Activity Report for the Period
October 8 thru November 13, 2014
Summary During this period there was one trip to deploy FAD2 on the Jumbo Barge in FH-7 on October 29. On the way, a dive was made on FAD1 in FH-13 to observe the progress of that FAD.
Gallery
FAD1 was deployed in FH-13 on August 10, 2014, with revisits made on August 23, September 6, and October 5. The
reef is doing very well and providing excellent enhancement to the Pyramid Grouping it is attached to.
141029 FAD2 Deployment
Position: Attached to Bow of FH-7 Jumbo Barge 29°36.870'N / 88°24.593'W 130'Depth
Video: http://youtu.be/NLDZ6rCFb78
Gallery: FAD2 Trip Gallery
FAD2 is similar to FAD1 but with the addition of 2 more vertical sections to make it more symmetrical. This unit was attached to the bow of the Jumbo Barge in FH-7. This Barge is in 130 feet of water about 36 nautical miles south of Horn Island East End or 42 nautical miles from Horn Island West End. This Barge historically showed populations of Amberjack until it lost some relief. There used to be a mast present that brought the height of the barge to about 90 feet of depth. At some point a boat appears to have entangled it’s anchor in the mast and pulled it over and it has since vanished. The minimum depth of the reef is currently about 115 feet at the top of the second story house. It is feared that this FAD may suffer a similar fate, but an attempt is deemed worth while. A 1" rope that was salvaged off the Capt Le in FH-13 was used to secure it to the Bow Eye on the Barge. It was a little more challenging than expected to get the job done quickly and avoid heavy decompression times. My first dive pushed me to a 20 minute deco so we left and went fishing for Wahoo to get some surface interval. We then returned to add the upper buoy FADs and get some final pictures. Unfortunately, the reef was covered over by the silt layer when we returned and we also discovered a hairline air leak in one of the sewer pipes. Some repairs may be required on a return visit. On a plus note, there was already a small school of juvenile fish congregating around the FAD. The height of the FAD was between 76 and 66 feet with the rope FADs reaching 45 feet. Fishing about 10 miles south we caught a 60 pound wahoo and Paul shot his first wahoo freediving which probably went about 50 pounds (we did not weigh). On our return, we also dove nearby Platform VK166 where Luke shot a nice 21 pound African Pompano which denotes some good water nearby. Hopefully the African Pompano and Wahoo population will migrate to the nearby Jumbo Barge as well.
