Key Largo, Florida Diving - The Molasses Reef - and Blue Heron Bridge

While temperatures have been below freezing in many areas up north of the country, we're heading down to the Sunshine State. It's a bit of a ride from the Washington D.C. area, but it's worth it for anyone who wants to dive in the U.S. We're diving with Sea Dwellers Dive Center. They're located oceanside in Key Largo Fisheries Marina in the center of Key Largo. It's always a joy listening to the captain's briefing before we head out. When you guys are on the reef, no touching the coral. You divers, make sure you all maintain buoyancy control. Don't let your fins touch the coral. Don't bring me and Nate back any seashells. We've got lots of them at home, so we don't need any souvenirs from the reef. Sound good? Look, but don't touch. Right? We're going to head out and do a couple of sites this morning out in the sanctuary. Site one we'll do is a place called Snapper Ledge. It's a pretty good spot. Hopefully you guys will see some big stuff there, maybe some sharks. Site two we'll do a place we call Pickles Reef. It's the site of one of our shipwrecks. Not much of the wreck left, but there's some remnants of the barge left there. I'll give you guys some more details on that site once we get there. Game faces on. Let me see game faces. Game faces. There you go. Good game faces. Alright, you guys ready to go have fun? On average, it takes 45 minutes to get from the dock to the best Key Largo dive site's reef. The boats depart from behind the Holiday Inn Key Largo. They go on the most popular Key Largo dive sites as far north as the French Reef to Snapper Ledge, south in the Molasses Reef, and everywhere in between. We mostly dive the Molasses Reef and the French Reef in these dives, but there are tons of other dive sites along the Keys that provide beautiful diving memories for all types of divers. The Molasses Reef has over 30 places for boats to moor. The reef area ranges from 15 feet near the tower out to 70 feet on the seaward side of the reef. This reef often has the largest number of large fish and pelagic species, but also can have current, which is probably why the pelagic species are there. The reefs in the Key Largo are all around 30 feet deep. They're suitable for new divers. We come here not just to appreciate the beauty of the reef, but for the great video and photography material that's available. From the moment we jump in the water, we can see the fantastic wildlife from the top to the bottom of the reef. When the current is a bit rough, the sand alleys between big coral head walls offer a shelter for both the marine life and us divers. The reef systems are largely spur and groove, and at some points are only feet away from the surface. The great visibility allows the sunlight to bring up the vivid colors across the ocean flora and fauna. Trumpetfish is an interesting species that we encounter in this reef. Trumpetfish are closely related to pipefish and seahorses. They're very long, narrow fish with tubular-shaped bodies, and will hang out vertically in branching coral to mimic the coral and seek camouflage. Colors of the trumpetfish can vary from reds, blues, greens, and yellows to blend in with the colors of the coral. The waters off the Florida Keys aren't quite like anywhere else in the world. Consider the numbers. Nearly 3,000 square nautical miles of marine sanctuary, home to 6,000 marine species, a shipwreck trail with 9 historic wrecks and an estimated 1,000 shipwrecks total. We certainly should mention that it's the third largest barrier reef in the world, the largest reef in this continent. The spotted porcupinefish is commonly mistaken for the nearly identical pufferfish. While these fish are related, they belong to different evolutionary families. They have an elongated body with a rounded head, large round eyes, and a large mouth that is usually left open, making them look like they're smiling all the time. Spotted porcupinefish are found in tropical and subtropical seas around the world. This species is the only one to live in the Mediterranean Sea. In the National Marine Sanctuary System, we might find them in Hawaiian Islands Humback Whale, Florida Keys, Flower Garden Banks, and all of the West Coast Sanctuaries. They tend to live along coral reefs, underwater caves, or other rocky areas that offer shelter. Spotted porcupinefish are not commercially fished because of their poisonous flesh, but they are caught for the aquarium trade. The blue tang surgeonfish, with its deep blue to purple body, has the most distinctive coloration of any surgeonfish in the western Atlantic. It can be found in many shallow, inshore environments, including reefs, rocky bottoms, and grass beds. This surgeonfish feeds on algae and plays an important role on reefs by keeping fast-growing algae from overtaking the coral. Like all surgeonfishes, this species has a special spine on either side of the base of the tail, resembling a surgeon's scalpel. These sharp spines are capable of causing deep wounds and may be used by males competing for territory or as a defense against predators. Fish seem to like the shelter that these scattered shipwreck remains provide. They will have their mouths facing into the current to catch drifting food easily. Shipwrecks provide a hospitable environment for a variety of marine life. The walls, rooms, and compartments of a sunken ship provide protection against currents, light, and predators, allowing fish to thrive. At the same time, they offer hiding places for fish looking to ambush prey. If you want to know where the current is coming from, look at which way the wildlife on a shipwreck is pointing. The beak chub is a member of the sea chub family that is also known as the Bermuda chub. The beak chub is found in shallow coastal waters over grass, sand, or rocky bottoms adjacent to coral reefs at depths up to 40 feet. It's a schooling species that moves quickly and is often abundant in clear water around tropical reefs. Chubs love to hang around boats. We typically see schools of them around the boat when we get in the water and at the end of the dive when we get ready to get back on the boat. The greater barracuda can be a scary encounter with its rows of sharp, pointy teeth and slim, silvery body. The barracuda is known to be an aggressive, dominant predator and often relies on the surprise tactic in order to catch its prey. The barracuda can swim over 25 miles per hour in short bursts. It does this to overtake prey that may be trying to swim away. Because its body is long and slender, the barracuda can easily sneak through the reefs while hunting. Having the lower jaw jut out slightly and unequally sized, fang-like teeth has earned it the name, Tiger of the Sea. The barracuda has poor eyesight and is very attracted to reflective, metallic objects. It will think they are spotting silver fish, which is what it most commonly eats. Remember to avoid wearing earrings or other jewelry while swimming in cloudy water. Atlantic spadefish are found inshore during the summer but move offshore in temperate areas during the winter. They are found inshore and nearshore near reefs, wrecks, buoys and pilings. Adults congregate in large schools consisting of up to 500 individuals. We see this small school sheltering in between these big rocks due to a bit of rough current. When you dive the Keys, you're certain to meet this colorful, disc-shaped beauty. French angelfish usually travel in coral reefs near sponges. They are strongly territorial and will fight with neighboring pairs over areas. Adults form pairs, staying with their mate for life. These pairs search the corals for food during the day and hide from predators at night in cracks around the reefs. Despite being very territorial, adult French angelfish have been known to be very curious towards divers. The most popular angelfish is the queen angelfish for its bright yellow, blue and green colors with a spot on the forehead that many say resembles a crown. Meet the southern stingray. Stingrays are some of the most mystical creatures in the sea and they thrive in the waters of the Florida Keys. Stingrays are a majestic sight to behold in the water. They're found typically on the seafloor. They burrow under the sand, leaving only their eyes and tails visible while feeding on mollusks, crustaceans and sometimes small fish. Pay attention here as this stingray tries to grab a fish by surprise as it swam over it. Beyond scuba diving, the Florida Keys is a community that gives back. Both Reef and Coral Restoration Foundation have headquarters in the Florida Keys and have been pioneers in marine conservation initiatives. Whether you're looking to have a memorable dive experience or just looking to get involved, this is the place to be. One of the most common fish we see in the reef is the grunt fish. There are two types, the French grunt and the blue-striped grunt. These fish are aptly named because of the grunting sound they make by grinding their teeth. Typically yellow in color, look for identifying marks on the blue-striped grunt such as the blue stripes in brown tail and dorsal fin and darker yellow stripes going in various directions on the French grunt. Butterfly fish are some of the most beautiful and exotic colored fish. There are at least 114 species of butterfly fish. They resemble their equally recognizable cousins, the angelfish. These cute, colorful discs spend their days tirelessly pecking at coral and rock formations with their long, thin snouts in search of coral polyps, worms, and other small invertebrates. Some butterfly fish species travel in small schools, although many are solitary until they find a partner with whom they may mate for life. Many have striped features as in the banded butterfly fish. The four-eyed butterfly fish has a spot on each side near the end of its body, resembling a third and fourth eye. Butterfly fish also have a valuable role on the reef by acting as a cleaner fish for larger species like grunts, tangs, and parrotfish. This sort of relationship where one party benefits from this kind of interaction is known as commensalism, one of the four types of symbiotic relationship. Watch here as these stationed grunts open their mouth as the butterfly fish swims around to inspect them. They know it's cleaning time as soon as it steps in front of them. Butterfly fish are found around the world on coral reefs and are brightly colored, often with some combination of yellow, black, and white. Along the years, we've been diving in other places in the States. Sites on the West Coast offer different bottom profile and different marine life. On the Gulf side, the wrecks offer some marine diversity as well. The Carolinas offer great wreck diving among tens of sand tiger sharks and large animals, but none of those match the abundance of colorful fish and other marine life that we witness when diving in Key Largo. In every little community behind every rock, fish stop by and hover mid-water to get cleaned up by other little fish. It helps the cleaners get free food while the fish being serviced get rid of their parasites and unwanted debris. Speaking of feeding, during one of the dives, we had the great pleasure to witness a great moment. This young green sea turtle didn't seem bothered being recorded having a special meal. While most sea turtles are considered to be omnivores, the green sea turtle is largely known as an herbivore. Our turtle friend here looks like a juvenile. As juveniles, green sea turtles are known to be more omnivorous than their adulthood diets. Jellyfish tentacles can cause a serious sting for humans, but turtles are reptiles and their scales provide the necessary protection when eating a jellyfish. The turtle's only sensitive spot is its eyes, but it closes its eyes while munching away. Sea turtles seem to desperately rely on jellyfish populations for their sustenance. In numerous occasions, sea turtles were observed munching on plastic bags they mistook for jellyfish. Beside destroying other aspects of the environment, this is a tiny little reason for all of us not to leave plastic bags hanging around to end up somewhere on the water. Sea turtles are not the only jellyfish predators. Other animals in the marine environment have been observed to prey on jellyfishes. They usually do so when their primary source of food becomes scarce or when they want to enjoy a little treat like these filefish. What you see called Florida lobster is otherwise known as spiny lobster and is distinguished by the spines on its body, hooked horns over its eyes, prominent antennae, and lack of pinching claws. Adult spiny lobsters make their homes in the protected crevices and caverns of coral reefs, sponge flats, and other hard-bottomed areas. Lobsters stay in their dens during daylight hours to avoid predators. Snapper's ledge is a lovely dive that is sure to never disappoint. The ledge is in about 30 feet of water and is roughly 5 feet high. Along the ledge, there are lots of big schools of grunts and snapper and friendly nurse sharks taking naps. No Key Largo diving adventure is complete without a shark sighting to round it out. The nurse shark is the most common type of shark around here. It's a nocturnal, docile creature. Nurse sharks usually rest in groups during the day and then hunt at night. They will most commonly eat bottom-dwelling crustaceans and smaller fish. This nurse shark must have ended its nap and decided to go swim around or is looking for a quiet spot to take a nap. There are many varieties of groupers throughout these waters, all characterized by a downturned mouth and thick lips. Groupers can change colors easily to match their surroundings and the color of reefs. This Nassau grouper comes to hide or rest behind these fans, but this doesn't last long. A yellowtail damselfish, known to be aggressive and territorial, comes out to oust the grouper that's 50 times its size. One of the highlights of this dive is coming face-to-face with a goliath grouper. It's a physically massive, imposing yet harmless creature. The elegance of its movement while it's contemplating you watching it turns it to a memorable magic moment. The goliath is predatory in nature but will not harm divers as they watch their chameleon-like colors change while swimming by. What you will witness here is a rare capture of the grouper's great camouflage skill. It doesn't notice me closing in on it from the back, and when seeing another diver in front of it, it goes to hide among the soft coral sea fans. Not only does it lift its tail to mimic the shape of the fan, but it swims side-to-side mimicking the movement of the fans in the current. Now how cool is that? There are many varieties of parrotfish found on the coral reefs of the Florida Keys. They are easily spotted either by their unique coloring or by the clouds of waste that trail behind them as they swim. Parrotfish owe their name to the shape of their mouth. Instead of teeth, they have two beak-like plates, like parrots. A parrotfish's diet is primarily algae. To eat, they use their beak to pulverize coral to reach the algae-filled polyps hiding in the coral reefs. Sand is ground up, undigested remains of coral. So thanks to parrotfish, we're able to have sand on the seafloor, sandbars, and beaches. Unlike other parrotfish species, the midnight parrotfish retains its coloring through its juvenile and adult stages of life. Both male and female midnight parrotfish exhibit this coloring. The midnight parrotfish can take up to 16,000 bites a day as an adult and 28,000 a day as a juvenile. By feeding on the algae, midnight parrotfish help keep ecosystems balanced by preventing algae overgrowth, which can suffocate coral. In numerous occasions, we noticed parrotfish swimming along with a remora hitching a ride on either their back or their underbelly. Not sure if they like it, but in some cases, we saw a parrotfish acting a bit annoyed as it was trying to scrape the remora away by scrubbing its body against rocks. Molasses reef also has acquired its own catchphrase among the dive crews. Molasses always delivers. The list of potential fauna sightings on any given reef dive is plentiful. If you keep your eyes open and head on a swivel, there's no telling what you will swim across. While big life can never be guaranteed, it's rare that someone spends an hour in the water and doesn't see at least one shark, ray, or turtle. The reef sharks are so used to divers that if the diver isn't trying to chase them down, the sharks will occasionally hang out in the same area for long periods of time. Our regular boat dive trips have come to an end. This adventure was certainly worth the drive. The weather has been great all week long. Sea Dweller's crew has been outstanding. The captain has even granted us a visit to a dive site we requested. We now need to go back and relax before our next dive. Crystal clear waters, beautiful coral reefs, and fascinating marine life are all the reasons that Key Largo is the diving capital of the world. Alright guys, I'm putting the landing gear down. About time I started getting everything taken care of. Situated and all that. We just want to say thank you one more time. If you have anything that you thought we could have done differently or done better, we would love to hear it. We do genuinely want that feedback so we can improve in the future. Thank you guys. Thank you. One of the other highlights of this adventure was the night dive. Night diving in Key Largo is as good as it gets. We watched the sunset, golden skies, at the horizon while riding to the dive site. Once we jump on the water, we start scanning the bottom with our dive lights. The shadows and the darkness between the rocks give us this sense of mystery and surprise that make the night dive thrilling. You won't see what's in a crack or under a rock until your dive light reveals it. The light brings up this vivid green skin of the moray eel against the red of the corals around it. Lobsters are now out of their dens to hunt for their meal. When getting too close to them, these lobsters act half scared, half curious. They seem to want to get away, but then they walk back to me and check the camera with their antennas. There were several turtles roaming around the reef at night, but this juvenile turtle decided to shelter under this rock. It took a little rest after which it decided to elegantly swim away into the darkness of the ocean. This was a great dive. We certainly will ask for more night dives the next time we're down here. We are wrapping up our Key Largo stay with this great night dive. Unfortunately, technology doesn't always cooperate well. Most of the footage we recorded on this night dive got corrupted. We are heading back to shore to get ready for the next day. Our destination today is about two and a half hours north of Key Largo. We're heading towards the famous Blue Heron Bridge. This dive site has been praised by so many divers. It's been called the best shore diving in the Americas, Florida's exotic critter capital, and the muck diving capital of the world. We have visited this great offshore dive site a couple times before. When we drove here, we visited the east side of the bridge. This time around, we decided to dive the west side. As usual, we get on the beach and wait for the high tide. Once we descend in a few feet of water, the first host we see is a little yellow stingray. Yellow stingrays like sandy, muddy, or seagrass bottoms. At first glance to the untrained eye, the underwater terrain of Blue Heron Bridge does not breathe as a beautiful reef with flowing purple sea fans that Florida is so well known for. Instead, it looks like sand and rubble or fields of hairy brown algae. A filefish comes to welcome us. We follow it as it swims toward one of the bridge pilings. Giant schools of tropical fish flow beneath the bridge and between these pilings. That's where most of the fish hang out. While we swim around the base of the pilings, tens of juvenile species swirl along the little crevices and from beneath the rocks. Some of the more interesting bottom dwellers in this region are the predators that rely on camouflage to help them remain unseen. They lie in wait to ambush their prey at the most opportune time. Among this list of specialists is the odd-shaped fish, the scorpionfish. We've come to dive the Blue Heron Bridge a couple times before. We fell in love with the place after the first dive. In the previous dives, we tried hard to capture a seahorse in these waters. We heard that they were abundant around here, but we'd never seen them. Well, this time we were lucky. In about 10 feet of water among the seagrass, here it is, a long-snout seahorse, difficult to spot since it blends in with the grassy floor. As we're observing this seahorse, a worm rolls in the shot, taking over the scene by disappearing inside a little hole in the sand. Perhaps one of the most treasured finds at the Blue Heron Bridge are the seahorses. Many of them found on this dive like to hang out over the west side. The hodgepodge brown, pink, and orange-hued sponge growth lining the columns, we observe a variety of small crustaceans like arrow crabs and banded coral shrimp. The engine that drives both the abundant submarine life and clean water around the Blue Heron Bridge is the water that pours in through the Lake Worth Inlet during the incoming tide. Due to the bridge's somewhat proximity to this inlet, tidal flow can get quite strong, namely during the middle stage of the incoming rising tide. The adventure comes to an end. These were the last dives of the year. We hope to come back to explore more dive sites soon.