July 4, 2000: Weeki Wachee, Florida

"Weeki Wachee"

Diving in the land of the Mermaids:

• Directions from Tampa: Weeki Wachee is just south of the intersection of State Road 19 and State Road 50. Weeki Wachee is technically it's own city, but I've seen it referred to as part of Brooksville, as well as part of Spring Hill.
• Conditions on the day of my visit: Sunny initially, some scattered rain here and there; comfortable in the afternoon.
  
  
• Personal Notes: Scott had off this day, and there were no divers scheduled, no walk ups. So, Bill and I did a couple of dives in the spring. Bill was in the process of taking various video clips of an actual briefing, and cutting in actual dive video in order to relieve the need for a human to do the briefing. He used me as a model to show one of the two methods of entering the spring, as well as an example of careful buoyancy, especially when near the algae. I ended up finishing off one roll of film and started another. Because we were the only ones in the spring, there were more fish out, thinking that we might have food.

Weeki Wachee
It was rare this day to get a good side view of one.
I need to stop taking pictures of the bream ... I think I have too many as it is.
Bill's video camera was a thing of curiosity to the fish.
I just need to get into the practice of *not* taking the camera out when I'm at Weeki Wachee. However, I'm always on the lookout for a Mermaid, and if I get bored, and the camera is in my hand, I take a picture of whatever's there ... which is almost always bream.
A good shot that shows how bream can often have different markings.
A good shot of "Lefty."
As I said, it was often hard to get the view you wanted; as the bream were seemingly expecting something of me, they were always facing me.
The bream were relatively easy to shoot most of the time. The trick was getting the view that you wanted ...
A couple of turtles; "Mohawk" (as I called him) in the foreground, and that's probably "Lefty" in the background. You can also make out the old stage in the background.
With only two divers in the water, and probably being a little underfed, the bream did not seem to be that afraid.
This is probably "Mohawk," but in the dimness of the picture, his mohawk like tuft of algae on his head blends in well with the rest of his body.
He even hid that same way again, but I could never quite get into position to get a good shot of just his head while he was hiding.
Here he is giving up on hiding and swimming away.
I came across one of the bass hiding under some of the algae, with only his head peeking out. Unfortunately, when he saw that I saw him, he moved.
Never knowing if the shot is going to come out, I usually take two or three.
And here's the third.
Catfish are usually only spotted at night. I found this one hiding in a crack in the rocks. This was the only picture I managed to snap of him before he disappeared deeper into the formations.
Hiding in the darkness in a crack in the rocks, I snapped a pretty clear picture of this bream.
This is Lefty sunning himself on the dock between dives.
It was a little overcast when I shot this bass.
One of the underwater speakers, that, during this dive, continually played the same three bars of a skipping CD. It drove Bill and I nuts until one of the Weeki Wachee staff heard it and shut it off.
Some bream right in front of the auditorium, just below the bottom of the glass.
A picture of my reflection, taken during a "Fun Facts" session where they tell audience members about the spring, and answer questions about the spring and the Mermaids.
A turtle that didn't want his picture taken at this particular time.
A view of the dock in the water, with a turtle sunning himself.
Burning film on the only thing nearby ... and of course, it's a bream!