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From top: leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea);
Atlantic spadefish (Chaetodipterus faber), Stolt Dagali
wreck; Forbes’ sea stars (Asterias vulgaris) and a blue
mussel (Mytilus edulis); blue shark (Prionace glauca);
North American lobster (Homarus americanus)
Opposite, from top: Diver Beth Dalzell on the wreck of
the Veronica M, Axel Carlson Reef; grubby (little sculpin)
(
Myoxocephalus aenaeus), Shark River Inlet
wire dragged by the Navy to prevent
it from being a hazard to navigation.
The Mohawk covers a large area of
the ocean bottom, and it is easy for
several dive boats to be on the site
at the same time. It is also a popular
spot for lobster divers.
Lobster hunting is a New Jersey
dive specialty, and it takes as much
skill as spearfishing. Catching a
North American lobster is an art. A
diver plunges his hand into a hole,
tries to grab a lobster without being
pinched and then has to pull out the
crustacean. Frequently, the lobster
wins the battle. Boat captains have
their own favorite spots for lobsters,
and these are usually secret spots
whose locations are protected dearly.
The “Sea Girt Wreck,” named after the
town of Sea Girt, N.J., can be good for
lobsters even though it is dived often.
The wreck sits in 85 feet of water and
consists of two parallel wooden walls
about three to four feet high with
many openings for lobsters and crabs.
Divers looking for sea scallops must
venture into deeper waters (usually
90
feet or more) and be aware of the
associated time constraints. Scallops
are fun; they look like Pac-Man
when they swim. It is not unusual
to find scallops around the wreck of
the Stolt Dagali, which lies in 130
feet of water about 20 miles east of
Manasquan Inlet. The Stolt is a 582-
foot tanker that was cut in half by
the Israeli passenger liner Shalom on
Thanksgiving Day 1964. The stern
sank, but the bow stayed afloat, was
towed to port and salvaged.
Blue mussels are tasty, and they
are the easiest seafood for divers to
harvest. My favorite site for blue
mussels is the Dykes, also known as
the “Five-Masted Schooner” or the
“
Steel Schooner.” It lies in 65 feet
of water on the Sea Girt artificial
reef site. The bow section is usually
blanketed with mussels, and divers fill
mesh bags with them and use lift bags
to bring them to the surface. Mussels
collected high off the sandy bottom
are grit-free. Harvesters often tow
the mesh bags behind the boat on the
way home; this tumbles the mussels
and cleans the exterior of their shells.
Snorkeling
New Jersey isn’t known for snorkeling,
but my wife, Veronica, and I have
found a place that works for us. A mile
out of Manasquan Inlet is the “2M”
buoy, where we’ll often stop to snorkel
when the tide is coming in. Sometimes
other boaters seem to think we’re
crazy or need to be rescued, but if they
could see the life below the surface
they would think differently. On one
particularly memorable day we were
surrounded by banded rudderfish
the whole time we were in the water,
and we were visited by a huge ocean
sunfish (Mola mola).
Sightseeing
Sightseeing divers have myriad choices
for enjoying the diversity of New
Jersey’s marine environment. The
show starts with the descent down the
anchor line. The surface and the water
column offer a never-ending parade of
jellyfish, comb jellies, marine snails and
plankton. Lion’s mane jellyfish drift
past with tiny butterfish seeking shelter
in the tentacles. Dinner-plate-shaped,
many-ribbed hydromedusae prey on
comb jellies for easy meals. Naked sea
butterflies use their tiny wings to soar,
and comb jellies use their comb rows
to oar through the water column while
their bodies refract light, providing a
multicolored light show.
One of the most beautiful places
off the New Jersey coast is the spot
where two 1850s steam locomotives
sit side by side on a sandy, 85-foot
bottom off Long Branch, N.J. Because
of their historical significance, the
locomotives have been “arrested” in
federal court in an effort to ensure
they remain intact until they can
be recovered and restored. The
court order prohibits grappling the
locomotives, so dive boats must
either anchor in the sand or drift.