Captain's Log

2011 Dive Season

March 27
Divers from San Antonio and Brownsville went to Little Sara in calm seas. Water temperature was 75 degrees with 40 foot visibility to 80 feet. Finally the 2011season has kicked off today and we are all looking forward to the rest of the dive season. Hopefully we will be out to the Texas Clipper this week!

May 7
Finally the winds slowed down. Divers from San Antonio and the Valley went diving to Little Sara. Water temperature 78 degrees all the way to the bottom. Visibility was 40 feet to the bottom. The water was green.

May 14
10 diver from the Valley and Midland Texas went to the Texas Clipper in 2 to 4 foot seas with 50 to 60 foot visibility. Current was heavy for the first 25 feet and subsided on the Clipper. Divers saw Lookdowns, Barracuda, Rockhinds. Jack Cravels, Sheephead, Horse eyed Jack, tangs, damsels, and Trigger fish. As of yet there are NO Lion fish. Remora played with divers during ascent and descent. One eel was seen in a machine box.

May 15
5 divers from graduated from NAUI Scuba Diver class went to Little Sara for their final dives. Visibility was around 50 foot with a 0.5 knot current. On their final dive they played with remora, rock hinds, barracuda, blennies and saw lots of lane snapper. On the way back they were treated to Flying fish and dolphin. Sea state was two feet with long wave periods.

June 2
This morning our divers went out in 1 to 3 foot seas, we had a surface temp of 82 degrees, then ocean temperatures dropped to 76 degrees below 50 feet. Visibility was around 50 feet today. Some of the ocean life included Coco Damsels, Queen Angels and mangrove snappers were all over the place. And we also sighted a large barracuda.

June 4
Texas Clipper Dive: The seas were a solid 2 to 4 feet. Divers from Central Texas and South Texas went to the Texas Clipper today. Fresh water is running in from the Mississippi River, however visibility remained at 70 feet until the thermocline (located at about 70 feet) when it dropped to 40-50 feet. Surface temperature was at 82 degrees, temperatures then dropped to 77 degrees at 80 feet, with a final drop to 74 degrees at 100 feet.
Congratulations to Ward Moothart on his first Red Snapper catch of the season!!

June 5
Divers from West Texas and Dr. Aliotta went to Little Sara on a very calm day today. Snapper, ling, barracuda were all over the rig along with bait balls and the usual tropical fish.

June 11
Divers from Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and Texas went to the Texas Clipper under calm seas and blue water today. Schooling lookdowns, grouper, snapper, rays, and a myriad of small tropical fish and Queen Angels abounded on the decks today. Water temp was 82 from the surface to 65 feet. You could see the Clipper from the deck of the Diver I.

June 12
Another successful dive to the Little Sara! Seas were calm, water temperature was between 78 and 81 degrees, and visibility was around 80 feet. Divers were able to see snapper, bait balls, a number of large barracudas, schools of lookdowns, a large cobia, cocoa damsels and more! The combination of blue waters, beautiful weather and a large amount of marine life made this dive great.

June 15
Local divers and divers from San Antonio went out to Little Sara in 3 to 5 foot seas.
Visibility was around 80 feet with water temperature in the upper 70's. The rig is still holding large bait balls and large schools of fish.

June 26
After a few canceled dives due to poor weather conditions the Diver I finally made it offshore today. Visibility on the rigs was around 20 feet, however visibility at the Texas Clipper proved to be even worse- with only about 5 feet. Despite the poor conditions of the dive, we did have a successful sea turtle release! Working with Sea Turtle Inc. 2 turtles were re-introduced to the Gulf.

July 2nd
Today's divers went to Seana's Rig. Seas were 3 to 5 feet and calming as the afternoon came. Visibility was around 80 feet with 81 degree water. Divers saw coco damsels, white tip sharks, barracuda, queen angels, look downs and the list could go on forever.

July 3rd
Divers from all over Texas and a few from Minnesota with Sea Sports out of Houston Texas and Toms Dive and Swim from Austin went to the Texas Clipper. Seas were a calm 1 to 3 feet with 80 plus foot visibility. The water temperature was a balmy 81 degrees to 80 feet. The there was a slight thermocline at 90 feet. Divers reported never having seen so much life on the Clipper before. There were about a dozen rays, grater amberjacks hunting, dolphins were also hunting the baitballs, sharks were seen around the out side of the wreck like sentinels on guard duty. All in all it was quite a day at sea!

Congratulations to Lee Poland for becoming a certified diver today!

July 7th
Divers from San Antonio and California went to Little Sara today under ideal conditions. Visibility was 80 feet and water temperature was 79 degrees. Queen Angels, Red Snapper, coco damsels, blennies and barracuda were abundant.

July 9th
Proved to be a great dive for everyone today! We had divers on a two tank dive, one tank to the Texas Clipper and a second tank to Seana's Rig. At both sites visibility was at 80 feet with a warm water temperature of 81 degrees. Divers hit their first (and only) thermocline at 110 feet where the temperature dropped to about 76 degrees. Marine life included large schools of rays, snapper, ling, and a pod of dolphins were seen on the deck of the Clipper rounding up a bait ball!

July 10th
Visibility remained high today, with distances reaching toward 80-90 feet. Water conditions were very similar to the previous day, clear blue waters, warm temperatures (again about 80 degrees), with the thermocline holding steady around 110 feet with a slight drop in water temp. Lots of marine life to be seen, and growth on the Clipper seems to be increasing at a healthy rate! Divers enjoyed their time on the water and under it.

July 13-July 17
July 13: We took a group of boy scouts out with us to the Little Sara to complete their open water certification course, however conditions were less than prime. With a lot of surface chop and currents among the worst ever seen at Little Sara. After putting only 5 of the 16 boy scouts in the water we unfortunately had to end the trip early and head back to shore. They were able to complete their certification at the Jetties and American Diving would like to Congratulate every one of the new divers!!
July 15 and 16: Dives to the Texas Clipper, Seana's Rig and Little Sara all faced similar conditions seen by the Boy Scout on the 13th. While the current laid down a bit, the visibility was poor. One the Clipper itself, one could only expect about 5 feet while vis on Little Sara seemed to be getting slightly better by the last dive. July 17: Dive to the Little Sara was unfortunatly canceled due to poor conditions seen the previous 2 days of diving.

Update: These conditions were due to a loop current that was present in the Gulf but seems to have subsided after the weekend. We hope conditions will continue to improve as we wait for the Whale Sharks to start arriving!!

July 20
BLUE WATER IS BACK! Divers today went 9 miles off shore to Little Sara. Blue water with about 80 foot of visibility and 79 degree water made for a wonderful morning of diving. The rig was packed with the usual suspects underwater!

July 23
Divers from Austin and Oklahoma went to the Texas Clipper today with over 100 foot of visibility and warm water. The ship could be seen from the deck of the Diver I. On the way out some of the divers got a look at a very large Mola Mola. Dive 3 was on Seana's rig. Still no whale sharks sightings as of yet.

July 24
Divers sailed to Little Sara today with 100 foot visibility and 77 degrees water. The upwelling began at 70 feet today. Very large schools of lookdowns circling the rig. The rig was absolutely packed with all the mangrove and snapper, ling, and the usual reef fish

July 27
Divers and snorkelers sailed again to Little Sara with 100 foot visibility. Water temp was 83 degrees on the surface and then dropped to 76 degrees at 36 feet. The upwelling was at 70 feet. The rig remains packed with large schools of all types of fish and two bull sharks were sighted at 50 feet.

July 31
Calm seas and blue water. A group from Austin and Mexico City ventured to the Clipper today. Turtles, Dolphins, Angel fish along with some current made for an exciting on the water. We will diving the Texas Clipper for the next 7 days straight

August 2nd
With Calm seas and blue water, divers went to Little Sara. 2 bull sharks were spotted as well as the usual lookdowns, snapper and reef fish.

August 3 through 6
Texas Clipper every day. Pictures tell a thousand words.
Photos by Diane O'Leary and Paul Schmeider

August 7
Today's trip to the Texas Clipper was the last day of a very successful wreck penetration course. Congrats to Doug and Kyle Caddell. Warm blue water and calm seas on the Texas Clipper once again.

August 13
Water on Little Sara was a cool 76 degrees with some fresh water mix from Mexico but it did no effect visibility. Seas were 2 to 4 feet with visibility around 60 feet. There was not an upwelling to speak of but there was a thermocline at 50 feet.

August 14
The Diver I took 20 divers out to the Texas Clipper on a very calm day. You could watch divers on the Clipper from the deck of the Diver I. New and colorful corals are beginning to grow. More on that when the UTB science team defines what we are seeing.

August 15
Today, divers went to Little Sara. Water has warmed back up to a balmy 84 degrees. No thermo clines and visibility was around 100 feet.

August 17th
Divers went to Seana's Rig and then over to Little Sara. Water temperature was still 84 degrees with visibility around 100 feet. On Seana's rig the themocline was at 100 feet where divers encountered a very large Goliath fish. On the way to Little Sara , the divers were able to see a Mola Mola (Sun Fish)

August 20
Divers went out to the Texas clipper today in very flat seas and warm blue water without any current and it just keeps getting better!!!!!

August 21
Whale Sharks, warm blue water on Little Sara today. Divers and snorkelers had a ball!!

August 27
Dive World went to the Texas Clipper and were able to watch a whale shark feeding on a bait ball. Visibility was around 50 feet with surface temperature at 82 degrees. The thermocline at 90 feet was 73 degrees.

August 28
Local divers went out the Little Sara where a whale shark was seen in the distance.
Visibility was 60 feet with much the same water temperatures as yesterday

September 2
Divers from San Antonio and Dallas went to the Texas Clipper today. The water was 83 degrees to the top of the ship. We watched the bands from the tropical storm Lee off to the west as it moved off to the north.

September 4
A group of divers from South Texas and Houston went to little Sara today in 3 to 5 foot gently rolling seas. Visibility was around 70 feet and water temperature was 78 degrees. Large schools of look downs , barracuda, and Atlantic spades were in abundance along with the usual tropical fish.

September 10
Divers from Houston and some professors from UTB went to the Texas Clipper today with very gentle seas and warm water. Water temperature was 83 degrees to 110 feet and visibility was around 80 feet. A great day to explore the ship. We found a new type of coral growing on the Clipper that has not been seen before. We are sending photo's to the UTB science team for identification.

Photo of new coral on the Clipper by Jan Robinson
Orange Cup Coral "Tubatraea coccinea"

September 16
Divers from all over Texas went to the Texas Clipper on the opening day of DIVE WEEK. Seas were 3 to 5 feet with water temperatures at 86 degrees all the way down. Green plankton was over the ship and visibility was around 30 feet. Free beer and burgers awaited everyone when they arrived back at the dock!!

September 17
Divers went to the Texas Clipper today with 3 foot seas and 100 foot visibility. Water Temperature was 86 degrees. More burgers and beer back at the docks.
SPI Dive Week!!!! It's a dive party

September 18 - 21
Diving with the Wounded Warriors has been a privilege. Calm Seas , blue warm water. The warriors were given an escort back to SPI by Homeland Security, USCG, and the Border Patrol. They had a cocktail party with the mayor. I'll let the photos tell the rest of the story.

September 22-25

And SPI Dive Week keeps rolling on with calm seas and warm blue water. It turned out to be a smashing success for the fund raiser. As an aside, divers reported a whale shark in Little Sara on Saturday. The pictures tell a thousand words.

September 26
Thank You to all for participating in this year's SPI Dive Week.
The winners are:
Gary Poenisch- Atomic Regulator Set
Ron Carlisle- Atomic M1
Kathleen Black- Halcyon Infinity
Bill Mamalakis-Halcyon EOS LED Light

September 29
Fire Fighters from Dallas and Cobabe and company went out to the Texas Clipper today. Seas were calm but visibility was down to around 50 feet. We had 10 shrimp boats in the area dragging the bottom. Seas were calm and water temperature was a warm 85 degrees. We are expecting rough seas this Saturday.

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