck was at approximately 45 feet with a wide band of openings which allowed divers to see or drop down inside the interior of the barge. At the sand where the were large cement pipe sections providing hidey holds for an array of sealife and sponges and corals. At the sand level along the barge were several additional access openings to the interior.
After a tour of the exterior of the wreck all around and some swimming around and through the pipes in the sand, my buddy (a cave diver) was dying to get into the wreck. I was not so excited so we agreed he would swim through and I would swim at the openings above. And in he went.
This is where it gets interesting. You can yell “Stop it!“ Through your regulator. Do sea creatures understand you? I think so. As my buddy disappeared under the barge I went to swim up and out of the corner of my eye saw movement in the sand. Like the mothership in a science fiction movie this huge mass lifted up and out in a cloud of sand. A stingray about 4-5 foot across. (it was as wide as my arm spanned so that is how I figured it). And it immediately swam towards me. Now going through my mind was Steve Irwin, The Deep (I dont understand it, it just did), the SciFi channel... It veers off at the last minute and now I am just a wee bit nervous. I mean I have mondo knife right? Trust me last thing on my mind. This ray now circles and comes back, repeating the same path again. I am now moving up the side of the barge trying to get to an area where the other divers were and this ray repeats the path 2 more times. Now being the mother of 2 boys, I have had enough and in my mother of all mother modes kicks in and I just yelled “Stop that!” through my reg. And he did.
Finally getting a visual on my buddy I follow along the length of the barge until he comes up to meet me and in trying to describe the ray to him a smaller one of about 3 foot swims by and I can see him grinning in his reg.
We make one more circuit of the wreck and in and out of the pipes and there in the next pipe is a GI-NORMOUS green eel. Longer than me, longer than my buddy (god I hope he wet his suit then for laughing at my ray story). And so we slowly back out and start to fin away. Our friend, Mr Mean and Green..... Follows us. Now going through my mind is all the advice I have been given so far about alligators and sharks....I only have to swim faster than one other person, unfortunately there is only one other person with me, so I keep him between me (a hand on his tank helps that) and the eel as we slowly move towards the anchor line. About 2/3 of the way there Mr Mean and Green gives up and moves on.
I still have almost 1000 lbs in my tank and my big brave dive buddy looks at my gauge and thumbs up. Not sure I can swim faster than him in an emergency I agree. As we head towards the line the smaller ray comes into sight again, and as we watch him, what rises out of the sand below? The mothership. My buddy just looks at me and I nod. We sat at the anchor line and just watched these two rays swimming around and after a while I peeked down through the slats in the barge and swimming there like a big floating ribbon was our buddy the eel.
We watched a bit longer, they are amazing creatures and their movements are so graceful and then up the line we went. 75 degrees, 45 minutes at about 69 feet.
Upon surfacing, we were discussing our encounters and the Captain explained that these guys had been living here for some time and for many years divers fed both the rays and the eels and they were very used to looking to divers for food. A ban was put in place stopping this practice as several divers had been bitten, especially ones without snacks for the fishies. Hence why thye were so quick to approach us.

Eagle Wreck

Florida Keys - Eagle Dive (2 actually)
It was a dark and stormy night.... Not really, but at 6AM it was dark and we did hit about 5 minutes of fog.
Bill B and I started out for the Keys , but first I needed gas. There is a reason I don’t pump the stuff, and luckily Bill was doing it for me. The first gas pump only gave 9 cents worth of gas in the first minute or so. Apparently this level of speed is not normal so I moved to another pump, now my credit card doesn’t work cause I am trying to use it twice at the same station, and finally, pump #2 does not turn off and the gas is running out of the car and onto the ground..... Glad it was Bill and not me doing this.
Again I see no alligators in Alligator Alley, but we do arrive at Divers City in 84 degree weather and not a cloud in the sky. You couldn’t ask for a better day.
We are diving the Eagle, once known as the Rail Dan. A conventional hull freighter, she had several owners and seven name changes after her launching and in 1985, caught fire. She was purchased by The Florida Keys Artificial Reef Association and with donations from Joe Teitelbaum, and then named the Eagle Tire Company. The Eagle lies on her starboard side in 110 feet of water three miles northeast of Alligator Reef Light. On the night of December 19, 1985, while waiting to be sunk as an artificial reef next to the Alexander Barge, the Eagle broke from her moorings. Her port anchor was dropped to prevent further drifting in the current and she was sunk at that spot.

The wreck has a large anchor chain that exits the hawse pipe on the port bow, and continues a considerable distance before disappearing in the sand. Two large mast assemblies rest on the bottom and each has its own ladder and observation platform in place. Toward the stern there is a tandem set of cargo booms. Heat damage from the fire can be observed in the stern quarter. The deck railings at 70 feet, and her propeller and rudder at 110 feet, are still intact. In 1998, the Eagle was broken in two by Hurricane Georges.
Bill and I have the dive boat to ourselves as the other group called last minute and cancelled and we headed out with the clear blue skies and turquoise seas that make for a great day of diving.
We tied in at the stern on the buoy and over we went to see what the wreck had to offer. Going down the mooring line the ship came into view quickly as we had about 80 foot of viz and 78F water temps. Since the ship is broken in two we took a tour of the stern first which contained most of the superstructure. There were tons of bait fish but no fish of notable size lurking about. Swimming through part of the structure to get to the bow we did come across some wonderful angel fish, green and queen I believe. After a tour of the bow, we were ready to go up. We had spent 28 minutes at 108 feet just cruising about.
Back on the surface the seas had picked up to a gentle rolling 1-2 feet but this was to be a dive of firsts. This would be the first time I had to take my fins off to climb back in the boat and the first time there was no open sided ladder. Not brain surgery but new to me. I started removing my fins way too far from the ladder while holding onto the tag line, and thanks to the compression of my suit mondo knife was spinning around my leg just getting in the way. Not pretty , but I did it. Carrying the steel tanks and mega pony the ladder was a challenge but I did get where I needed to be and taking just a minute longer than usual I was standing on the deck.
And Bill immediately followed.............but both of his fins did not. The Captain was yelling to him to drop down and chase it, but it sunk like a rock. He was destined to swim in a circle like a one legged duck.
The Surface Interval was informative, getting a crash course in local wrecks and history and some top notch assistance in reworking my weighting.
The second dive was to be a drift dive through a reef but we opted to dive the Eagle again and then do a drift dive while looking for Bills wayward fin.
Drift diving, again a first for me, and we were going in at the second tie in on the wrecks bow this time using a live drop (I think that is the term he used) where we stood on the dive platform and the boat moved over where we wanted to be and on the Captains mark we jumped in and descended and swam for the mooring line, another first for me. Worked like a charm.
Using a pair of loaner fins on Bill, we dropped in on the wreck a second time. I lead this time coming down the line and right at the tie in was a Goliath Grouper just sitting and watching us descend. We did a quick check in several holes for more sea residents as we headed for our drift sending up a surface marker for the boat to follow and we were off. The current had picked up some so we moved quickly along on a heading that should have brought us right over Bills fin, but it was not to be. We covered quite a bit of ground drifting according to the captain almost back to the reef line. Leisurely and relaxing, 31 minutes at 100 feet and with my realigned weighting I had no trouble with my free ascent.
This time, I was up and in the boat like a pro, even got complimented by the captain, and Bill made it in with all of his belongings.
Great afternoon of diving and afterwards, Bill headed off to Haiti (Good luck with that) and I headed on home.