Headquartered in Georgetown, Grand Cayman; the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame recognizes the Pioneers of Diving. Neal has been a pioneering leader in dive tourism in the Bahamas and the Caribbean …
Guy Harvey Outpost’s Outdoors Blog Gathering Growing National Readership
2 Oct 20154:50 PM
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 Guy Harvey Outpost Resorts.
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 scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com.
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![](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}
![](mailto:?subject=Neal Watson Inducted into the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame!&body=Headquartered in Georgetown, Grand Cayman; the <a title="International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame" href="http://www.scubahalloffame.com/main.html">International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame </a>recognizes the Pioneers of Diving. Neal has been a pioneering leader in dive tourism in the Bahamas and the Caribbean for 40+ years.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/10687291_967342136615595_9222110115519309721_o.jpg"><img class="wp-image-2280 size-large" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/10687291_967342136615595_9222110115519309721_o.jpg?w=550" alt="10687291_967342136615595_9222110115519309721_o" width="550" height="366" /></a>
Congratulations to the “Dive God!” Neal picked up his nick name for his record setting feats and well known sense of humor. He set the deepest compressed air dive at 437 feet. Neal also holds the longest underwater non-stop distance record of 66 miles starting off Islamorada, Florida and finishing 19 ½ hours and 25 tanks later off Miami.
Neal Watson serves as Director of Dive Operations for <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/">Guy Harvey Outpost</a> and operates <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/bahamas/bimini-bahamas/bimini-sands-dive.html">Neal Watson’s Bimini Scuba Center</a>, a Guy Harvey Outpost Dive Outfitter. Among those on hand in Grand Cayman for Hall of Fame induction ceremony were two other ISDHF Inductees, Dr. Guy Harvey and <a href="http://www.captainslate.com/">Capt. Spencer Slate</a>. Also on hand to help celebrate were Neal’s daughter Beth Watson, Director of Sales for Guy Harvey Outpost and Outpost CFO Kevin Denell.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/1798909_716052288475986_2053445800531585921_o.jpg"><img class="wp-image-2278 size-large" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/1798909_716052288475986_2053445800531585921_o.jpg?w=550" alt="Neal & Beth Watson, happy father and daughter." width="550" height="366" /></a>Neal & Beth Watson, happy father and daughter. Photo Courtesy of Courtney Platt.
You can see video of Neal’s induction into the <a href="http://www.dema.org/">Dive Equipment Manufacturers’ Association</a> (DEMA) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBirs8XTH2M">Hall of Fame 2005 Induction</a>. Also available on YouTube is Neal’s 1978 appearance on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3CJBj6aYao">To Tell The Truth</a>.
More Information on Guy Harvey Outpost & their other great resorts: <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/">http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/</a>
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https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/neal-watson-inducted-into-the-international-scuba-diving-hall-of-fame/){kind=link}
![](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=Capt. Slate’s ‘Creature Feature’ Dive – New Location, New Thrills&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/slate.jpg"><img class="alignnone wp-image-2903 size-large" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/slate.jpg?w=660" alt="Slate" width="660" height="256" /></a>
(Tavernier, FL) The five-foot-long green moray eel glides out of its coral reef cave and heads straight for the ballyhoo that Captain Spencer Slate dangles from two gloved fingers. The eel quickly gulps the bait then allows Slate to cradle it in his arms and stroke its slick sides. Slate holds the eel out to a ten-year-old diver sitting nearby who gives it a pat, and it returns to its cave.
"A sweetheart, a doll," Slate says later of the eel, who he has named Wasabi.
Slate has been making friends with eels, sharks, barracudas, Goliath groupers, and numerous other Upper Keys reef denizens since the late 1970s. His twice-weekly 'creature feature' feeding dives on Fridays and Sundays conducted from Captain Slate's Scuba Adventures Dive Center, a Guy Harvey Outpost outfitter in Tavernier, regularly draws a sell-out audience.
On a recent Sunday, two families from Fort Pierce-- both with newly certified scuba diving ten-year-old daughters-- travelled to the Keys for the third time to participate. Both girls thoroughly enjoyed the dive, and declared they would share photos and videos upon returning to school.
"They were cute!" one girl said of Wasabi and Lester, another green moray befriended by Slate.
Slate escorted his guests to the first dive at Davis Reef, a shallow, scenic coral ledge about 25 feet deep where Wasabi makes her home. Slate dropped to the bottom carrying a PVC canister filled with chum and bally hoo, quickly attracting a school of yellowtail snapper and grunts that followed the scent trail.
The captain stopped in front of a shallow cave near a large Southern stingray that rested half-buried in the sand and kept a wary eye on the food fest. The swarming snapper and grunts were so thick around the chum canister that the divers could barely see Slate. The divers settled down in the sand to see what would happen next.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/10924171_770345289702868_1772420048942809884_o.jpg"><img class="alignnone wp-image-2907 size-large" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/10924171_770345289702868_1772420048942809884_o.jpg?w=660" alt="10924171_770345289702868_1772420048942809884_o" width="660" height="339" /></a>
Wasabi appeared pretty quickly after Slate took out the first bally hoo. Her jaws flexed open and closed as she approached the bait, then devoured it. She held pretty still for all the public displays of affection by the humans, then went back to her cave to digest the meal. She never snapped at anybody.
The stingray, tired of the hoopla, slowly dusted itself off and swam away.
Slate let the schooling fish have their way in the chum slick for a little while, then got out another bally hoo for Wasabi. She re-emerged from her cave, ate her snack, indulged the divers, then departed.
None of Slate's guests has been injured by his featured creatures in decades, but he has. Following numerous nips to the fingers requiring multiple visits to a hand surgeon over the years, Slate began wearing chain-mail gloves. Even today, he has very little feeling in his digits. Trying to feed barracudas bally hoo clasped between his teeth, Slate has suffered split lips, a black eye and a severed nerve in his cheek.
"Like getting a haymaker from Sonny Liston," he said.
A Goliath grouper he fed regularly at the wreck of the City of Washington off Key Largo once swallowed his arm and part of his head in its haste to score a meal.
He just laughs off the injuries and vows to keep hanging with the sea life.
"You know me. If I find an eel, I am going to make a buddy out of it," he said.
On the second dive with the group from Fort Pierce, Slate headed to nearby Pleasure Reef where he is trying to cultivate a more solid friendship with Lester, another moray. Lester responded a bit slowly to the offered bally hoo and didn't want to hang around too long for the requisite love fest. But he didn't display any hostility, just shyness.
During that dive, the guests also spotted a large nurse shark and a sea turtle passing by. Nobody was scared -- just excited.
That's the whole purpose behind the creature feature, Slate said -- showing visitors that residents of the underwater world are not out to get them.
"I've done this my whole life, so people will respect them and get over the idea they'll eat you alive," Slate said.
That message certainly went a long way with two very exhilarated ten-year-old girls.
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. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/capt-slates-creature-feature-dive-new-location-new-thrills/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=WANTED DEAD or Alive, LIONFISH!&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/reef-derbies-2014.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-2053" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/reef-derbies-2014.jpg?w=300" alt="Reef Derbies 2014" width="300" height="300" /></a>
If you are in the eastern Bahamas and can not make it to the Bimini Beach Bash, Bonfire & Tournament please head over to the Green Turtle Club for the 6th Annual Lionfish Derby, June 27-28th. The Green Turtle Club is original host to REEF's first Lionfish Derby. We always need more divers and diners to make those pesky Lionfish disappear. To make your reservations call: 800-513-5257 or reservations@guyharveyoutpost.com, http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/ https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wanted-dead-or-alive-lionfish/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Lady Luck To Take a Dive This Summer&body=by Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost Travel Journalist
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com
The odds look good for sinking the Lady Luck as Broward County's largest artificial reef in July. But the mock underwater gambling casino aimed at attracting both fish and scuba divers to the waters off Pompano Beach could use a few more high rollers.
The non-profit Shipwreck Park Foundation, made up of city officials and local business owners including the Isle Casino, has put up $625,000 to purchase, transport, clean and finally sink the 324-foot former sludge tanker about 1 1/2 miles southeast of the Pompano Beach Pier. The ship, originally called the Newtown Creek, was towed from its former home in New York City to a shipyard on the Miami River in late April to be stripped of equipment, cleaned of pollutants and drained of fuel and oil.
But some unexpected permits imposed by New York officials before they would release the ship increased the project cost by about $175,000. So now the Foundation is looking for some private donors to chip in and make up the difference.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wreck.jpg"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-4075 size-full" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wreck.jpg" alt="wreck" width="720" height="361" /></a>
"It's going to be a great wreck," said Captain Jeff Torode of South Florida Diving Headquarters, a Guy Harvey Outpost Outfitter. "Everybody is going to benefit. It's a win-win."
The Lady Luck sports multiple decks and is covered with metal piping that creates plenty of nooks and crannies for fish to hide and coral to grow. Its relief and complexity enhances the whimsical casino ambience to be created by prominent Pompano Beach artist Dennis MacDonald: mock poker tables; roulette wheels; oversized dice; and fish costumed as croupiers. Donors to the project can commission unique artwork by MacDonald to be placed throughout the ship. The interior bulkheads will feature a rotating gallery of waterproof paintings and other decorations crafted by local artists. Options for underwater selfies will be limitless.
Lady Luck is to become the centerpiece of Pompano Beach's Shipwreck Park, which includes other popular artificial reefs such as the Captain Dan and Jay Scutti. Plans call for an underwater trail connecting them.
Resolve Marine Group, based in Fort Lauderdale, has been chosen to sink the ship-- performing underwater modeling and other tests to ensure it settles right-side up on the sandy bottom. Broward County's last artificial reef deployment-- a barge holding Easter Island-like Rapa Nui statues--went wrong when it flipped upside down off Deerfield Beach last summer, crushing most of the artwork.
To learn more about how you can help with the deployment of Lady Luck, go <a href="http://www.shipwreckparkpompano.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">HERE</a>.
*******************
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.
********** https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/lady-luck-to-take-a-dive-this-summer/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Goliath Grouper Diving Season Peaks in South Florida&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/goliath2.jpg"><img class="wp-image-2934 size-medium" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/goliath2.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="197" /></a>Credit: Alan Egan
By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost Staff Writer
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com.
[Jupiter, FL--] If you have ever wanted to get up close and personal with schools of fish the size of Smart Cars as they check out the action in their underwater singles bars, now is your best opportunity.
Scores of Goliath grouper weighing hundreds of pounds are gathered at their annual spawning sites on reefs and wrecks in southeast and southwest Florida. They started showing up in August and will likely remain through early to mid-October.
By far the best viewing is on artificial reefs 60 feet and deeper from Boynton Beach to Jupiter in Palm Beach County. On a Sept. 12th dive on the 60-foot-deep MG 111 off Jupiter, Ryan Kobylski-- divemaster with Jupiter Dive Center-- counted 80 individuals hovering inside and around the wreck.
"This is the hot time," Kobylski said. "This is when they're all fired up."
The large, gentle, mottled-brown fish mostly ignore divers or move away when approached. But if you sit still on the bottom or hover stationary in the middle of the water column, they may swim up to you. When upset or frightened, they emit a sonic boom from deep in their throats. With lots of divers around, the MG 111 often sounds like an underwater bass drum concert.
Scientific tagging data shows Goliaths come from hundreds of miles away to reproduce on southeast Florida wrecks in late summer. Most are gone by mid-October, but a few stick around.
The giant groupers have been protected from all harvest since 1990 after their populations crashed due to overfishing by both hook-and-line and spear guns. Now, after 25 years of closure, stocks have bounced back-- prompting some commercial and recreational anglers and spearfishers to call for a resumption of harvest. That won't happen anytime soon, however, because state and federal fisheries managers don't expect to complete a new Goliath stock assessment until the middle of 2016. If the numbers show that the fishery has reached a sustainable level, then a limited harvest could be considered.
Over the past decade, some dive operators-- especially in Palm Beach County-- have come to rely on bountiful numbers of Goliaths for a substantial portion of their summertime income, as tourists travel from all over the world to interact with the huge creatures. Those business owners staunchly oppose lifting the harvest ban.
And, just recently, another potential impediment to a future harvest has come to light: high levels of the heavy metal mercury found in many of the largest Goliaths.
Dr. Chris Koenig, a Florida State University fisheries scientist who's been studying the species since the 1990s, says mercury levels are so high in fish over four feet long as to weaken and maybe even kill them. And that means people who eat them risk mercury poisoning. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration says no one should consume fish with levels higher than one part per million; Koenig and colleagues have detected up to four parts per million of mercury in many Goliaths they've examined.
"Commercial fishing is out of the question and recreational fishing is foolish," Koenig said. "Why would you want to kill something you couldn't eat?"
The problem with opening a fishery for smaller Goliaths in the two-to-three-foot range found mostly in shallowEverglades estuaries is removing fish before they've had a chance to spawn. Coupled with the massive cold-kill of juvenile Goliaths in early 2010, recovery of the species could suffer serious setbacks.
So for now, the best way to handle Goliaths is to enjoy their company underwater while they're around and release them quickly and unharmed if you catch them on hook and line.
******
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. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/goliath-grouper-diving-season-peaks-in-south-florida/){kind=link}
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