Our Sunday morning dive was timed with a 10:30 high tide at Blue Heron Bridge. It was the best time of day for photography, and the bridge did not disappoint. In addition to the seahorse, which stole the show, we found a school of big, beautiful Queen Angels, Blue Angels and Townsend’s Angels all mixed together, enormous starfish, a horseshoe crab, sharp tailed eels and more stone crabs than you can shake a butter swizzle at.
As you can imagine, though, the Seahorse stole the show. Seahorses have fascinated people for millennia, and no less so scuba divers. They are out there! But finding them is the trick, and it takes a very special eye to find them. Our own Andre Saade found this fellow on our February 16, 2025 dive at Blue Heron Bridge. Eagle eye indeed!
When you look at these zoomed in images you may say “well, obviously that’s a seahorse.” But pull back 5 or 10 feet and it’s just another piece of algae or detritus that collects around the Bridge dive site. Because they are such poor swimmers, they rely solely on their dorsal fins to propel themselves and their pectoral fins to steer, they depend on nutrient rich currents like the one at Blue Heron Bridge to bring the food to them. And their only defense is their amazing camouflage abilities.
As ardent marine conservationists, Out Scuba members love to find specimens like this, but we always make sure we never harass or try to change any animal’s behavior while we are observing it. After just a minute of watching it, we moved on and explored the pilings.
Take a look at the video that Andre took, and make sure you join us on our next trip. The waters of South Florida are full of life, and you never know what we’ll see next time. Eagle Ray? Jawfish? Tarpon? Shark? We cannot guarantee what you’ll find, but we always have a good time and lots of stories to tell.
Still photo courtesy Christopher Duncan, Copyright 2025 CDA Underwater Photography all rights reserved worldwide. Video courtesy Andre Saade, Copyright 2025 Andre Saade all rights reserved worldwide.