"The One That Got
Away"
The Texas Flower Gardens
are 110 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico off of Freeport Texas.
I've gone out on two boats operated by the same people, the M/V
Fling and the M/V Spree. You arrive at dusk and begin boarding
the boat at 9pm. There's a quick orientation and the boat heads
out the channel. It runs all night while you try to contain your
excitement and get some sleep as the diving starts early. The
first dive is 7am tomorrow - you'll get a wakeup call at six.
You'll do 5 dives to over 70 feet today. There is a 2-1/2 hour
surface interval between each dive, so there's plenty of time to
eat, nap, or socialize in-between. What's the attraction? BIG
fish. We're talking whale sharks, reef sharks, manta rays, and
curious barracuda. I got caught looking the wrong way again on
this trip - just after I went into the water, a whale shark swam
by the boat. I must've been still going down the anchor line. He
probably passed right over my head and I never looked up. You can
be sure I did on the rest of my dives... After two days on the
Flower gardens, we stop at Stetson banks as we work our way back
in. Not much coral here - just a spooky barren landscape with
lots of fish that grow to huge proportions. There are French
Angels the size of turkey platters. Juveniles are the size of
adults fish elsewhere. Tiny trunkfish the size and shape of
gambling dice prove that hydrodynamics aren't everything. On the
way back, we'll stop at a small oil rig. For the Louisiana
divers, it's nothing special as they dive much more extensive
rigs all the time. But for others, this man-made reef is
spectacular as it rises from dark depths to the surface. It's a
maze of steel encrusted with life. Tiny blennies look like
characters from a Dr. Seuss book as they peer from their tiny
homes. Lobster march in line along the girders as schools of
Atlantic spadefish circle around you. Playing-card-thin Lookdowns
flash bright silver as they swim back and forth. Barracuda stake
out their territories, warily giving way as you approach. Crabs
raise an eye-stalk as you swim over their hiding places.
A Few of the Pictures I Didn't Miss...
Page 1 - Best of Mikey's U/W photography
Page 2 - Islands on the topside
Page 3 - Hood Divers in Grand Turk
Page 5 - Hood Divers in Curacao