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Has the snorkeling returned to normal #159199
04/19/2018 11:06 AM
04/19/2018 11:06 AM
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 225
Dallas
C
camelot Offline OP
Traveler
camelot  Offline OP
Traveler
C
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 225
Dallas
Have not seen recent comments about quality of snorkeling now -- places like diamond reef, Great Dog, the Indians etc -- any recent visitor updates?

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Re: Has the snorkeling returned to normal [Re: camelot] #159202
04/19/2018 11:13 AM
04/19/2018 11:13 AM
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 108
JlarsBVI Offline
Traveler
JlarsBVI  Offline
Traveler
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 108
I was there in January and the Indians were just as beautiful as ever!

Re: Has the snorkeling returned to normal [Re: camelot] #159222
04/19/2018 01:22 PM
04/19/2018 01:22 PM
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 559
Apex, NC
agrimsrud Offline
Traveler
agrimsrud  Offline
Traveler
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 559
Apex, NC
Was there first week of November. IHMO snorkeling was better than usual. It's like the marine life had missed having visitors and they were lined up on parade.


Life's short - sail more!
Re: Has the snorkeling returned to normal [Re: JlarsBVI] #159224
04/19/2018 02:21 PM
04/19/2018 02:21 PM
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 17,029
Tortola/ Sonoma, California
Manpot Offline
Traveler
Manpot  Offline
Traveler
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 17,029
Tortola/ Sonoma, California
Back from six weeks fixing CRC and one thing we did notice was the depletion of the bird population and the massive increase in butterflies!

Re: Has the snorkeling returned to normal [Re: camelot] #159290
04/20/2018 01:38 PM
04/20/2018 01:38 PM
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 160
Texas
Testudo Offline
Traveler
Testudo  Offline
Traveler
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 160
Texas
I'm not sure what normal is, since I haven't snorkeled the BVI for at least 10 years, but last week I hit a few spots. Disclosure, I am a snorkel snob and I'm used to much healthier reef systems, fish counts and overall diversity, but still enjoyed what I saw.

Spring Bay - A few fish (a school of six Honeycomb Trunkfish, Southern Ray, Sergeant Majors, etc...) and some recovering corals
Leverick Bay (along the rocky shore) - Starfish, small and juvenile fish (Damsels, Wrasse, Butterflyfish, Barracuda), an Indigo Hamlet (don't usually sea around my Cayman snorkel sites), Trunkfish, Mahogany Snapper, Sea Cucumbers, a few Cushion Stars, nice anemones and my first Arrow Crab ever!
Marina Cay - A Spotted Eagle Ray and some purple Sea Nettle Jellyfish
Monkey Point - Laden with Comb and few Box jellyfish when I visited, but saw some nice fish cleaning stations in the early morning and lots of damaged coral.
The Caves - A few Parrotfish, Bar Jacks, Yellowtail Snapper a large school of Ballyhoo and an Octopus in the open in one of the caves
The Indians - Easily the best of the lot. Large school of what I'm guessing were juvenile Midnight Parrotfish, Blue Tang feeding on the Sargassum, a White Spotted Filefish and some nice, healthier coral.

Link to a few pictures:
[img]https://photos.google.com/album/AF1...ipMQ5IsCBmZz6sVh0nta4ONE06cZo-jBJnLz4ShI[/img]





Last edited by Testudo; 04/20/2018 03:51 PM.

Snorkel air just tastes better than canned air...
Re: Has the snorkeling returned to normal [Re: Testudo] #159293
04/20/2018 01:53 PM
04/20/2018 01:53 PM
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 3,609
Woodstock, GA
RickinAtlanta Offline
Traveler
RickinAtlanta  Offline
Traveler
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 3,609
Woodstock, GA
Yea those hurricanes do a number on healthy reef systems.

Re: Has the snorkeling returned to normal [Re: Testudo] #159308
04/20/2018 03:30 PM
04/20/2018 03:30 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,482
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
Traveler
Carol_Hill  Offline
Traveler
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,482
Central Florida!
Hi. Pictures are not showing up.


Carol Hill
Re: Has the snorkeling returned to normal [Re: camelot] #159310
04/20/2018 03:36 PM
04/20/2018 03:36 PM
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 160
Texas
Testudo Offline
Traveler
Testudo  Offline
Traveler
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 160
Texas
Sorry, just changed the sharing setting. The links should now take you to a small album with visible pictures (I hope...).


Snorkel air just tastes better than canned air...
Re: Has the snorkeling returned to normal [Re: camelot] #159311
04/20/2018 03:38 PM
04/20/2018 03:38 PM
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 3,447
Virginia wishing STJ
TomB Offline
Traveler
TomB  Offline
Traveler
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 3,447
Virginia wishing STJ
Did not snorkel last week in the BVI, but on St John the north shore beaches are still showing signs of the storm.
I think a lot of it has to do with the depth of the water you are snorkeling in (just a guess).
The places where you can walk off the beach and you are enjoying a reef are the ones that seemed to be the most damage.
Very few sea fans, and all the fish were there, but did not seem as plentiful.
It was almost like everything was sandblasted.


“Every time I open a bottle of wine, it is an amazing trip somewhere!” José Andrés
Re: Has the snorkeling returned to normal [Re: Carol_Hill] #159325
04/20/2018 07:48 PM
04/20/2018 07:48 PM
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 160
Texas
Testudo Offline
Traveler
Testudo  Offline
Traveler
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 160
Texas
Originally Posted by Carol_Hill
Hi. Pictures are not showing up.



Link to Photos

Last edited by Testudo; 04/20/2018 07:50 PM.

Snorkel air just tastes better than canned air...
Re: Has the snorkeling returned to normal [Re: camelot] #159343
04/21/2018 09:00 AM
04/21/2018 09:00 AM
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 61
Massachusetts
S
Sea&SkiPJ Offline
Traveler
Sea&SkiPJ  Offline
Traveler
S
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 61
Massachusetts
Beautiful photos, thanks for posting. it doesn't look like you're filtering (magenta) the closeup shots. Any secrets to the color balance?

Re: Has the snorkeling returned to normal [Re: camelot] #159345
04/21/2018 09:09 AM
04/21/2018 09:09 AM
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 239
S
steve74 Offline
Traveler
steve74  Offline
Traveler
S
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 239
The quality of the pictures is fantastic. What camera are you using?

Re: Has the snorkeling returned to normal [Re: camelot] #159355
04/21/2018 10:43 AM
04/21/2018 10:43 AM
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 160
Texas
Testudo Offline
Traveler
Testudo  Offline
Traveler
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 160
Texas
The pictures are from my trusty old Olympus TG-1. Just using the camera's underwater setting and then optimizing with Picasa/Google Photos autofix where needed. You can really see its capabilities in some of the shots taken in better water conditions here: Cayman Barrier Reef pictures (Ignore the blocked Photobucket slots). Great camera, would highly recommend the newer TG models.

Last edited by Testudo; 04/21/2018 12:15 PM.

Snorkel air just tastes better than canned air...
Re: Has the snorkeling returned to normal [Re: camelot] #159361
04/21/2018 11:32 AM
04/21/2018 11:32 AM
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 61
Massachusetts
S
Sea&SkiPJ Offline
Traveler
Sea&SkiPJ  Offline
Traveler
S
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 61
Massachusetts
I have an Intova Sport HD, 1080p at 30fps or 8 mp. It also has an underwater setting, or I can place a magenta filter over the lens. Just wondering how other people do it.

Re: Has the snorkeling returned to normal [Re: camelot] #159480
04/23/2018 11:53 AM
04/23/2018 11:53 AM
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 144
Canyon Lake, Texas
captbob Offline
Traveler
captbob  Offline
Traveler
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 144
Canyon Lake, Texas
Nope....it's going to be a long time, but still lots of fun


Capt. Bob
"If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home." -- James Michener
Re: Has the snorkeling returned to normal [Re: camelot] #159492
04/23/2018 01:04 PM
04/23/2018 01:04 PM
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 162
Nova Scotia, Can
Prospector Offline
Traveler
Prospector  Offline
Traveler
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 162
Nova Scotia, Can
Thanks for sharing your photos. Things look a lot better than I expected. I hope my pictures turn out half as nice.


Kim
Re: Has the snorkeling returned to normal [Re: camelot] #159716
04/25/2018 09:05 PM
04/25/2018 09:05 PM
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 153
North Shore, MA
G
GettinBye Offline
Traveler
GettinBye  Offline
Traveler
G
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 153
North Shore, MA
Great photos!!! Thx for sharing


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