Dive Report: 10/5/2003 SFRRT Dives Borrow Pit, Deep, and Shallow research sites

Photos:


Boat: WildKat (26ft center console ProKat Catamaran)
Captain: Dave O'Neal (E-diver)
Team Doubles: Matt Hoelscher and Mike Wright (32%)
Team Singles: David Kaplan (Exec Director) Ralph Figuroa and Andrea Valerioti (32%)

Weather:
Seas: 2-3 building to 3-5
Current: None
Partly Cloudy

I was really looking forward to this trip. The last monitoring 5 weeks ago, David Kaplan couldn't get in the water because of a cold. I tried to do all the tasks without him and turned into Captain Ahab. I forgot about my team in the hopes of collecting all the data (my whale) and broke all the rules I hold so dear to do it. This trip would include an all-star team of experienced divers and I wasn't about to repeat the mistakes of my past! Time to get back on the horse.

On the ride out I was feeling pockets of cool air mixed with the normal thick humid air. There were some interesting clouds off shore and Mike noticed the beginning formation of a water spout. It never really took shape, but I got picture of its small beginnings.

Borrow Pit @ 9:33 AM
Team Dubs
Depth: 93 Ft
Run Time: 22 minutes
Visibility: 90ft
Bottom Time: 10 minutes
Water Temp: 80 Degrees

David O. replaced the rear seats with a set of igloo coolers which where perfect for donning a set of doubles and research gear for the dive. We were comfortable so there was not rush to do our checks and get ready. Dave set us up and we dropped in to the Borrow pit to change out a set of sediment bottles and take a visibility reading. I orientated on the half moon ledge that faces west, swam over a HUGE rough tail stingray and found our bottles 150 ft away in the sand. The excellent visibility made the task a breeze. Mike caught up with his full lobster bag of gear and we went to work.

The narcosis crept in as we had to "think" underwater. All the bottles float so close team work is needed to not loose any of the pieces. Last time it took 17 minutes to change out the bottles, this time we were done in 9 minutes. I snapped a couple quick photos and we lifted off to 60 feet to take the visibility reading, while saving gas swimming at less depth. It was cloudy and we only got about 80ft of vis.

Then we shot a bag and hit the surface with a nice slow ascent. A slow ascent is key to feeling good after a dive, especially with a quick turn around as we would be back in the water at the deep site in 30 minutes.

Deep Site @ 10:34 AM
Team dubs and singles
Depth: 57ft
Run Time: 30 minutes
SI: 37 minutes
Water: 83 degrees
Visibility 100ft plus (I ran out of tape on the Secchi Disk)

Mike and I rested on the coolers while everyone else geared up. They dropped in first and tied the flag off on the site. Mike and I didn't have enough gas for a mis-drop, which happened on the last trip with current. This time it was perfect conditions and excellent drop by Dave.

As Mike and I got ready to splash, Ralph surfaced and was looking for a sediment bottle top that had floated off on him. It was only 20 ft away from Ralph. After missing a scoop on the boat, we directed Ralph to it with a slight surface swim. Then Mike and I dropped in with the framer to help out.

The bottles were under control so Dave K. handed Mike and I the secchi disk for another vis check. I swam West and swam and swam some more. Then I was jerked to a stop. I looked under and still saw the disk. I check the tape and saw I was at 100 feet. I reeled half of it up and swam the opposite direction. This time the sun went under a cloud and I got a reading of 80ft like the Borrow Pit. I looked down to find a Nurse shark under the ledge napping.

As everyone else focused on the 20 shot photo mosaic on the bottom I took a fish count. There were grunts galore, Blackbar Soldierfish, Cottonwick Grunts, and I had a hard time separating the Smallmouth from the French grunts in the large schools. This area off of the second reef off Commercial has to be the best ledge in Broward County.

With all our jobs down we slowly drifted off the site. Mike and I surfaced first and the rest of the team took their time. Like a good boxer, Mike went to his corner and stayed suited up for the SI. I doffed my gear and helped the others aboard. Another perfect dive.

Shallow Site @ 11:56 AM
Team dubs and singles
Depth: 44ft
Run time: 37 minutes
SI: 51 minutes
Visibility: 70 ft

I gobbled down a sandwich and a half and chugged some water. Time for the last dive. This time, Andrea and Dave would drop first to find the site. The shallow site lays within the fingers and has a float ball standing 10ft off the bottom. It is still quite hard to find without a good drop. Dave O. placed the team right on the bottles and Andrea tugged the flag to let us know we were good to go.

I helped Ralph and Mike change out the sediment bottles and then Mike and I ran the visibility check again. When we got back they were ready to shoot the photo mosaic on the bottom. The red algae was all over the place. This dive really drove home the importance of David Kaplan's vision to collect long term data on the reefs off Broward County. We now have over 8 years of data to compare the photos of the EXACT same spot in the ocean over many years. Now its easy to show a "before" and "after" photos of the damage this red algae is causing.

Dave K. also found a 8lb out rigger weight ball on the bottom with steel line. Ralph was going to leave it, but Dave added it to the sediment bottle lobster bag. Ralph was smart and pulled out his liftbag to carry the whole bag with the weight.

We slowly drifted off the site in the current surveying the damage. I can only pray for cold water to slow down and hopefully kill off this algae that is infesting our reefs.

Thanks again to David O'Neal for donating his boat and time to take us out and collect this very valuable data. We cruised home and dodged boats coming in port Everglades. The port seems more dangerous now with half the average boats complying with the slow speed rules and the other half still running full speed in and out of the channel. We unloaded our gear at John U Lloyd and headed home for the SFL-DIR 1yr BBQ.

--Matt