OK, on to Day 2.
The weather was better(i.e. less wind) but Friday was forecast to be even better. So we decided to do the Horseshoe today and save Little Money Key for Friday. The Horseshoe is better protected from the wind 95% of the time. Here is a high altitude shot and a closer shot, and you can clearly see why they call it the Horseshoe.
It was just past a full moon and we were close to high tide by the time we arrived. The arms that make up the outside edge of the quarry are exposed way more often than under water. But today they were well under.
That meant to me that nerite snails might be up on the top of the arm... and they were. This is me picking up a few nerites just as soon as I stepped out of the Zodiac. BTW, notice the white lid to my collecting container. I set it down as if the walkway were dry and didn't pay attention. Over the next few minutes it drifted away and I never found it!
We snorkeled out the inside of the right arm to the end and crossed over the channel to the inside of the left arm of the Horseshoe. I've never found much to collect along the inside of the right arm. But this time I was looking for smalls since I only have a 16g tank now. As I got out toward the end of the arm I found a very nice yellow sea cucumber that I think is small enough for my tank.
As we rounded the bend at the top of the arm, there were several people fishing off the outside. I normally like to go out there because there seems to always be more to see, especially astrea snails and sea stars. But I didn't want to disturb the people fishing. I did find a good size Tulip snail that I'm 99% sure was eating a big astrea snail!
A little further along I picked up a fairly small rock, not expecting much. To my surprise, a mantis shrimp hung onto the rock for a bit and then let go. They can move super fast when on the bottom and we rarely see them for more than a few seconds. But this one let go of the rock and was slowly sinking toward the bottom. I caught it in one hand and had to struggle for a while to gain some control. I ended up just keeping it up off the bottom until I got my container ready (now inside a fine net bag since I lost the lid...). I opened the net bag and let the shrimp just sink into it. It was super easy. But the reality is, that's the first time that a mantis shrimp ever held onto the rock rather than scampering over and under the rocks.
It's home with me now and I have to decide just what I want to do with it. So far I haven't seen that it has caused any issues with the other livestock in the holding tank.
Elaine found a really nice juvenile queen conch. We've never seen many queen conch inside the Horseshoe, so this was a bit unusual as well.
They have installed new signs and markers along the boat channel just off the outside end of the Horseshoe and even a sign to those of us playing inside the Horseshoe to warn us about the fact that there is a boat channel just outside. At a normal low tide this might still be in the water. But at an extreme low tide this is probably in the rocks just above the surface.
The far end of the left arm on the inside seems to always have more sea creatures. Almost as soon as we had crossed the channel we found this good size clump of a bright yellow stony coral. There is always some small finger corals around, but this is a different species and we don't see it inshore snorkeling all that often.
Two points to anybody who is interested: First, ALL stony corals are illegal to collect in Florida without a special permit, and getting caught with it is a huge fine (likely $1000+ for this coral) and you don't get to keep the coral! Second, I'm 99% sure this coral is not photosynthetic and would die on almost any reef tank.
This side of the Horseshoe, and especially the outside of the left arm is a haven for urchins. Elaine found this one and took a photo, but she could have taken a dozen more just as easily. I don't have a sump anymore, which is where I would keep an urchin. And I find them to be bulldozers in a DT with coral. So none for me this trip.
As we started to head back toward shore along the inside of the left arm we started finding some sea stars. I wanted 1 or 2 small ones. I ended up with 2 serpent stars; 1 small and 1 medium small. The photos below are not the ones I collected, these are ones Elaine saw and photographed. The one on the left is known as a serpent star and the one on the right is known as a brittle star. The brittle star has the 'spines' along its arms and IMHO the arms do break off easier.
We saw a couple of bigger swimmer crabs. This one was about 4 to 5 inches from shoulder to shoulder.
Elaine also found a cowrie shell that was in 'mint' condition, although it was a bit smaller than ones we had collected before. She had me put it in with my livestock until we got back to the Zodiac. I was showing somebody what we had collected and pulled out this shell, intending to give it to Elaine. But wait... the cowrie was still alive, so we moved it out away from the outside of the Horseshoe in a grassy flat.
I've found some astrea snails along this side before. But today was amazing. I could easily have collected more than a hundred without even trying very hard. I did take what I wanted for my small tank, but I was very surprised at the total number of them. Heck, there are 4 or 5 in this photo Elaine took of one rock!
Now, if you know what this is, I'll consider you a fairly knowledgeable reefer. This is not a fossil. Although they often do end up above the water surface stuck like glue to a rock. I actually showed the one I collected to a guy and he asked why I was collecting a fossil? It's a mollusk with a segmented shell (always 8 segments). Its called a chiton and there are over 600 species around the world. I got one of these as well as 2 more that are a different species. I'll have a photo of them at the end where I show off all that I collected.
If you encounter one of these, stay clear. This is a fire worm and the fuzzy white on its back are spines that will stick in your skin worse than any cactus I've ever dealt with. These guys are typically 6 to 8 inches long and hide by being attached to the underside of loose rocks. This is the biggest reason I wear dive gloves.
As you get close to shore on this side of the Shoe, the arm becomes individual big rocks or boulders. If you want to try and collect a fish, this might be the place to try it. I've pretty much given it up as a hopeless task. Although this time I did see a really tiny Sargent Major, maybe 1" long, that didn't seem to be afraid of me. I think if I had my net, I might have caught it... naw! I've seen juvenile tangs and some butterflyfish here as well. But there are always lots of bigger fish here.
If you stand up and look over the rocks toward shore this is the view.
And in the past there have always been quite a few, as in dozens and dozens, of upside down jellyfish just a few yards further away from shore. I've been in among them before, but didn't go outside the Horseshoe on that side this trip. The jellyfish do sting if the touch your skin, but the tentacle are short and they basically lay up side down on the sandy bottom and don't bother with you swimming by.
Later I get up the second half of Day 2 which was outside the right side of the Horseshoe.
