Summer may be slipping away, but you still have time to slip beneath some waves. The best part is — you don’t even have to leave the country to do it. Yahoo Travel went in search of easily accessible and interesting places to don fins, mask, and snorkels for a fun day of fish peeping. … Read more
Four Homestead men aboard a 15-foot skiff off North Key Largo were arrested Sunday on multiple conservation charges Sunday, state marine officers report. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers recovered a mesh bag from the bottom of Angelfish Creek, agency spokesman Officer Bobby Dube said. The bag held undersized lobster, snapper and grouper. … Read more
A final decision on new rule to protect barracuda in South Florida goes to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission at its Sept. 3 meeting in Fort Lauderdale. Barracuda, a popular catch for Florida Keys flats fishermen and a familiar sight to Keys divers and flats fishermen, currently lack harvest limits that safeguard the populations … Read more
A push to end lobster mini-season in Florida Keys waters drew the notice of Monroe County Planning Commissioners on July 29. Planning Commissioner William Wiatt urged his fellow commissioners to speak to Monroe County commissioners in support of “a working group … to discuss and evaluate the current regulations, specifically in county waters, that govern … Read more
Anybody who’s been in the Keys for Florida’s sport lobster season knows things can get crazy, so crazy that some people think the two-day event should be stopped. According to a 2003 North Carolina State Universitystudy, the boat density during sport season, also known as mini-season, can be 900 times the density during the regular … Read more
Last week my wife, Pat, and I spent our 30th anniversary in Key West, Fla. I know … why in heaven’s name would anyone in their right mind go to Florida in the summer? Well, Key West is actually in the tropics, and the temperatures were between 87-90 degrees. I didn’t think that was too … Read more
Thomas Rhodes fins along under water in scuba gear without his mask on for the required distance of 50 feet. He stops, replaces the mask, and then while under water, clears the mask of water. I give him a big OK sign and then a high five. He has just performed one of the scuba … Read more
Coming up the mooring line from a Dive on the U.S.C.G. Cutter Duane, intentionally sunk as an artificial reef in 120 feet of water on Nov. 26, 1987 off of Key Largo, I saw a group of divers hanging on the rope at about 50 deep. They kept checking gages on their wrists or on … Read more
The device is called the Zoo-Keeper Lionfish Containment Unit, and word of mouth has turned it into a must-have Lionfish capture device for many recreational divers in the Caribbean and Florida. Sarasota entrepreneur Allie ElHage didn’t know anything about the lionfish until late 2011. Four years later, after designing a device that divers use to … Read more
As Eric Billips reaches the bottom of the reef, 90 feet down, he spots a cloud of minnows around a coral head, and as expected, finds half a dozen lionfish lurking nearby. They’re beautiful, hovering like little resplendent flowers. But they’re dangerous, housing 18 venomous spines that repel predators. Billips is able to spear three … Read more
Greetings from the Dry Tortugas. Scott Fais explores Garden Key with National Park Service Manager Glenn Simpson. By Scot Fais, Feature Reporter DRY TORTUGAS, THE FLORIDA KEYS, MONROE COUNTY — Costs and travel planning information appears below the following story.Mornings start early along the waterfront in Key West. The predawn boarding call aboard the Yankee Freedom … Read more
Jon Hazelbaker captures a legal lobster on a patch reef off Big Pine Key. The Fort Myers Beach resident and researchers say lobsters are scarce in the Keys, but commercial fishermen say the popular crustaceans are plentiful.(Photo: Kevin Lollar/The News-Press) With all the lawyer jokes out there, Fort Myers attorney Steven Koeppel didn’t do his … Read more
As an uneventful lobster mini-season came to a close, commercial lobster fishermen remained optimistic about the start of the regular season on Aug. 6. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and the Coast Guard did not report any accidents, injuries or deaths as of Thursday evening. The FWC did cite multiple people diving on … Read more
Women divers from all around the globe celebrated Professional Association of Diving Instructors Women’s Dive Day last Saturday by participating in a variety of specialized events. The emphasis of the global movement was to get as many women as possible diving on the same day to build awareness, create interest and bring attention to the … Read more
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary officials are encouraging divers and snorkelers to have a low-impact lobster mini-season when they take to the waters on Wednesday and Thursday in search of bugs. Lobster mini-season, commonly referred to as sport season, is one of the busiest times on the ocean in the Florida Keys, as thousands of … Read more
Lionfish add a new wrinkle in rules for the 2015 lobster mini-season Wednesday and Thursday. In the one significant change to traditional lobster rules for the sport season, divers who harvest 10 lionfish [you don’t have to stop at 10!] will be allowed to take one — and only one — extra lobster per day. … Read more
“Dude, that’s one grumpy looking fish,” said the mate as I showed him the image on my camera. “But,” I replied, “It’s a variety of damsel fish.” “Don’t look ladylike to me,” he said. “Still say it’s a nasty looking fish dude” Just to make sure the mate just wasn’t having a bad day, I decided … Read more
The lionfish is a highly-destructive non-native species in the Gulf of Mexico, which has few natural predators except, apparently, other lionfish. Source: Lionfish control efforts getting a boost from other lionfish | AL.com
Non-native lionfish are a threat to Florida’s marine environment, so I recently went diving in the Keys to kill a few. (Photo: Kevin Lollar/ The News-Press) Most photographers and videographers know what it’s like to miss The Shot. Let’s say you’re out in a swamp shooting photos or video of wading birds and your camera … Read more