Donna and I had a wonderful dive at the site known as Florida's best shore dive, Blue Heron Bridge on Friday, May 17. I'd read about diving Blue Heron Bridge and seen lots of pictures from there, by when Captain Ryan of Tanksalot diving in Clearwater told me I had to do it, well, we did. I could dive this site a hundred times!
Timing is everything for diving Blue Heron Bridge. You need to start your dive at least 30 minutes before high tide and finish it about 30 minutes after in order to have slow moving, and clear, tidal water from the nearby Atlantic/Gulf Stream. High tide was 7:46 the morning Donna and I dived so we had an early start to our morning. Entry was convenient and easy from our parked car. Donna towed our new float with its Dive flag so that we won't get ticketed or run over....Visibility was easily 65 ft and the water was 78 degrees. Average depth for the dive was 15 to 20 ft, we hit around 30 ft at the channel under the main bridge span. Our dive lasted around an hour and a half.
A quick surface shot looking south at Donna with our towable dive buoy as we started our early morning dive.
As soon as I put my snorkel in my mouth and started to swim to where we'd drop down with scuba I started seeing cool fish like this Half Beak (I think, TBD) and juvenile Great Barracuda. Love the bridge in view overhead.
The bridges pilings are heavily encrusted with invertebrate life and there is a huge range of fish species everywhere you turn.
Surgeonfish, named for the "scalpels" at the base of their tails.
Donna holding our yellow diving buoy reel with a school of Sailor's Choice.
A beautiful French Angelfish with one of about four different species of grunts we saw on this dive.
A large Arrow Crab and a photo bombing juvenile Grunt of another species....
Donna with one of the many sea stars we saw. She's done some great paintings of sea stars.
An Atlantic Sheepshead and Atlantic Spadefish. I used to love to spear and eat sheepshead in my early years of diving and spearfishing. Now I just hunt with my camera. Except sometimes still grabbing California Spiny Lobster...
A Mutton Snapper and a pair of hugging Cushion Sea Stars.
A pair of Gray Angelfish
A Purple Mouth Moray Eel.....I didn't get to look into his mouth, he stayed nose down hunting prey.
Porcupine Fish and a sea urchin of some kind, TBD..
Pair of Tortugas aka Scrawled Filefish
Scrawled Filefish, with a Sergeant Majors above.
A school of Porkfish swimming among the pilelings marking the edge of the boat channel under the mainspan of the bridge, our turnaround point, about 35 ft deep.
A new fish, for me, name TBD. About 5-6 inches long.
Another new fish, for me. Check out the fake eye that's part of his camouflage! About 3 inches long. Not bad with my Tokina 10-17 mm fisheye lens..
An Arrow Crab and Coral Shrimp next to sponges and hydroids.
A goby, species TBD, and a Blenny, species TBD. Each 2-3 inches long.
Donna with a Batfish
Juvenile French Angelfish
There was another, larger, Great Barracuda lurking during our dive but I didn't get close enough for a decent photo of it.
A fascinating Sand Sea Anemone. This is a great "muck" diving site as well as fish gazing site.
I sure look forward to more dives here on my next Florida visit!
To see more pictures from this great shore dive, please go to:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ld5H7GDAueNbE4ag6
nice article,t hanks for sharing,.
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