Suggestions for FL Keys Diving/Snorkeling - near Marathon please!

ReefGirlSara

ReefGirlSara

Member
I am going to the keys next week. We are taking the boat, but we want to stay somewhat near Marathon so we don't spend all our $ on gas. :)

I've never been diving in the keys - I have been told to go to Loue Key, but I don't know any details about it. I will be there for a week so I'd like a lot of suggestions. We want to try to get some lobsters, and I also wanted to find out about collection laws for coral...I have heard zoanthids are ok to take home, but I don't know about anything else (other than I know no SPS for sure). If you have any references to Florida law publications that would be very helpful in convincing the boyfriend it really is ok. :)

Thanks!
-Sara
 
Looe Key is sweet. If you are in Marathon, Sombrero is great too. Plus, Sombrero has a light house which is very cool. Coffins Patch is supposedly very good too, but I've never been there.

As for collecting, all of those places are off limits. No stony corals, no sea fans.

there are a cluster of small islands on the Atlantic side of 7 mile bridge. I've collected zoos there before. Also. blue legs and emerald crabs. the link below is the regs for collecting. Ornamentals are at the bottom of the page. You will need a saltwater fishing license.

http://myfwc.com/marine/Docs/July2008RegsChart.pdf

Have Fun!!!!
 
Thank you very much for the info!! I did not see any reference to zoos on that chart - they aren't considered the same as octocorals are they? I thought those were sea fans and stuff like that. If the invert limit is 20 do you think you would get in trouble for taking more than 20 blue legs? I have heard that sometimes you can find a ton of them.
 
The problem with zoos is each individual polyp is considered 1 invert and applies to your total limit. And no, you would not get in trouble for taking 20 blue legs.

Best time for blue legs is at low tide when the flats around the islands are exposed. You will find them in the tidal pools mixed with snails. Watch them for a minute and you can tell which shells are snails and which are crabs by their movement. If you listen, you can hear the pistol shrimp popping in the tide pools too..
 
If you get caught with more then 20 animals total there is a $500 fine so do not take more then the bag limit per day. Zoos are not considered octocorals, but you can NOT take ANY rock with the colony or again if you get pulled over it is a $500 fine. It isn't easy to get the colonies off in a single piece, but what I do is use a flat bladed dive knife and scrape some of the polyps off without taking any rock with them. There are several octocorals that do not do well in tanks and if you have to hold them for a while before you return home do not take them. The bright purple sea rod and the slimy sea plume do well, and they will transport well.

You need a bucket and a battery operated air pump, it is a law that even for bait you need to have some form of water circulation, but I'm not sure where Archer is, when you leave the keyes to go home it is better to bring the fish in fish bags like when you take them home from the fish store rather then in the bucket. If it is only a few hour drive the bucket is fine, but fish and inverts do better (they can stay in the bags for more then 2 days if the temp is stable) when bagged. Just bag the fish up and put them in a styrofoam cooler to keep them stable and go home keeping the cooler shut calms the animals down so resist the urge to check on them.

Just for a reference, I have been in the fish import/export business most of my adult life, and for the last 13 years I have collected almost all of my animals, so I have some experience getting animals home and across the states. Just get a fishing license, and when you buy it get a copy of the laws, in the center of the booklet is the tropical laws (same ones on the link above) and bring that with you as a reference. Stay out of the parks and have a great time.
 
Sorry, octocorals are gorgonians, which does include sea fans. Only the sea fans are prohibited. Most commonly in that area are the sea whips and sea plumes. Most common colors are brown and purple. Stop by one of the dive shops on the way down and grab the ID books by Ned Deloach. Great books to ID corals, fish and inverts in the Keys. FYI, I usually stop at Divers Outlet in Florida City right after i get off the FL Turnpike. It will be on your right, just past the Burger King.
 
Thanks guys for all the info!! I will definitely check out Looe Key, Sombrero, Coffins Patch, and the islands by 7 mile bridge.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for zooanthid collecting? Or how about lobster catching??

Thanks!!
 
Oh, and do you guys know if there is a different limit for what you have in your possession? Like if I catch 20 per day, and my boyfriend catches 20 per day, and then at the end of the week we have like 200 crabs, zooanthids, etc., if we are pulled over as we are leaving and they look in my cooler, will I be fined for having more than 20 per person in our possession?
 
I'm not 100% sure, but what I believe is that you can only be in possession of a bag limit, that means that even if you collect over several days you can only have 20 animals in possession at any one time. So that means you can only have 40 animals between the 2 of you. Another thing, though I suppose it depends on the officer who pulls you over (I have been in contact with many great F&W officers as well as a couple of bad ones) most are very reasonable and do not count each zooanthid polyp as an individual, but as a single colony. Jdhuyvetter is correct, each polyp could be considered a single animal, but most of them know about aquariums and are reasonable, I've been checked and they are usually great people, but that does not give any one permission to take advantage of the laws.

One thing that has kept me sane when collecting is that I decide what I want to take before I go collecting. There is always the chance that I find something really neat that isn't on my list, but otherwise I try to collect things that I really like, such as pygmy angels, or that I don't want to spend the money on such as queen angel. To go to the keyes to collect blue leg hermits which can be purchased for 35 cents isn't why I'm there. Even though the pygmy is an inexpensive fish, it is cool to say I caught that myself, where as it isn't worth my time to go and collect 20 bluelegs. I hope that made some sense as to what I'm trying to say, collecting some zoos is a better use of your 20 animals then something you could buy cheaply at your LFS.

The reef series ID books that jdhuyvetter mentioned by Paul Humann and Ned DeLoach are great and I bring my copies on every collecting trip.
 
thank you very much for the info! Definitely my main goal is not to collect blue legs - but I just want to be clear on the rules in case I find a bunch of them while looking for other things!

Does anyone have any suggestions for where to go and how to catch lobsters? We did it a while back, but only found one small lobster and we just let it go.
 
If you scuba dive they are more common, they are easy to spot, just look for the antenna which stand out and stick up from the reef. As far as catching them there are several types of snares or nets that can be purchased, but I just use my hands and have a lobster bag to put the catch in.
 
I wish I was going as well. I have been diving down in the keys, but never for collecting corals or fish. Sounds like a great time. You should post some photos of what you collect.
 
another vote for sombrero. Very nice place.

Coffins patch is nice as well but we always snorkel not scuba and it tends to be to deep to really enjoy snorkeling.

As far as catching lobsters just look for holes say a prayer and stick your hand in there or.... get a tickle stick and try to flush them out. My dad always just reaches in hes nuts lol. We usually stick to the banks of US-1 and actually don't have that bad of luck getting them.

I miss that place lol. I lived on key west for 7 years as a kid. Try to get down there every year but couldnt this year due to $$ issues.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

G
Back after 20 years - cycling advice
Replies
3
Views
81
griss
griss
D
Help with new tank cycling
Replies
12
Views
1K
wvned
wvned
M
20 gallon stocking ideas
Replies
9
Views
2K
MC Blowfish
M
R
some random questions
Replies
1
Views
200
SantaMonica
S
Paul B
Think like a fish
Replies
1
Views
1K
Vinny Kreyling
Vinny Kreyling
Back
Top