South Florida Snorkeling

Cold Stunned Turtles Released

mrb — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 13:10:49 +0000

A neat pictorial posted by the Palm Beach Post highlighting efforts to help local Sea Turtles during the recent record cold spell in South Florida. The turtles recovered from the cold with help from the great people at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton and were later released across the street at Red Reef Park.

Bearded Fireworm

mrb — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 13:47:46 +0000

This guy was cruising around on the rocks of Red Reef.

Bearded Fireworm - Underside Of Rock

Bearded Fireworm - Cruising On Rocks

Bearded Fireworm - Walking Over Boulder

Bearded Fireworm - Making His Next Move

Bearded Fireworm - Up Close

Feather Dusters

mrb — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 02:14:02 +0000

The rocks at Red Reef have been blown all over the place so the Feather Duster’s are more exposed than normal. This guy was out and about til he saw me sneak up on him.

Now you see him!

Saltwater Feather Duster

Now you don’t!

Saltwater Feather Duster - Hiding

A little closer.

Feather Duster - Up Close

Quick Update!

mrb — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 03:29:36 +0000

It’s been a while since we’ve posted new pics, however we will be posting more very soon.

We’ve been neck deep in producing and publishing a new book. It’s not snorkeling related, however, it’s a great fictional read, especially for both girls and boys 12 years or older and any adult who enjoys fictional books that facilitate thinking.

For more information, check out Dancing With Ana

Coral Cove Park – Jupiter, Florida

mrb — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 04:16:44 +0000

We saw these guys while snorkeling at Coral Cove Park in Jupiter. There were hundreds of them swimming around as well as several hundred Surgeonfish. It was very cool to swim amongst them especially when surrounded while sitting in one spot.

Picture of Porkfish

Peanut Island – West Palm Beach

mrb — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 01:52:54 +0000

We spent the day on Peanut Island today in West Palm Beach. Technically, it may be Riviera Beach, but it’s directly East of the Palm Beach Inlet. As the water comes in from the inlet, it flows right up against the island. Overall it was a great day. The weather was perfect (a bit windy, but keeps you from frying) and we arrived shortly after high tide. Just in time to get to snorkel around all of the rock croppings and in the lagoon before the tide got too low. We saw a lot of different fish. Highlights included the school of Caribbean Reef Squid pictured below, exotic Parrotfish, large schools of Surgeonfish, live Sponge Coral, Upsidedown Jellyfish and swimming amongst a school of approximately 8 mid-sized Barracuda’s. Very cool stuff and a highly recommended day trip.

Picture of Caribbean Reef Squid

Blowing Rocks Preserve

mrb — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 04:26:27 +0000

We went snorkeling today at Blowing Rocks Preserve on Jupiter Island in Jupiter, Florida. The preserve is roughly 2 -3 miles North of the Jupiter Inlet. Unfortunately, we arrived around low tide, however there are so many rocks and hiding places, it was still a great place to be. Although we didn’t see any, two of the preserve’s employees told us there were shark sightings and that it wasn’t safe to be in the water. We plowed forward, however, being low tide the water wasn’t very clear so we poked around for a little while and then hopped out. These pictures are of some type of snail that was very abundant on the rocks and the sparse amount of sand that makes up the shoreline. There were some really nice size schools of Grunts, Porkfish, Black Margate’s and Surgeonfish. There was a really cool school of Lookdowns. Probably 200-300 of them. Really awesome. We also saw a couple of Snook swimming around.

Picture of Mollusk

Barracuda – Up Close

mrb — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:31:19 +0000

This guy was lurking around and moved from rock to rock. It was a bit daunting considering how murky the water was and the fact these guys aren’t startled by humans.

Picture of Juvenile Dusky Damselfish

mrb — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 02:24:40 +0000

This isn’t the greatest quality pic, however, the fish is pretty cool. It’s a juvenile Dusky Damselfish. Although vibrant as a juvenile, they grow to be a simple dark chocolate color.

Picture of Flounder Hiding Under Water

mrb — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:20:49 +0000

We almost didn’t see this guy. He thought he had a good hiding spot, however, we saw him just hanging out on the bottom.