What's up with this!
With great surface conditions continuing, we were sure that today's visibility would be improved after a few days of calms seas. The bottom certainly wasn't stirred up, but the water had a green tint and visibility was the poorest I've every seen in 44 years years of diving the Keys! I knew there was a large area in the Florida Bay that had algae problems that was killing the sea grass. This has much to do with the lack of flow of fresh water through the Everglades and into the bay. I think the winds and currents had moved some of that bloom into the oceanside. I do know that the lobster fishermen reported that their oceanside traps were now empty.
Our first stop was Molasses. We couldn't see bottom anywhere. We tried a dive and descended the mooring rope as we couldn't see bottom until we could touch it. I could barely see my hand in front of my face, much less see my buddy. We aborted. We motored to Pickles and again found terrible visibility. Anyone who has followed this journal and viewed my photo postings can recognize the poor conditions. I startled this poor nurse shark when I (and it) appeared out of nowhere.
We then motored over to try Conch Reef about 5 miles south. As we hit the reef line you could clearly see the deep blue color of the 100' drop off with a definitive border of the green shallower water that covered the reef and inshore waters. Our 30 minute dive there was a big disappointment! Lets hope this clears up soon.
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