History of Diving Museum, FREE Presentation March 19, Dive Memorials, CLICK for details
19 Mar 20148:19 PM
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By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost Travel Journalist
Pro team Member
Sue Cocking chronicles the Guy Harvey Outpost travel and adventure experience in regular blog posts on GuyHarveyOutpostNews.com.
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Each year we honor our planet with Earth Day. Many of us participate in organized activities. Organized or not the most important thing to do is, get off the couch, get outside and get into nature! Ideally, …
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William Bebee In The Galapagos, presented by author Jack Grove 7pm FREE. At the History of Diving Museum, just minutes from the Islander Resort, a Guy Harvey Outpost. For more information check out the …
Islamorada: Dive all day and learn about dive history in the evenings. A special series of events at the History of Diving Museum recognizing the contributions of Military Divers. May 21-26
Immerse Yourself, Man’s Relationship with the Sea at the History of Diving Museum, April 15th 7pm. Alyssa Engiles presents the story of Man, Homo Delphinus to the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis. Come …
Fabien Cousteau on-board the FIU Aquarious Reef Base. Filmmaker, Fabien Cousteau, grandson of diving pioneer Jaques Cousteau attempts record setting dive in the Aquarius. Cousteau began his 31 day attempt …
The wreck of the MG-111 barge and the nearby pillars of Warrior Reef to the north aren’t very scenic as dive sites go– just a smooshed hull and a few tall vertical posts sunk 60 feet deep in …
The outdoors adventures that veteran writer Sue Cocking brought to the front door for Miami Herald subscribers over two decades are now reaching a national audience courtesy of a popular fan-interactive …
26 Feb 2018
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![](mailto:?subject=History of Diving Museum, FREE Presentation March 19, Dive Memorials, CLICK for details&body=<img src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/dive-memorials.png" class="size-full" alt="Dive Memorials at the History of Diving Museum, FREE Presentation" /> https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/dive-memorials-at-the-history-of-diving-museum-free-presentation/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=What Are Your Earth Day Plans?&body=Each year we honor our planet with Earth Day. Many of us participate in organized activities. Organized or not the most important thing to do is, get off the couch, get outside and get into nature! Ideally, get wet, but GET OUTSIDE!
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/nasa_modis_wonderglobe_lrg.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-2686" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/nasa_modis_wonderglobe_lrg.jpg?w=660" alt="Image converted using ifftoany" width="660" height="660" /></a>
Here are some Earth Day suggestions:
Get out early and listen to the birds. They have lots to say first thing in the morning.
Go for a sunrise beach walk. Take a bag with you and fill it with trash on your way back.
Take the dog to a new park. Heck, take the kids to the park too!
Go snorkeling in the nearest body of water. What is there to be discovered?
Count the turtle nests at <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/florida/st-pete-beach.html">Guy Harvey Outpost, St. Pete Beach</a>
Lie on your back in the sand and let it the grains fill the voids to support you.
<a href="http://ghofish.com/">Go Fish</a>!
Enjoy your church’s Earth Day activities.
Bike a new trail, take a different route.
Watch for the Green Flash at sunset from <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/bahamas/west-end-grand-bahama-island/overview.html">Old Bahama Bay</a>, <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/bahamas/bimini-bahamas/bimini-sands-bimini.html">Bimini Sands</a>, <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/florida/islamorada-fl/rest.html">the Islander Bayside</a>, <a href="http://http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/florida/st-pete-beach.html">St. Pete Beach</a>, or the <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/beyond/southern-cross-club/overview.html">Southern Cross Club</a>.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/vaughfred-bonefish1.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-1424" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/vaughfred-bonefish1.jpg?w=660" alt="VaughFred.Bonefish" width="660" height="440" /></a>
Go paddle boarding on new waters or your favorite water.
Get away from city lights; lie on your back and count stars. (Island beaches are excellent for this.)
Walk through wet grass barefoot.
Paint a picture.
Plant something pretty in your yard.
<a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/adventures/diving.html">Go Diving!</a>
Feed your senses, close your eyes and smell the plants, the sea and the earth around you.
Get on your hands and knees and grab hold of mother earth. Give her a hug, she deserves one.
Join Guy at Jacksonville Beach this Saturday April 25th 9-11 am for the <a href="http://www.guyharvey.com/">Jax Beach Clean-Up</a>! Registration takes place in front of Seawalk Pavilion at the corner of 1st Street N. & 1st Ave. N. Jacksonville Beach.
<a href="http://www.earthday.org/">EarthDay.org</a> has lots of organized activities for you to choose from.
PLEASE take the time to get outside and enjoy your planet.
For Fishing with Guy Harvey Outpost: <a href="http://www.ghofish.com/">www.ghofish.com</a>
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![](mailto:?subject=Explore Man’s Relationship with the Sea at the History of Diving Museum, Islamorada, April 15th&body=Immerse Yourself, Man’s Relationship with the Sea at the <a href="http://www.divingmuseum.org/">History of Diving Museum</a>, April 15th 7pm. Alyssa Engiles presents the story of Man, Homo Delphinus to the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/alyssa-engiles-history-of-diving-museum-friend.jpg"><img class="wp-image-2681 size-large" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/alyssa-engiles-history-of-diving-museum-friend.jpg?w=550" alt="Alyssa Engiles, History of Diving Museum & Friend" width="550" height="550" /></a>Alyssa Engiles, History of Diving Museum and Friend.
Come early to meet David Charash and learn about the underwater adventure of <a title="Cousteau Dives the Keys!" href="http://guyharveyoutpostnews.com/2014/06/11/cousteau-dives-the-keys/">Mission 31 </a>when Fabian Cousteau broke his grandfather’s endurance record.
The History of Diving Museum is located at: 82990 Overseas Hwy about one mile north of the <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/florida/islamorada-fl/islamorada-fl-overview.html">Islander Resort, a Guy Harvey Outpost</a>.
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For more information on the <a href="http://www.divingmuseum.org/">History of Diving Museum</a>
For Fishing with Guy Harvey Outpost: <a href="http://www.ghofish.com/">www.ghofish.com</a>
For Guy Harvey Outpost & their great resorts: <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/" target="_parent">http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/</a>
For the Guy Harvey Outpost Blog <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpostnews.com/" target="_parent">www.guyharveyoutpostnews.com</a>
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![](mailto:?subject=Diving with Goliaths off Jupiter&body=The wreck of the MG-111 barge and the nearby pillars of Warrior Reef to the north aren't very scenic as dive sites go-- just a smooshed hull and a few tall vertical posts sunk 60 feet deep in the sand off Jupiter, FL. But for the opportunity to visit with some really large marine creatures-- some of them the size of Mini Coopers --there's no better place to visit in Florida right now.
Beginning with the August new moon, and likely through early October, scores of huge Goliath grouper hang around these motley artificial reefs getting to know one another and perpetuating their endangered species. They station themselves up- and down-current and inside the structures, occasionally making booming noises that sound like submerged bass drums. If you refrain from chasing them and remain stationary on the bottom, they may approach closely enough for you to shoot some amazing photos and video.
On my recent dive, I quit counting the gigantic fish at 50. They were cautious around me, but not spooky. One hovered inside the MG-111 about four feet away from me, opening and closing its wide mouth as I watched. As if that weren't enough live entertainment, a five-foot Southern stingray glided by overhead. And at the Warrior Reef, a really large loggerhead turtle sat calmly in the sand while a small, tagged green turtle nibbled on sponges. All around them milled more Goliaths. To call it an epic dive is a vast understatement.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/DSC1783.jpg"><img class="size-large wp-image-4258" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/DSC1783-1024x598.jpg" alt="Credit Alan Cegan" width="1024" height="598" /></a>Credit Alan Cegan
Florida State University research scientist Dr. Chris Koenig and his colleagues have identified some 20 Goliath grouper spawning sites off Florida's Atlantic and Gulf coasts-- including the one I visited. Most of them are wrecks and rocky outcroppings extending from Fort Myers south to the Dry Tortugas in the Gulf and from Jupiter south to Boynton Beach in the Atlantic. The Jupiter wrecks are the prime hot spots for viewing-- easily accessible located only a few miles offshore.
Spawning, Koenig says, takes place late at night during new moon phases from August through October. Goliaths travel from as far as 300 miles away to join these aggregations and most depart when spawning is over, leaving a few stragglers year round. Koenig and colleagues have collected millions of Goliath eggs in their nets around the reproduction sites and hope someday to rear them so fish can be stocked in areas where they are heavily depleted.
The seasonal Goliath dive tours are an important economic driver for local businesses whose owners are vehement advocates for the gentle, mottled-brown fish. Goliaths have been protected from all harvest in Florida since 1990 when they were nearly wiped out by overfishing. In recent years, their recovery has prompted some hook-and-line and spear fishers to urge managers to re-open the fishery, but that's not likely to happen anytime soon.
The most recent scientific stock assessment that might have led to a re-opening flunked peer review because it was inconclusive--lacking baseline information on Goliaths before they were hammered to near extinction in the 1970s and '80s. Another potential obstacle to resuming harvest is that larger animals show high levels of mercury-- a toxic heavy metal that can cause an array of health problems in humans who consume it. Koenig says Goliath mercury levels are so high that the fish themselves get sick and die of it. And, he says, the species is still threatened by poaching, recreational catch-and-release fishing, and bycatch in the bottom longline commercial shark fishery.
So, for right now, it seems the function of the Goliath grouper is to be the star of underwater safaris and video documentaries like the lions of the Serengeti. Take the plunge to see them before they split for the season. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/diving-with-goliaths-off-jupiter/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Guy Harvey Outpost’s Outdoors Blog Gathering Growing National Readership&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/sue-cocking-with-tarpon.jpeg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-2937 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/sue-cocking-with-tarpon.jpeg?w=300" alt="Sue Cocking with Tarpon" width="300" height="200" /></a>The outdoors adventures that veteran writer Sue Cocking brought to the front door for Miami Herald subscribers over two decades are now reaching a national audience courtesy of a popular fan-interactive website hosted by <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com" target="_blank">Guy Harvey Outpost Resorts</a>.
Considered the preeminent woman outdoors writer in America, Cocking’s first-person accounts of her travels cover a colorful, action-packed and sometimes edgy series of field reports covering Florida, The Bahamas and beyond.
Cocking, now the outdoors staff writer for Guy Harvey Outpost Resorts, built a legion of fans in South Florida over the past 21 years as the Outdoors Writer for the Miami Herald. The highly respected journalist was also a news reporter and anchor for several South Florida radio stations, including WINZ and WIOD, both in Miami. She was also the co-host of “The Weekly Fisherman”, aired weekly on WQAM-560.
Sponsored by the Guy Harvey Outpost Resorts—a unique collection of waterfront destinations— Cocking’s blog is no passive stroll in the park. She literally dives right in and can be found chasing grey ghosts in the Florida Keys flats; gator hunting in Lake Okeechobee; diving with hammerhead sharks in the Bahamas; and kayaking in the Everglades back country.
“Sue is the perfect correspondent for our Travel With a Purpose Outpost theme,” said Mark Ellert, President of Guy Harvey Outpost Resorts. “She stands directly in the center of where adventure mixes with education, science and conservation. Her tales are fun, evocative and educational and her experiences open the door for anyone who wants to participate, whether it be recreational fishing and diving, hunting, sailing, powerboating, camping on simply advocating the conservation of the outdoors and oceans.”
“Reader interaction is key to the success of this blog,” said Cocking. “I’m always open to new experiences and story ideas, and invite readers to share their stories, images and videos with me.”
Cocking can be reached at <a href="mailto:scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com">scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com</a>. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/guy-harvey-outposts-outdoors-blog-gathering-growing-national-readership/){kind=link}
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