Channel Surfing

One of the underestimated benefits (if I may say so) of taking Marine Biology with Lake Center is that you get to dive with guides that have years and years of exploring the near shore waters close to Layton. Obviously, there is water everywhere in the Florida Keys so discovering the most interesting places to snorkel only comes by jumping in at many, many places through the years and finding the best spots.
We still do an occasional exploration of a new dive location but most of the places we go are time-tested favorites.
One such favorite is shown in the satellite photo above. We call it the Craig Key Channel Swim and as you can see, it is situated right up against US Rt 1. Hundreds of cars speed right past this wonderful spot every day not knowing what they are missing just a few yards from their vehicle. If you look at the bottom half of the photo you see a large, grayish area. This is an expansive turtle grass bed. This is a very shallow flat where at low tide, the water barely rises above the tops of the grass. The bottom on the flat is quite muddy and not firm so even though there are some interesting things that can be found here, we generally stay away from this very shallow area.
Ah, but that narrow blue-green area right below the road that looks about as wide as the road, that is another habitat altogether. This is a classic channel. The ocean seeks to find the path of least resistance as it cuts it's way through the shallows of the keys and back out into the ocean depths and through the years, these cuts create channels where the water is deeper, cooler, and moving faster as the ocean squeezes, if you will, through these channels.
As a result, larger sea creatures you would never find in the shallow flats can be found cruising from one deep area to the next via these channels. And that is exactly what we see during this swim. Goliath Grouper, Spotted Eagle Ray, Tarpon, Barracuda, Snook, & Southern Blue Sting Ray are all seen out in the deep portion of the channel which can be 15' deep during high tide.

Spotted Eagle Ray

Goliath Grouper

It is while searching the deep center of the channel that the term "channel surfing" can be applied. If you have avoided the slack period (the time when the tide is changing from coming in to going out or vice versa--at this time there is almost no current here) you will get to experience a fairly strong current pulling you through the channel. It is a new feeling for most Ohioans to swim out to the middle of the channel and then to surf, or drift at a surprising speed down through the channel, watching for the large sea creatures below you. The only problem you must adjust to is that if there is something interesting you want to dive down to investigate you must see it far enough ahead of you and compensate for the speed you are traveling horizontally and start your dive down well ahead of your target. Channel surfing is a very cool sensation!
To enjoy the channel surfing, your guides must always first determine the direction of the current because, again, depending on the tide, the current may be ripping east to west or west to east. Usually we look first for the brown algae of the genus Sargassum. This is an abundant algae that has air bladders as part of its structure so when boats or other things tear it from the bottom, it floats in the water. By looking to see which way the Sargassum is floating through the channel, we can usually determine the direction of the current. Sometimes by looking down from the road, we will see schools of tarpon and they usually will be swimming with the current. Always though, the leader will get into the water to be sure we are 100% certain about the direction.
Then we simply walk along the shore and enter the water at a point where channel surfing the current will take us right back to the car.
But channel surfing is not the end of the Craig Key Channel Swim story. There are shallow edges to the channel that are full of smaller, fascinating things that I enjoy even more than the large things cruising the deep. But we'll leave the story of the Craig Key shallows for next time.
So the next time you're using the remote to power through all the stations, remember there is a far more enjoyable channel surfing waiting for you in the fabulous Florida Keys.