Old Dan Bank was the first of three sites we visited on Tuesday, and is located in the Florida Bay close to the main channel. It was the shallowest location of the day as depth was 1-5 ft. It was very beautiful however it challenged our snorkeling abilities as we tried our best to not disturb the bottom or step on any fragile coral. The site had tons of turtle grass (Thalassia) which is a sea grass and lots of algae like Udotea, Halimeda, Ventricaria, and Penicillus. I thought the Ventricaria was the coolest here as it's nicknamed bubble algae for its perfectly spherical shape and bubble like formation.
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| Ventricaria found at Old Dan Bank |
The visibility here was great at 15-20ft and we were able to see so many creatures. Some of the fish we found were burrfish, grunts, glass minnow, sergeant majors, high hats, etc. Old Dan Bank was also home to tons of invertebrates such as anemones, queen conchs, spaghetti worm, pen shell, starfish, shrimp, crab, jellyfish, snail, sponge, and scallops.
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| Spaghetti Worm seen at Old Dan Bank |
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| High Hat via Jess |
Corals were also fairly abundant here but weren't quite in the form of a reef like you might think. The corals here aren't attached to the bottom or spread out on hard substrates as the bottom is a sand/ rubble matrix. So they all just kind of hang out on the bottom and are pretty small compared to corals we saw later on in the week. Some of the species found there include Cladocora arbuscula, Porites furcata, Manicina areolata, Siderastrea radians, etc.
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| Manicina Areolata aka Rose Cup Coral |
There was some current here but not much and some wind as well. The water felt great as it was 76 degrees and sunny above. The bottom was pretty flat here so low relief conditions compared to sites later in the week. I really enjoyed Old Dan Bank as it was one of our easier snorkels and we were able to see the corals and other creatures easier due to the shallow depth.
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| Queen Conch via Dr. Voss |
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