Strange grouper sighting on barge off of Jax

[Reef Reaper]

Originally Posted by Robert D.

definitely don't think it is improper venting. It is happening in 60 feet of water, at 7 am where nobody has been fishing. I haven't seen this ever in 10 years and people have fishing all this time.

I agree, We are two months into the grouper season. If any are over the size limit, it's not from venting because they would be iced not vented. I did three dives sunday all on prime grouper bottom. They were nowhere to be found?

[PropMan]

Originally Posted by Dykoke1

Robert D
What was the temperature of the water on the morning you dove?
What direction was the wind the Night before.

I have seen this many times before, catch the event when it is going on and you can load the boat with catatonic grouper ( A rec. person must let them lay to rot) After a few days it is just a sad sight to see all the rotting corpses that linger for weeks on end.

As far as the first post, " go to http://www.wix.com/fcolema2/coleman-...-research-page and read up on Goliath grouper a mind is a terrible thing to wast".

Yes it is , so whats the fastest fish in the ocean oh wise one,

[KeysKid]

Since you guys are all talking about weird experiences with grouper, heres my weird grouper experience.

I was diving a shallow spot in around 15ft of water here in the Keys and saw a black grouper, only around 20", laying on the bottom motionless. As I got closer to him he started to spin around and do flips, but looked like he was in some sort of unconscious state. So finally I tried to grab him and as soon as I touched him, it was like I woke him up and he swam faster then any other grouper I've seen before. I thought maybe he was sleeping? Anyone have any ideas what was going on?

Also there was no one fishing anywhere near us the entire day and this fish had no obvious signs of being shot or hurt.

[Chiung]

[MaxOutLife]

Interesting to see so many of you saw the same thing last weekend from way south to up north. We were in the HH area. Also interesting so many saw so many sharks as well. I saw a large tiger on my first dive & will post video link on another post. The grouper I gigged had a reddish area on the bridge of his nose like described in another post. The meat all looked good and tasted fine this evening coming off the grill. Will report if it is processed quicker than expected........

[SpearMax]

Early this morning, I contacted the head of FWC's Marine Division and she directed me to the right people at FWRI and their Fish and Wildlife Health Group.

They work at the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg under the umbrella of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. They study disease and mortality in fish and were not aware of this situation.

Robert D. and I are trying to get some fresh samples to them for autopsies.

Thanks for all the great information and observations from everyone in this thread, especially the original poster. Good job, Tony

[vertical limit]

I figure this might begin our bench mark study for us average joes.I have faith in what you people are observing is true.Tony has done a good deed in trying to do the right thing with the mother ship of the occurances.I wonder if (they) act on this event are we playing on a level field. Lets see what fwc/noaa does with this info.We all know that our reports are questionable after all its considered citizen science.If they take info and act on it a person might believe that the fwc/noaa and certain special enterest groups influence there decisions and hidden agendas.I know that most of us that dive this side in our area have documented another occurance happening here on more dives than not and that is the large amounts of ars's.I have a following with me quite often mostly in my fin trail.But thats just citizen science, it doesn't hold much water,no pun intended. So with being that reported lets see what they do with the bio mass

[Straight_Chaos]

I am NOT a scientist but can fish get rabies? The weird illnesses sound like its something in their brain. Maybe a parasite or infection. Loss of motor control sounds like a grey matter problem.

Could lion fish venom ingested cause health problems for the fish? I don't think 100+lb GG would feel much more than a buzz if he even prey on such a small snack when fat gags are around to eat, but a 36 inch gag might not be able to handle the poison.....IDK just throwing random things out since non of us know for sure! Ty

[JupiterBelow]

haha some people over think it a bit. gg's dont seem to evr eat grouper unless injured by spearfishing or h/l fishing.

i think dykoke is right on. i saw this off stuart on the northside of bullshark wreck. must have been 6 or 8 yrs ago. it was summertime (june or july) and there was a fresh dead gag inside the wreck and on the bottom (gg's wanted nothing to do with it) and a live but injured gag on its side in the sand. it only swam with its pec fins like it had been spine shot by someone and pulled off but it never had a spearhole in it. water was greenish but plenty warm.

[Dykoke1]

Originally Posted by vertical limit

I figure this might begin our bench mark study for us average joes.I have faith in what you people are observing is true.Tony has done a good deed in trying to do the right thing with the mother ship of the occurances.I wonder if (they) act on this event are we playing on a level field. Lets see what fwc/noaa does with this info.We all know that our reports are questionable after all its considered citizen science.If they take info and act on it a person might believe that the fwc/noaa and certain special enterest groups influence there decisions and hidden agendas.I know that most of us that dive this side in our area have documented another occurance happening here on more dives than not and that is the large amounts of ars's.I have a following with me quite often mostly in my fin trail.But thats just citizen science, it doesn't hold much water,no pun intended. So with being that reported lets see what they do with the bio mass

There is no bio mass just a few fisherman's observations.
I could have been diving on these wrecks using bleach or some other type of chemical. We have only a few observation.

[awthacker]

I think the lionfish theory could be a possibility. I've seen more this year than usual. I saw one at rl this week and have never seen them that shallow. The gags there were still elusive, though.

[2fishin2]

somebody catch a live grouper and lionfish. then using the lionfish, poke the grouper with it. observe for next couple hours.

[surfandscience]

Originally Posted by vertical limit

I figure this might begin our bench mark study for us average joes.I have faith in what you people are observing is true.Tony has done a good deed in trying to do the right thing with the mother ship of the occurances.I wonder if (they) act on this event are we playing on a level field. Lets see what fwc/noaa does with this info.We all know that our reports are questionable after all its considered citizen science.If they take info and act on it a person might believe that the fwc/noaa and certain special enterest groups influence there decisions and hidden agendas.I know that most of us that dive this side in our area have documented another occurance happening here on more dives than not and that is the large amounts of ars's.I have a following with me quite often mostly in my fin trail.But thats just citizen science, it doesn't hold much water,no pun intended. So with being that reported lets see what they do with the bio mass

If someone can get me some samples (whole fish/not gutted, frozen) my lab will have a look. I'm a population biologist, admittedly not a grouper expert, but I should be able to help narrow the possible causes just from looking at body condition/stomach contents.

If we find anything we can pass it on to FWC/NOAA but as with anything to scare up the funds you need to be able to show a documented effect on our grouper pop.

[Robert D.]

Originally Posted by Dykoke1

There is no bio mass just a few fisherman's observations.
I could have been diving on these wrecks using bleach or some other type of chemical. We have only a few observation.

You are a wise man... I know exactly what you are thinking..... I was thinking the same.....

[Reef Reaper]

Originally Posted by awthacker

I think the lionfish theory could be a possibility. I've seen more this year than usual. I saw one at rl this week and have never seen them that shallow. The gags there were still elusive, though.

I saw 30-40 out of all three dives. So much that I check the area before looking under the ledge. Next time I'm going right.