Today Sirena headed south with Captain Dean at the wheel. We motored our way above 1-2ft seas and clear skies. Our first stop — South Double Ledges. Giant striding into the water, those who were afraid of heights were warned not too look down… We had top to bottom visibility! Horizontally we had 60-70ft. of visibility and a refreshing 76-77 degree water temperature.
With only a slight trickle of a north current, the group had the opportunity to truly enjoy this colorful reef in its entirety. Huge schools of fish aggregated around the ledge. Swimming on top of the ledge, we came across a friendly hawksbill sea turtle who was too busy looking for lunch to give us much notice.
Allison was busy picking up bits and pieces of trash along the ledge compliments of hurricane Sandy. This week so far we have found items like jet ski engine hatches, kid’s snorkeling gear, an old radio and plenty of miscellaneous plastics. Thankfully we have lots of caring divers who are quick to help keep our reefs clean.
Out on the edge of the reef we came across what is certainly a new species of conch. See the picture in the gallery and help us identify it! 🙂
After an hour surface interval we were ready to dive again. This time we were diving in at the southern end of Breaker’s reef — Elevator Shaft. Conditions were just as great as on our first dive. Breaker’s reef is adorned with a multitude of colored sponges and soft corals. Tropical fish of all kind love this reef.
For those of you who have been following our blogs lately, I am happy to report that our (in)famous Capt. Colin has greatly improved his mask clearing skills. In fact, he made it a priority to approach me underwater and show me his perfectly unfogged mask. I mentioned to him he had a little smudge on his side window. Next thing Colin realizes, his mask is flooding with water. By the look on his face, you would swear someone made him flood it in laughter. Colin my say otherwise, but I swear it wasn’t me!!
Before I can fire off another photograph on my super high-speed camera, he had cleared and was shooing away the underwater paparazzi in front of him. For all you who were concerned about Colin and his mask clearing skills. I think it is safe to say he’s got it all under control…. for now!
To finish off the dive a couple of divers had a huge goliath grouper observing the group from under a deep ledge on the reef. Overall, it was another terrific day of diving in West Palm Beach. The water is great! Come out and dive with us. Who knows?!?! You might get lucky and see Capt. Colin’s Mask Clearing-O-Rama for yourself. It’s certainly worth the price of admission.
We hope you enjoy today’s photos from our dives. A special thanks to all the divers who joined us in today’s adventure.
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