Diving with Sharks at The Florida Aquarium

[CuzzA]

Long time no talk guys... I'm still tankless, but diving like a fish. My wife got me a ticket to dive with the sharks at the Florida Aquarium back in May. We finally made it across the Bay and I did the dive yesterday. It was good fun. I'd definitely call it a predator tank.

I still have temptations to start a new tank, we'll see. Here's a short video of the day.

http://youtu.be/Q513mMfnY0Q

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q513mMfnY0Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[hogfanreefer]

That's awesome Cuzz! That was pretty neat for your family to get to see you through the glass.

If you ever get to Roatan they have an awesome shark dive there.

 

[CuzzA]

That's awesome Cuzz! That was pretty neat for your family to get to see you through the glass.

If you ever get to Roatan they have an awesome shark dive there.

Thanks! Yes, my boy was excited I found him a tooth.

Man, I have so many destinations on my list. Roatan being one. So far out here in the Gulf of Mexico off Tampa Bay I've only ran into nurse sharks and bulls. And I'd be okay with not seeing bull sharks anymore.

 

[cincyjim]

That had to be a charge to do!

 

[Smells_fishy]

You lucky duck

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Very cool!

 

[jeffmerrill]

Great video, how do you like the mask with the GoPro mount? My wife and I have started to dive and I have been considering one.

 

[CuzzA]

Great video, how do you like the mask with the GoPro mount? My wife and I have started to dive and I have been considering one.

Thanks! There's a number of options out there, but I found the XSfoto GoMask to be the best after a little trial and error.

http://www.xsfoto.com/gomask-panorama/

Things I really like are the molded stainless steel mount which is tapped so there's no need for the nut and no possibility of losing it.

The panoramic 3 window panel really doesn't help too much in terms of increasing your overall sustained view, however, it lets you capture things out of the corner of your eye that you may normally miss.

The strap is great, although just a typical neoprene strap would be find. It has a quick release and allows you to tighten it by simply pulling on the strap tails.

The silicone is excellent quality and super soft so it should fit most face profiles comfortable and provide a leak free fit.

Downside... It's a little pricey. $80 IIRC.

Video will be shaky until you master your buoyancy and remember that the camera is on your head so whatever your head is doing, so is the camera. Bubbles will get into the frame often, but for the most part you will be heavily editing your video anyway so it's not a big deal. You can see more videos using the mask on my YouTube channel.

I do a lot of spearfishing, so for me it's essential to have my hands free. If you want to do solid underwater video you would be better off buying/building a tray. Though the GoMask can still serve as B roll video.

Here's a tray I built after taking video of Tampa Bay Saltwater's live rock aquaculture site.

https://www.scubaboard.com/community/threads/first-video-of-where-ive-been-training.522535/

Good luck and be warned... Diving is addictive. It has become a lifestyle for me.

 

[JonCubb]

Thanks! There's a number of options out there, but I found the XSfoto GoMask to be the best after a little trial and error.

http://www.xsfoto.com/gomask-panorama/

Things I really like are the molded stainless steel mount which is tapped so there's no need for the nut and no possibility of losing it.

The panoramic 3 window panel really doesn't help too much in terms of increasing your overall sustained view, however, it lets you capture things out of the corner of your eye that you may normally miss.

The strap is great, although just a typical neoprene strap would be find. It has a quick release and allows you to tighten it by simply pulling on the strap tails.

The silicone is excellent quality and super soft so it should fit most face profiles comfortable and provide a leak free fit.

Downside... It's a little pricey. $80 IIRC.

Video will be shaky until you master your buoyancy and remember that the camera is on your head so whatever your head is doing, so is the camera. Bubbles will get into the frame often, but for the most part you will be heavily editing your video anyway so it's not a big deal. You can see more videos using the mask on my YouTube channel.

I do a lot of spearfishing, so for me it's essential to have my hands free. If you want to do solid underwater video you would be better off buying/building a tray. Though the GoMask can still serve as B roll video.

Here's a tray I built after taking video of Tampa Bay Saltwater's live rock aquaculture site.

https://www.scubaboard.com/community/threads/first-video-of-where-ive-been-training.522535/

Good luck and be warned... Diving is addictive. It has become a lifestyle for me.

I would think it would have cost a lot more than $80, honestly. Looks like fun!

 

[hogfanreefer]

Good luck and be warned... Diving is addictive. It has become a lifestyle for me.

That's for sure!

This is the mount I use for daytime dives (only one camera on mine LOL). I keep it on a retractable clip and can fit it in the left hand pocket of my BC if I'm not filming at the time. The clip is insurance if I fumble finger and drop it.

https://www.amazon.com/GoBro-Go-Pro-Camera-Grips/dp/B00GGRKVYG/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

For night dives I use a tray with two lights.

 

[jeffmerrill]

Thanks! There's a number of options out there, but I found the XSfoto GoMask to be the best after a little trial and error.

http://www.xsfoto.com/gomask-panorama/

Things I really like are the molded stainless steel mount which is tapped so there's no need for the nut and no possibility of losing it.

The panoramic 3 window panel really doesn't help too much in terms of increasing your overall sustained view, however, it lets you capture things out of the corner of your eye that you may normally miss.

The strap is great, although just a typical neoprene strap would be find. It has a quick release and allows you to tighten it by simply pulling on the strap tails.

The silicone is excellent quality and super soft so it should fit most face profiles comfortable and provide a leak free fit.

Downside... It's a little pricey. $80 IIRC.

Video will be shaky until you master your buoyancy and remember that the camera is on your head so whatever your head is doing, so is the camera. Bubbles will get into the frame often, but for the most part you will be heavily editing your video anyway so it's not a big deal. You can see more videos using the mask on my YouTube channel.

I do a lot of spearfishing, so for me it's essential to have my hands free. If you want to do solid underwater video you would be better off buying/building a tray. Though the GoMask can still serve as B roll video.

Here's a tray I built after taking video of Tampa Bay Saltwater's live rock aquaculture site.

https://www.scubaboard.com/community/threads/first-video-of-where-ive-been-training.522535/

Good luck and be warned... Diving is addictive. It has become a lifestyle for me.

Thanks, I haven't gotten in to spearfishing yet and you have a great point about the bubbles, so the tray may be the better option for now and would certainly be better that the stick I currently use.

I'm not addicted yet but a few more trips to the keys and probably will be especially if I can get my breathing under control, I am always the first back on the boat. Any decent shallow sites in the gulf that you would recommend for beginners?

 

[CuzzA]

Plenty of artificial wrecks and reefs as well as natural reefs. The Gulf coast is pretty shallow per mile out, though down where you live gets deeper quicker.

Pick up a NOAA chart/app and look for areas labelled as coral and use a bottom machine to start searching for a show of fish, ledges and sharp depth changes. Navionics.com would be a good, free place to start with community numbers already listed. Over here typically the deeper the better the viz. 60 fsw is usually the tipping point between decent and bad viz.

Here's a list of artificials in Manatee and Pinellas counties.

http://www.floridagofishing.com/reefs/cw-reefs-manatee-county.html

http://www.pinellascounty.org/reef/pdf/ReefLocationsCoordinates.pdf