Snorkeling & Collecting Discussion Group

[GuppyHJD]

As SMSREEF said, saltwater fishing license and look over the regulations. The only really big reg for you maybe the total number of some species and total over all collection of 20 animals per day per person.




I'm with SMSREEF here as well. I've never tried the area. But since I have already driven several hours to get from my house (Cape Coral) to the east side of the state, I might as well drive a couple more hours to great snorkeling in the Keys. But if you find a spot, please, please, please let us know so we can advise others. Good luck.

Reefman...I am a bit further north of you but am looking to collect CUC and other items on the west coast...Sarasota to Ft. Myers or in the Keys

 

[Ron Reefman]

Reefman...I am a bit further north of you but am looking to collect CUC and other items on the west coast...Sarasota to Ft. Myers or in the Keys

Ask questions and I'll do my best to help out.

How far north of me (Cape Coral) are you?

I can't help much with the Sarasota area. But I have a pretty good site here called Bunche Beach. No snorkeling, but lots to collect by dragging a net through the grasses just outside the estuary. I'd join you there almost any time.

The Keys are great! I have 6 to 8 places we go to. Over half are just walk off the beach or boat ramp, then there are a few that require at kayak or a small boat. We use an 11' Zodiac with a 30 hp outboard.

The trick with the Keys is, to be there when the wind levels are below 10 mph. It can be OK at 10 mph to about 15 mph, but that tends to get the water stirred up and can lower the visibility anywhere from a little to a lot. The Ocean side is more effected as the wind is mostly (80% of the time) from the southeast. That makes the Florida Bay/Gulf of Mexico side more useful if the winds kick up. When they are down below 10 mph you can go almost anywhere.

You can ask questions here or send me a PM and we can talk.

 

[SebastianReefer]

Hi bobbyM and welcome to Florida. Since your are relatively new to Florida, allow me to share this (although you may already know it), the east coast beaches and the west coast beached are incredibly different. I haven't spent much time doing beach walks on the east coast so I'll let others tell me how they do over there. West coast beached, especially the SW beaches get tons of shells. But for really good shelling and any live animal collecting will require you to be on the beach early in the morning after a storm. The serious shell collectors get out early and find the really nice shells, sunrise isn't too early! And animals don't last long out of the water. And it's best if the storm had a 15mph or better wind with at least some strong westerly component that will help carry stuff up to the beach. This photo is after a pretty strong cold front in January a couple of years ago. End really heavy ston crab traps were washed up!

P1180372 by Ron Lindensmith, on Flickr

Wow now we get some stuff washed up on the beach but nothing like that unless after a hurricane and even then it’s not that much I’m on the east coast of Florida sebastian inlet

 

[SebastianReefer]

Here on the east coast in the summer months when we get crystal clear water the sargassum grass washes up and you can pick they it or shake it and find all kinds of animals

 

[Ron Reefman]

Back home from a morning beach walk at Bunche Beach which is right in front of a big estuary. We were surprised to see that the massive grassy bottom we walked through a couple of months ago is gone! In it's place is a scraggly looking area of algae. And where before, if I put my dip net in the water, I got a dozen or more stomatella snails, now even dragging the dip net for yards and yards doesn't net a single stomatella. Right now I'm assuming it's the change in the seasons.

On the other hand, we did collect a couple of adult blennies and a couple of juvenile blennies. Elaine also netted a couple of small file fish. I got a tine flounder and a handful of other tiny fish. BTW, the tiny fish I collected last time is still very much alive in the 16g RFA breeding tank along with a clownfish. We also netted a few decent size shrimp which I'm going to try and keep alive in the DT. There are a few in there already and a few smaller ones in the 16g tank.

I collected 2 oddities. I pretty sure the first one is a small tunicate colony. The second is stranger. It looked like a hollow tube and I think something is living inside it. In fact I'm sure something is inside it as it was tangled up with some macro algae I brought home and in the holding tank, I can see something moving at one end. It's probably just a hermit crab living in a hollow stick or root. ;Hilarious But I'll leave it alone for now as everybody is acclimating to half water from their home and half water from my DT.

I'll try for photos later.

 

[littlefishy]

Pics or it didn't happen

 

[Ron Reefman]

Pics or it didn't happen

One of 3 local blennies.



Typical of most of the shrimp.



A deli cup full of tiny life.





The good news is we had a nice day dragging the algae flats. It was mostly sunny, breezy and comfortably warm. And the contents you see here are the culmination of over 2 hours of Elaine and I dragging nets along the bottom. But I'll take a day in the water any time we get the chance. We've been watching the winds in the Keys hoping to see a couple of days forecast for less than 10mph winds. By the end of November the water will be getting to cool to snorkel for any length of time without a heavier wet suit.

 

[littlefishy]

Walked to the dock on a waterfront remodel. Old ladder is in the water with what looks like a gorg on it? I may try to collect it at noon, although the tide will be up by then.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Looks like one to me. Nice find. Good luck.

I'm a little surprised as I only see a very few gorgonians in the Sanibel, Lovers Key area. And those are usually ones attached to clams washed onto the beach after a storm!

I have 2 in my 90g DT and they both came from down in the Keys.

 

[littlefishy]

This is sarasota bay, pretty far up. I'm surprised too.

 

[littlefishy]

Very nice morning after a few days of storm. A few weeks every year uncountable numbers of these urchins invade the bay,for spawning I guess.

They cover themselves in shells, oysters, clams, etc. Not sure if you can see one coveredwith shells in this pic...


And this unhappy crab.

 

[GuppyHJD]

Very nice morning after a few days of storm. A few weeks every year uncountable numbers of these urchins invade the bay,for spawning I guess.

They cover themselves in shells, oysters, clams, etc. Not sure if you can see one coveredwith shells in this pic...


And this unhappy crab.

 

[GuppyHJD]

How big are the urchins?

 

[littlefishy]

Almost uniformly 3" to the spine tips.

 

[GuppyHJD]

Almost uniformly 3" to the spine tips.

So a bit big for the tank

 

[littlefishy]

Took out the paddleboard instead of wading this morn,to get the gorg I had posted here weeks ago. Ultra low winter tides combined with stiff East wind (emptied Sarasota bay) left it constantly exposed for hours, killing half of it.
Here is a pic of how it was...


And here is how it looked this morning...



I trimmed all the dead parts off and stuck it in the tank. It is obviously not the purple ribbon whip I thought it was, next to my existing.



And a 'cuda that was busting finger mullet along the oyster bar. Why not...

 

[Ron Reefman]

Took out the paddleboard instead of wading this morn,to get the gorg I had posted here weeks ago. Ultra low winter tides combined with stiff East wind (emptied Sarasota bay) left it constantly exposed for hours, killing half of it.
Here is a pic of how it was...


And here is how it looked this morning...



I trimmed all the dead parts off and stuck it in the tank. It is obviously not the purple ribbon whip I thought it was, next to my existing.

Sorry your gorgonian was damaged by low tides.

Maybe Tuesday or Wednesday morning you can get out. We have what looking like a fairly strong cold front coming through. We intend to do a beach walk out on Sanibel as there is often cool stuff washed up after a cold front with westerly winds.

This was after a REALLY strong front back in 2016.


You can see some orange sponges on the beach. They often have porcelain crabs, pistol shrimp and tiny serpent stars inside.

And occasionally there is a clam with a nice gorgonian attached.


This one had to have been out of the water for an hour when we found it, but it survived.

 

[littlefishy]

Wow, that gorg is fantastical.

 

[Crevalle]

Back home from a morning beach walk at Bunche Beach which is right in front of a big estuary. We were surprised to see that the massive grassy bottom we walked through a couple of months ago is gone! In it's place is a scraggly looking area of algae. And where before, if I put my dip net in the water, I got a dozen or more stomatella snails, now even dragging the dip net for yards and yards doesn't net a single stomatella. Right now I'm assuming it's the change in the seasons.

On the other hand, we did collect a couple of adult blennies and a couple of juvenile blennies. Elaine also netted a couple of small file fish. I got a tine flounder and a handful of other tiny fish. BTW, the tiny fish I collected last time is still very much alive in the 16g RFA breeding tank along with a clownfish. We also netted a few decent size shrimp which I'm going to try and keep alive in the DT. There are a few in there already and a few smaller ones in the 16g tank.

I collected 2 oddities. I pretty sure the first one is a small tunicate colony. The second is stranger. It looked like a hollow tube and I think something is living inside it. In fact I'm sure something is inside it as it was tangled up with some macro algae I brought home and in the holding tank, I can see something moving at one end. It's probably just a hermit crab living in a hollow stick or root. ;Hilarious But I'll leave it alone for now as everybody is acclimating to half water from their home and half water from my DT.

I'll try for photos later.

Hi Ron. I’m in the area down in Estero at least most of the time. I actually prefer to collect down around Marco. Especially since you’re out of lee county and can keep things like fighting conchs.

 

[Ron Reefman]

@Crevalle , where do you collect down around Marco? It's a long trip for me to get there, but I might like to try it at least once. And do you walk shallows with a net, or snorkel off a beach, or work from a boat?
Come on now, share some details. ;Hilarious;Hilarious I share everything about where and how I collect.