Inside several lockers on the fifth floor of the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Center at Nova Southeastern University near Fort Lauderdale are jars full of some of the weirdest-looking sea creatures that anyone …
Billfish Invitational Auction Items Announced
10 May 20118:05 PM
Can’t fish in this year’s Billfish Invitational? No problem – you can still make a contribution as a Friend of Bimini by participating in the Invitational’s live auction on Thursday, May 19th!
Bid paddles are ready. It’s not a Bimini Start, but the next best thing…a live auction featuring exciting travel packages, outdoor gear and original artwork. The Billfish Invitational will be raising proceeds to benefit education and conservation initiatives to be established and monitored by the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation and the IGFA, for the exclusive benefit of Bimini, Bahamas.
Join in the cause. Join the Billfish Invitational anglers on Thursday evening for cocktails, dinner and after dinner bidding action. Tickets are $150/pp, and can be purchased by contacting Ned Stone at nstone@guyharveyoutpost.com, or the tournament staff on site during the event.
LIVE AUCTION ITEMS:
1. IGFA History Package
2. Lost in the Out Islands (EPIRB from ACR Electronics)
3. “Jumping White Marlin”, photograph on canvas by Scott Kerrigan
4. Dock, Dine, Stay & Play Palm Beach-style (Ritz-Carlton, Singer Island)
5. It’s Good to be a Bahamian Pirate (Graycliff Mansion, Nassau)
6. Abaco Turtle Bones (Green Turtle Club & Black Fly Bonefish Club)
7. “One Second”, photograph on canvas by Marc Montocchio
8. Any day is Valentine’s Day (Valentine’s Resort & Yacht Club, Habour Island)
9. Escape to Eleuthera (Cape Eleuthera Resort & Yacht Club)
10. “The Blue”, a bronze casting by Kent Ullberg
11. The Bimini Big Gamer (Big Game Club, “El Viejo” Sportfishing Charters & Sky Limo Air Charters)
12. “Surfaced”, a colored pen-and-ink original by Guy Harvey
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![](mailto:?subject=DEEPEND: Catching Weird Mini-Monsters from the Deep Sea&body=Inside several lockers on the fifth floor of the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Center at Nova Southeastern University near Fort Lauderdale are jars full of some of the weirdest-looking sea creatures that anyone has ever seen.
Cartoon-like miniature orange monsters with long, rapier teeth sticking out of their faces; telescope fish with goggle-like eyes that retract into their heads; dragonfish that light up like Christmas trees; anglerfish that dangle lure-like appendages with actual hooks to entice their prey.
All were collected about 3,000 feet deep in the Gulf of Mexico by scientists from the Deep Pelagic Nekton Dynamics Consortium, or DEEPEND-- a collaboration of nine universities and other research groups led by Dr. Tracey Sutton, associate professor at NSU's Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography. And the researchers are eager to share their never-before findings with the world.
"We want to make people aware of the life and diversity down deeper than anyone ever goes," Sutton said. "There's ten times more pure mass of these deep-sea fish than the shallower-water fishes."
Sutton and his colleagues began towing large pelagic trawl nets to collect specimens in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil gusher which spewed 210 million gallons into the Gulf and killed 11 workers in 2010. The scientists were hired by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to find out what kinds of marine life lived down in the dark, freezing depths that may have been impacted by the spill.
The scientists netted over a million specimens of 700 different species that took them four years to identify. It's the first baseline data set of its kind in the world.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/fish2.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4515" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/fish2.jpg" alt="fish2" width="840" height="560" /></a>
"There were over 60 species that had never been found in the Gulf, including a new species of anglerfish," Sutton said. " Now we've got a big list. The deep part of the Gulf may be the best known of all the oceans of the world."
Besides looking very weird and flashing lights from various appendages on their bodies, Sutton said some of these deep-dwellers rise to the surface at night where they can be dip-netted. South Florida anglers sometimes find them in the bellies of the swordfish and marlin they catch.
You can check out photos and blogs on DEEPEND's work at <a href="http://www.deependconsortium.org">www.deependconsortium.org</a>. Scientists also give talks at boat shows, fishing clubs, and public and private schools to rave reviews. They invite teachers to join them on their research cruises.
Now operating under a grant which expires later this year, Sutton hopes to extend DEEPEND's work for two more years in order to find out how the oil spill may have affected life in the deep. Commercially and recreationally-important blue marlin and bluefin tuna are known to spawn in the waters where the disaster occurred, and one member of the consortium is studying the larvae of those two species to see if there are changes.
Sutton notes that following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound, it took four years for that region's first ecological collapse to occur. Today, more than six years after Deepwater Horizon, about one-quarter of the oil that gushed into the Gulf has not been accounted for. And DEEPEND and others would like to determine the effects of the oil combined with Corexit, the toxic chemical used to disperse it.
"We're just now getting enough data to see how things changed naturally and because of that, to see how things may have changed because of the oil spill," Sutton said. "We have a lot better idea what lives below 1,000 meters than we did before." https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/deepend-catching-weird-mini-monsters-from-the-deep-sea/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=The Hunt for Edible Underwater Treasure&body=by Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost Travel Journalist
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com
[Steinhatchee, FL.--] Looking down through my dive mask at the patchy grass bottom about four feet deep in the Gulf of Mexico, I spied what looked like a miniature flying saucer. Hard and roundish, a little smaller than my palm, it sported a row of tiny blue lights in the small crack between top and bottom. As I reached down to pick it up, it snapped closed and bounced clumsily in a vain attempt to escape. I stuffed it in a mesh bag and kept swimming, looking for more targets. Boy, did I find plenty-- and so did my snorkeling companions.
Our party of six, guided by Steinhatchee charter captain Bob Erdman, was hunting for bay scallops -- small, wonderfully tasty mollusks that are plentiful in Florida's Big Bend region Gulf waters in summertime. You can't buy bay scallops at a seafood market; the only way to eat them is to harvest them yourself, which is both fun and very easy-- so easy that many liken it to an underwater Easter egg hunt. Kids as young as kindergarteners can harvest them.
You simply snorkel on the surface in four to six feet of water over patches of grass and sand and you will spot the shellfish either sitting on the bottom or perched on blades of sea grass. That row of UFO-like blue lights? Those are their eyes, and they quickly snap their double shell closed to propel themselves backwards when they see you overhead. But they're not that quick, so you don't usually lose too many. Think of it as lobstering lite.
The recreational scallop season opened June 25 and runs through Sept. 24, so you have plenty of time to try it. The harvest area extends from the Pasco-Hernando county line to the west bank of the Mexico Beach Canal in Bay County. However, St. Joseph Bay in Gulf County is closed to scalloping until Aug. 22 due to a previous red tide outbreak.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/scalloping7.jpg"><img class="wp-image-4148 size-full" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/scalloping7.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="426" /></a>Patches of sea grass provide a natural habitat for bay scallops.
Steinhatchee -- a tiny burg located about an hour's drive west of Gainesville--is this summer's scalloping capital. Pre-season counts conducted by scientists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission showed an average of 189 scallops per square meter in local waters, compared to 55 in the Homosassa-Crystal River area; 28 in the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge and only two in St. Joseph Bay.
"Fantastic!" Erdman said. "It's the best season in several years. We've been getting our limit in less than half a day."
That proclamation held true for our group too: ten gallons of whole scallops in 2 1/2 hours of snorkeling in an area south of the Steinhatchee River. We sat around in the shade of the boat's Bimini top and enjoyed some post-hunting snacks before heading back to the dock at Good Times Marina.
Lots of scallopers clean their own catch, but it's a tedious process that takes hours and potentially wastes the thumb-sized nuggets of meat if you don't know what you're doing. So we hired the professionals at Sea Hag Marina to do the job for about $8 per pound. They did not disappoint. We brought nearly six pounds of scallop meat to Fiddler's Restaurant that night where it was fried, broiled, blackened and turned into pasta-- and we had plenty of leftovers.
There's no wrong way to prepare bay scallops-- except to overcook them. If you can think of a recipe-- any recipe--you can make it with these tender mollusks. They are great for ceviche and one of my friends eats them raw.
Guy Harvey Outpost hopes to plant a flag in scalloping country soon, so look for updates at the <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com" target="_blank">Guy Harvey Outpost web site</a>. For a complete rundown of scallop rules, equipment and techniques, go <a href="http://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/regulations/bay-scallops/" target="_blank">HERE</a>.
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Sue Cocking chronicles the Guy Harvey Outpost travel and adventure experience in regular blog posts on GuyHarveyOutpostNews.com/. For 21 years, Cocking covered the full spectrum of outdoors adventure opportunities in South Florida and beyond for the Miami Herald, including fishing, diving, hunting, paddling, camping, sailing and powerboat racing. She is a certified scuba diver and holder of an IGFA women's world fly fishing record for a 29-pound permit.
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Share your photos, videos and experiences with Guy Harvey Outpost by hash tagging #OutpostAttitude to all of your social media posts. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/the-hunt-for-edible-underwater-treasure/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Fish Panama This Spring and Summer!&body=Yellowfin tuna greater than 200 pounds; both blue and black marlin; and all the sailfish you want to release.
These are among the sport fishing highlights you can enjoy on Panama's Pacific coast from late March through the end of July with Captain Hennie Marais and Panama Yacht and Fishing Charters-- an exclusive Guy Harvey Outpost Expedition.
In the remote Coiba Islands, a national park located off Panama's southern coast, Marais will slow-troll live bonitos along the gamefish-rich Hannibal Bank where the baits get crashed by huge yellowfins and black marlin. Your floating base camp for this adventure is a comfortably-appointed 66' Buddy Davis sport fishing yacht that can accommodate parties of up to six. You have the option of an additional battle wagon too-- a swift 37-foot Strike with top-of-the-line tackle and equipment to hoist huge tuna up from the depths and subdue greyhounding marlin.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IMG_0377adjusted.jpg"><img class="wp-image-4589 size-full" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IMG_0377adjusted.jpg" alt="IMG_0377adjusted" width="1739" height="1159" /></a>PHOTO: Your floating base camp - a 66' Buddy Davis luxury sportfishing yacht with the optional 37-foot Strike.
Or Marais can escort your group east to the Gulf of Panama where the waters around the Pearl Islands and Pinas Bay further south provide abundant opportunities offshore for tuna, marlin, sailfish and mahi. Inshore, you'll get shots at feisty species such as roosterfish, snapper, and amberjack. On this expedition, you can stay at a private resort and make day trips, live aboard the luxury yacht, or arrange a combination of the two.
"Fishing in Panama is exotic, with beautiful warm weather and beautiful scenery," Marais said.
Book your adventure now at <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com">GuyHarveyOutpost.com</a>, or call our travel desk at 800-513-5257. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/fish-panama-this-spring-and-summer/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=The Family Easter Weekend is on at the Big Game Club&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/eco-easter12.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-549" title="Easter at the Bimini Big Game Club" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/eco-easter12.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="751" /></a> https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/the-family-easter-weekend-is-on-at-the-big-game-club/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Organizers Not Giving Up on Rapa Nui Dive Site&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/11242681_10152750655661710_105051262564212438_o.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-2857 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/11242681_10152750655661710_105051262564212438_o.jpg?w=300" alt="11242681_10152750655661710_105051262564212438_o" width="300" height="169" /></a>The upside down wreckage of the Rapa Nui Reef 67 feet deep off the Deerfield Beach Pier looks like the dark basement of a house crushed by an earthquake. But maybe not for long.
Plans are reportedly in the works to cut openings for divers to access the hull of the 150-foot-long barge that crushed 14 Easter Island-like statues affixed to it during the problem-plagued June sinking. Broward County recently deployed 500 tons of limestone boulders dubbed 'Mount Deerfield' just north of the site. And philanthropist Margaret Blume of Boca Raton and artist Dennis MacDonald of Pompano Beach are considering placing more statues, called moai, in a sculpture garden in the sand around the barge.
Right now, Rapa Nui-- the Polynesian name for Easter Island--isn't much of a dive. Swimming beneath the barge is dangerous because it's only being held up off the bottom by the brittle remains of the statues and their concrete base. One strong storm, and the rusty hulk will plop into the sand.
But this project was not a complete failure. The goal of creating new marine habitat is already happening. Algae coats the overturned hull, attracting bait fish and the grunts and gray snapper that eat them. A reliable observer reported two Goliath grouper swimming around the wreckage. And when I dived it with Jeff Torode, operator of South Florida Diving Headquarters, a feisty triggerfish-- backed by a posse of its buddies-- attacked his GoPro as he shot video.
With the planned enhancements, Rapa Nui could become as enjoyable for divers to visit as it is now for fish. Visitors could easily explore the underwater artwork and Mount Deerfield in a single drift dive. And there are other scenic reefs --both coral and manmade-- in the immediate vicinity that warrant making a day of it.
"I would like to improve it as a dive site," Blume, who put up $500,000 for the June deployment, said. "I really hope we will do something wonderful even on a small scale. You can't give up too easily." https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/organizers-not-giving-up-on-rapa-nui-dive-site/){kind=link}
![](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/billfish-invitational-auction-spotlight-bimini-big-gamer-package/&media=https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/aerial12-1.jpg&description=Billfish Invitational Auction Spotlight – "Bimini Big Gamer" Package){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Billfish Invitational Auction Spotlight – "Bimini Big Gamer" Package&body=BILLFISH INVITATIONAL AUCTION ITEM: The Bimini Big Gamer
The Big Game Is On at the legendary <a title="BBGC web site" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com" target="_blank">Bimini Big Game Club</a>, <a title="About GHO" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com/aboutus.htm" target="_blank">a Guy Harvey Outpost</a>, and this package is a front row seat to all the action. Swanky accommodations. A day of offshore fishing. A day of backcountry fishing. A day of diving. A night of wining and dining and some flying around on your own private plane. You’re in the major leagues now! Enjoy a five night stay in one of the Club’s four penthouse one bedroom suites which give new meaning to phrase "million dollar view". Each is designed with an individual style - the Hemingway and Lerner suites, side by side, as these two legends were in real life, or Guy Harvey’s personal suite and the adjoining Blue Marlin. Get rested up because every day is “Game Day” at the Big Game Club.
Day 1 - Sunrise...time to suit up and go chase the Man in the Blue Suit! Gear up for some serious blue water angling with the legendary <a title="About Capt. Billy Black" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com/charter-captain-billy.htm" target="_blank">Captain Billy Black</a>, a man who knows these waters like Hemingway knew his mojitos! Enjoy a day with Captain Billy and three of your fishing buddies aboard <a title="Photo of "El Viejo"" href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=196290337079665&set=a.167958453246187.29409.127094040665962&type=1&theater" target="_blank">“El Viejo”, a classic 53 Rybovich fishing machine</a>. The Man in the Blue Suit doesn’t take kindly to amateurs, so make sure you know your stuff, and if not, you’d best follow Captain Billy’s orders. It’s true, fish fear him!
Day 2 - And speaking of orders....bonefish, 2 o’clock, 30 feet, cast, strip, try again. Yes, on Day 2, we’re talking tough love from one of <a title="About Bonefish Bimini" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com/bonefish-bimini.htm" target="_blank">Bonefish Bimini</a>’s expert guides. These guides grew up fishing the flats of Bimini, and their knowledge of local bonefish and permit habits might constitute trade secrets. The skiff accommodates two anglers, but you may not want to share these secrets with anyone!
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/vaughfred-bonefish1.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-650" title="Bonefish Bimini guide "Eagle Eyes" Fred get another one!" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/vaughfred-bonefish1.jpg" alt="" width="550" height="366" /></a>
Day 3 - Time to suit up again...this time in your swimsuit or wet suit, because you and three friends are off for a two tank dive aboard <a title="About M.V. Bimini Blue" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com/our-boat.htm" target="_blank">M.V. Bimini Blue</a> with the dive pros of <a title="About Neal Watson's Dive Bimini" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com/dive-bimini.htm" target="_blank">Neal Watson’s Dive Bimini</a>. Wrecks, walls, reefs and the mysterious Atlantis Road – there’s no end to the diving options. Enjoy diving in style aboard the Club’s 60ft double deck, glass bottom boat, complete with men’s and women’s bathrooms, warm water showers, and snack bar with adult beverages on board. During your stay, you’ll be a guest of the <a title="About the Bimini Big Game Bar & Grill" href="http://www.biggameclubbimini.com/bimini-bar-grill.htm" target="_blank">Bimini Big Game Bar & Grill</a>, the island’s most popular waterfront restaurant and bar. Enjoy a complimentary dinner for four while overlooking the marina and debating who’s winning the Big Game. We’ll buy you dinner and a nice bottle of wine, but these types of debates go on long into the night, so cocktails are for your account!
When it comes there is no more time on the score clock, and the Big Game draws to a close, regardless of the score everyone’s a winner, for you and your friends are going home in style....just like the way you arrived ! On your very own private <a title="About Sky Limo Air Charter" href="http://www.skylimoaircharter.com/aboutus.php" target="_blank">Sky Limo</a> <a title="About the Cessna Caravan" href="http://www.skylimoaircharter.com/aircraft-cessna-caravan-208CX.php" target="_blank">Cessna Caravan</a> charter that seats seven - or you alone and a lot of luggage – round trip from <a title="FT. Lauderdale Executive Airport web site" href="http://ci.ftlaud.fl.us/FXE/" target="_blank">Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport</a>. As you climb out over Bimini and look back at Alice Town and the Big Game Club, you know the Big Game will go on, but the Outpost team awaits the return of you, the Bimini Big Gamer! . Donated by the Bimini Big Game Club, “El Viejo” Sportfishing Charters, and Sky Limo Charters.
AUCTION INFORMATION:
Tickets to nightly events of the inaugural 2011 Billfish Invitational are available for $150/pp. Price includes cocktails, dinner and participation in the auction and award presentations.
On-site auction is Thursday, May 19th at the Bimini Big Game Club. Online bids accepted through Midnight, Wednesday, May 18.
Please contact Capt. Ned Stone (<a href="mailto:nstone@guyharveyoutpost.com">nstone@guyharveyoutpost.com</a>) for details. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/billfish-invitational-auction-spotlight-bimini-big-gamer-package/){kind=link}
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