32
|
FALL 2012
LOCAL DIVING
I
t was one of those wonderful
days to be underwater — good
visibility, no current and calm
seas. I cruised the outskirts of
the wreck until I found the photo
opportunity I was looking for: My
friend Gerry was hovering intently,
taking photos at the roof of the Lana
Carol’s pilothouse. This 71-foot-
long scallop boat sank in a storm on
Halloween 1976 and now sits upright
on a sandy bottom in 90 feet of water.
I adjusted my camera settings and
snapped the photo of Gerry and the
pilothouse. The image was just as I had
seen it in my mind’s eye, but I received
an unexpected bonus. Gerry’s flash had
a sensor that caused it to fire when it
detected light from another flash. Mine
was bright enough to trigger the sensor,
and that added a nice element to the
image. I chuckle to myself when people
remark how lucky I was to catch the
photographer just as he took a photo.
Underwater photography is just
one of many ways to enjoy diving off
New Jersey’s coast. With thousands of
artificial reefs, including shipwrecks,
rock piles and more, New Jersey offers
something for every diver. Thanks to the
bottom conditions off the coast, the state
has a surprising diversity of marine life.
The seafloor is flat, sandy and desertlike.
There is life in this desert, but it is sparse.
The abundant wrecks and other artificial
reefs are oases: They provide substrates
for marine organisms and safe havens for
reef fish. These fish provide food sources
for larger pelagic species.
Harvesting
Spearfishermen delight in catches
of black sea bass, tautog (blackfish),
red hake, goosefish (monkfish) and
both summer and winter flounder.
The Mohawk, a 387-foot passenger
liner that lies in 80 feet of water about
eight miles out of Manasquan Inlet,
is one popular spot for spearfishing.
It sank in 1935 after colliding with
the Norwegian tanker Talisman. The
Mohawk was later blown apart and
NEW
JERSEY
T e x t a n d P h o t o s
b y H e r b S e g a r s
The underwater
garden state