New Jersey Scuba Diving

Hairy Sea Cucumber

Sclerodactyla briareus

Size: to 6", larger offshore

The Sea Cucumber is not a worm, but an echinoderm, related to the starfish. If you look closely, the 5-way symmetry is still evident. Sea Cucumbers live buried in sandy or muddy bottoms less than 60 ft deep. Find them by the volcano-shaped mounds they make.

Echinoderms

Echinoderms ( literally "spiny skins" ) are among the strangest animals on the planet. They start out as bilaterally symmetric larvae but grow into a 5-way body symmetry as adults. Some species show six, seven, or even higher levels of symmetry. Worm-like Sea Cucumbers have re-evolved a bilateral body plan over the underlying 5-way plan. Because of certain developmental traits, it is felt that despite their strangeness, echinoderms are actually more closely related to chordates than any other group.

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Shark River - Back Bay

Shark River Bay Aerial — The new steps are just off the top edge of the photo, past the tennis courts.

Type:: inland tidal bay
Depth:: 20 ft max, 15 ft in most places

This dive site, formerly known as 'L Street' has changed completely, and for the better. The town of Belmar has done something really nice for us divers and installed wide wooden steps down the bulkhead in Maclearie Park. This more than makes up for the loss of the boat ramp area, which is off-limits to all swimmers since it was rebuilt. I suppose the little cove by the ramp is still accessible from the beach, but the new site is much better, and far from all the dangerous boat traffic around the ramp and marina.

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