Florida Keys snorkeling locations

[Ron Reefman]

One of the coolest things that has ever happened to me in my almost 15 years in the hobby, happened today. I was doing some maintenance in my 125g DT (I have an algae issue). I went to grab a wad of hairy algae off a rock that has a couple of RBTA’s on it. As my hand got close, I saw something move and disappear into the sand next to the rock. It happened so fast and I wasn’t really looking at the sand, but at the algae on the rock, that I had no idea what it was. I took a small frag out of the tank and went to the spare room where I do fragging and other maintenance. When I came back out with the cleaned up frag I looked to see if there was anything there… or if my mind was playing a trick on me. But no, it wasn’t my imagination. It has a central disk that’s about 1” or a little bigger and has 7 to 9 VERY branchy legs that when fully extended make it about 3” to 4” in diameter. I didn’t get to see it very long as it disappeared into the sand again pretty quickly, but I was pretty sure it was a basket star! BTW, I've NEVER put a basket star in my tank on purpose! It must have hitchhiked in on something I collected in the Florida Keys or the beaches of Sanibel! Here is a very short You Tube video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIIDN8VmIB0&feature=youtu.be


Here is a still of it.



And the next time it was out I got a real treat! I was ready to shoot more video and I got over a minute of it eating! The video is a bit choppy as it had to be reduced in size to email from my cell phone to my computer. Here is a 90 second You Tube video, I hope you enjoy it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClunEJfVF7M&feature=youtu.be

 

[ace_92101]

One of the coolest things that has ever happened to me in my almost 15 years in the hobby, happened today. I was doing some maintenance in my 125g DT (I have an algae issue). I went to grab a wad of hairy algae off a rock that has a couple of RBTA's on it. As my hand got close, I saw something move and disappear into the sand next to the rock. It happened so fast and I wasn't really looking at the sand, but at the algae on the rock, that I had no idea what it was. I took a small frag out of the tank and went to the spare room where I do fragging and other maintenance. When I came back out with the cleaned up frag I looked to see if there was anything there"¦ or if my mind was playing a trick on me. But no, it wasn't my imagination. It has a central disk that's about 1" or a little bigger and has 7 to 9 VERY branchy legs that when fully extended make it about 3" to 4" in diameter. I didn't get to see it very long as it disappeared into the sand again pretty quickly, but I was pretty sure it was a basket star! BTW, I've NEVER put a basket star in my tank on purpose! It must have hitchhiked in on something I collected in the Florida Keys or the beaches of Sanibel! Here is a very short You Tube video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIIDN8VmIB0&feature=youtu.be


Here is a still of it.



And the next time it was out I got a real treat! I was ready to shoot more video and I got over a minute of it eating! The video is a bit choppy as it had to be reduced in size to email from my cell phone to my computer. Here is a 90 second You Tube video, I hope you enjoy it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClunEJfVF7M&feature=youtu.be

Interesting. They look a little like stinging hydroids.

 

[Ron Reefman]

ace, I also posted this in the 'Inverts" forum and mndfreeze suggested that it might be, and I think I agree, that it's a sea cucumber. The mouth/feeding parts that this kind of cucumber puts up out of the sand looks very much like the basket star, so they could easily be confused. The way they eat and clean off the tentacles is the same.

But the research I did says basket stars tend to find a place to attach and stay put for long periods of time. The sea cucumber moves around under the sand. The star can curl up into a ball and make itself small, but the cucumber can pull in all the feeding tentacles into it's mouth and disappear into the sand, which is exactly what this one did in the first video.

I'm cleaning up an algae issue in the 125g tank so I can start selling off the corals (I have tons of zoas) in the tank that this animal is in. I want to downsize by selling off the 125g and just keep the 50g cube that is currently sharing the same sump. So I'd love to 'collect' this guy and move it to the 50g which has a deeper sand bed that is newer and sugar fine rather than the older and very crusty sand that is in the 125g.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Looking forward to our first Keys snorkel trip of the year in 2 weeks. I hope the weather is good as we have a couple of new sites we want to check out. A friend turned me on to a shallow area with a small island that he says is loaded with rock flower anemones.

 

[water is wet]

What dates exactly? We are going to be down from the 25th-2. Going to the dry tortugas on the 29th I can't wait for that it'll be our first trip out.

 

[Ron Reefman]

We're driving down to Marathon on the 22nd and driving home the 25th. So it sounds like we'll be tourists passing each other on Friday.

Where are you guys staying in the Keys? We will be at the Blackfin Resort in Marathon (it's a clean mom & pop type of motel with a very tiny beach and a small marina with a boat ramp.

I hope you get good weather and have fun at the Dry Tortugas and Ft Jefferson. The fort is an amazing old place and the snorkeling around the fort is fun, lots of small coral heads full of gorgonians and sea fans! We're planing a trip out there to spend a couple of nights camping out so we have more time to explore and get to see the night sky while 70 miles away from the lights of Key West. Looking forward to seeing the Milky Way stretched out across the sky on a moonless night!

 

[fishinbuc]

The wife and I stayed a few days down at Bahia Honda a week ago. Their snorkel trip boat isn’t up and running yet, so we decided just to snorkel around just off the beach side campsites.

Here’s a little video I shot with a couple GoPros.

https://youtu.be/jyartZnIZLQ

 

[Ron Reefman]

The wife and I stayed a few days down at Bahia Honda a week ago. Their snorkel trip boat isn't up and running yet, so we decided just to snorkel around just off the beach side campsites.
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Nice video clips. Lots of fish and fun with the juvenile lobsters!

Did you try snorkeling on the ocean side or was the visibility bad on that side? We like it because there is a lot more sponges and gorgonian corals. But we've also snorkeled where you did when the ocean side visibility was worse.

 

[SaltySully]

Nice video clips. Lots of fish and fun with the juvenile lobsters!

Did you try snorkeling on the ocean side or was the visibility bad on that side? We like it because there is a lot more sponges and gorgonian corals. But we've also snorkeled where you did when the ocean side visibility was worse.

I believe the ocean side of Bahia Honda is still shut down from the hurricane.

Sent from my LGMS550 using Tapatalk

 

[Ron Reefman]

I knew that SandSpur beach, oceanside toward the SE part of the island, was closed. But I didn't know the better snorkel area at the SW part of the island was closed as well. Thanks.

I'll be there in a couple of weeks and will report back about everywhere we go (or can't go).

 

[SaltySully]

Here are some photos I took of the Key West side of Bahia Honda channel bridge.
I am 6' 10" tall for a hight reference.

Sent from my LGMS550 using Tapatalk

 

[water is wet]

We're driving down to Marathon on the 22nd and driving home the 25th. So it sounds like we'll be tourists passing each other on Friday.

Where are you guys staying in the Keys? We will be at the Blackfin Resort in Marathon (it's a clean mom & pop type of motel with a very tiny beach and a small marina with a boat ramp.

I hope you get good weather and have fun at the Dry Tortugas and Ft Jefferson. The fort is an amazing old place and the snorkeling around the fort is fun, lots of small coral heads full of gorgonians and sea fans! We're planing a trip out there to spend a couple of nights camping out so we have more time to explore and get to see the night sky while 70 miles away from the lights of Key West. Looking forward to seeing the Milky Way stretched out across the sky on a moonless night!

We were originally going to be staying at sunshine key RV resort and marina which is right next to Bahia Honda but they are still renovating so they transferred us to their sister park at Fiesta Key.

I've been watching the weather report down there and we are considering rescheduling for later in the year. Since most of Bahia Honda is closed and the rv park we like canceled it's making me think we may just do that.

 

[Ron Reefman]

We were originally going to be staying at sunshine key RV resort and marina which is right next to Bahia Honda but they are still renovating so they transferred us to their sister park at Fiesta Key.

I've been watching the weather report down there and we are considering rescheduling for later in the year. Since most of Bahia Honda is closed and the rv park we like canceled it's making me think we may just do that.

That may not be a bad idea. Things are still in recovery mode. And we are going because we have places to go that don't require infrastructure as we get there in an 11' Zodiac. LOL! And the water is only now starting to warm up, thus the start of the rainy season. In July and Aug the water is way more comfortable and the corals and other inverts are way more plentiful and active.

The down side to the delay is the weather. Starting about now is the rainy season and afternoon thunderstorms become fairly common. Even here in Cape Coral we had close to no rain at all in April and the first 2 weeks of May. But just like somebody threw a switch, it's the rainy season. Sunday we had 2" of rain, Monday we had 1/2" and Tuesday night we got 2 1/2" of rain. And after months of 0% to 10% daily chance of rain, we now have anywhere from 30% to 90% chance until late October! But they aren't all day rains, they are usually smaller thunderstorms in the afternoon and the usually are gone by midnight. We go in the summer and snorkel all morning and then watch the weather radar on a smart phone as small storms pop up in the area.

 

[water is wet]

Ron, did you end up going? I rescheduled for October.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Ron, did you end up going? I rescheduled for October.

No, the predicted weather was not at all favorable to snorkeling (rain and high wind). October should give you a good chance at good weather and warm water. We still need to reschedule our Dry Tortugas trip that we had to cancel last fall due to Hurricane Irma. We intend to camp out there for 1 or 2 nights so we can snorkel a lot, have lots of time to see Fort Jefferson and maybe get a clear night to get a good view of the Milky Way (Key West lights are 70 miles to the east).

We are going to the Middle Keys next weekend with about 12 to 15 members from our local aquarium club. We do this as a club 'field trip' almost every year. We do some collecting at 'off the beach' sites and also make a trip out to the big reef on a charter. This year I think we'll have several members with small boats so we can try doing some snorkeling at islands that are off shore and have more pristine conditions.

 

[Tylers_reef]

Hello, sorry to go sorta off topic but does anyone here have locations to find rock flower nems around the key largo area?

 

[Ron Reefman]

I don't, but then I don't snorkel much up that way. I know of a few spots down in the Middle Keys. But you do realize that the rock flowers you'll find in the shallow water while snorkeling won't be anything like the crazy colors in the marketplace online, right? I've never seen any like them in 14 years of snorkeling.

I do know a licensed collector who does a lot of great colorful rock flowers. He won't tell me where exactly, but he says they are down 40' to 60' and he scuba dives to collect them. He also says they are not anywhere close to shore.

I'll be out snorkeling the Middle Keys this coming weekend with our local aquarium club.

 

[Tylers_reef]

I don't, but then I don't snorkel much up that way. I know of a few spots down in the Middle Keys. But you do realize that the rock flowers you'll find in the shallow water while snorkeling won't be anything like the crazy colors in the marketplace online, right? I've never seen any like them in 14 years of snorkeling.

I do know a licensed collector who does a lot of great colorful rock flowers. He won't tell me where exactly, but he says they are down 40' to 60' and he scuba dives to collect them. He also says they are not anywhere close to shore.

I'll be out snorkeling the Middle Keys this coming weekend with our local aquarium club.

Ok, I saw you mentioned an island in Florida bay earlier that had like a drop off covered in them. Could you tell me where that is exactly?

 

[Ron Reefman]

I'm in the Keys this weekend. My wife and I snorkeled the island this morning. I even collected a rock flower anemone, green and white tentacles, white face and a very purple mouth.

When I get home on Monday I'll do a google earth image showing where the island is. It doesn't have as many as it did many years ago. But my wife and I agree, there were probably somewhere between 300 and 500 and the island is only the size of a big house! It's on the Florida Bay side of Vaca Key (Marathon) and just a few hundred yards to the northwest off the tip of Crane Point. The nems are all up close to the vertical wall where the island meets the water. But 99.99% of them are well attached to the rocks with their feet attached in deep holes. So a hammer and a small chisel may be required. I happened to find the one I collected attached to the surface of a big rock just a few feet from the island and it wasn't in a hole, so it was easier to remove! LOL! My wife got a nice photo and I'll post that up as well.

 

[Tylers_reef]

I'm in the Keys this weekend. My wife and I snorkeled the island this morning. I even collected a rock flower anemone, green and white tentacles, white face and a very purple mouth.

When I get home on Monday I'll do a google earth image showing where the island is. It doesn't have as many as it did many years ago. But my wife and I agree, there were probably somewhere between 300 and 500 and the island is only the size of a big house! It's on the Florida Bay side of Vaca Key (Marathon) and just a few hundred yards to the northwest off the tip of Crane Point. The nems are all up close to the vertical wall where the island meets the water. But 99.99% of them are well attached to the rocks with their feet attached in deep holes. So a hammer and a small chisel may be required. I happened to find the one I collected attached to the surface of a big rock just a few feet from the island and it wasn't in a hole, so it was easier to remove! LOL! My wife got a nice photo and I'll post that up as well.

Awesome, I'm in Key largo now so my only other question is. What kind of habitat would I be looking for that would hold them?