My Florida, My Backyard

Jack Israel · Issue 124, Jan/Feb 2022 · pp. 35–38

Products mentioned: Nikon D850, Ikelite housing, Nikon 8-15mm F3.5/4.5, Nikon 105mm F2.8, Nikon 60mm F2.8, AOI 12+ diopter, Inon Z330

At times during my years of diving, I’ve lamented the lack of biological diversity in my home state of Florida compared to other places around the world. We also dodge hurricanes in the summer and strong winds in November. But this year, during COVID, I discovered the splendor of Florida diving for the second time. I looked at it through new lenses. And what I saw made me feel thankful and blessed. When the quarantine hit in March, I was fortunate to have a friend who lived on the beach. Kevin, a stubborn old cuss, and I often snuck across the closed beach to go shore diving on the first reef. Florida has the third largest barrier reef system in the world with three parallel reefs, which run intermittently from the Florida Keys in the south to West Palm Beach/Jupiter 160 kilometers north, the home of black water diving and shark feeding. It wasn’t long before Kevin and I were up close an…