Oriskany Dive Report July 6, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : WreckDiving , trackbackI was browsing through the Rebreather World Forum as you do and came across a recent report of how the Oriskany was shaping up as a dive site. Heather (hchoat) recently dived the wreck and stated that divers should wait for 6 months or so unless they are really keen, as there is still a lack of marine life on the aircraft carrier;
We chartered with Dave Mucci on YKnot (my fav. local captain)- which is a fast (if small, 29 footer) dive boat. The ride out to the site took about an hour and fifteen minutes (we had beautiful conditions, winds less than 10 knots and seas 1 foot or less). Once we dropped into the water, the island was clearly visible from the surface, and the water temp was 82 degrees to about 60′. There was a pretty significant thermocline, with a 10 degree temp drop below. We spent 80 minutes on the wreck, during which time we observed very little marine life. The wreck is beginning to be covered in a light brown grassy/ algae looking stuff, and has a fair amount of small life- little crabs, blennies by the dozen, schools of damselfish and small triggerfish, a few pipefish were also present- but that’s about it. In contrast with the dive we had made on the previous Friday on the Empire Mica (a 60+ year old wreck also in NW FL) it lacked the huge schools of baitfish which bring larger fish into the neighborhood. It is interesting to note how the reef builds in the same way you stock a saltwater aquarium, but it just seems quite sterile at this point.
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