I finally added two "new" artificial reefs, the Carrabassett on the Axel Carlson Reef and the New England Coast on the Shark River Reef. I have been waiting patiently for the numbers to be released, and was just informed that these two sites are undergoing "a period of successional development and monitoring" before publication. These studies were never announced at the time, in fact the New England Coast was kept out of the newspapers entirely, obviously so the science would not be tainted by the public. I imagine this study is a lot like this one, conducted by NJDEP fisheries biologists Jennifer Resciniti and Bill Figley over the course of 8 years, concluding in 2005.
More: "New" Artificial Reefs ...
I started this site way back in 1996 for my new hobby. In all that time, I gladly carried the annual cost of hosting and domain name. But it's time to admit that my diving years are over, and my interest has waned.
I have kept the site up as a service to the diving community, but I don't know how much longer that makes sense.
If you would like to make a small donation to help defray that cost, it would be greatly appreciated, and help to keep the site online.
Simply click the PayPal button below or anywhere else you find it:
More: Support NJScuba.net ...
SS United States Finally Leaves Philadelphia to Begin Its Last Chapter
By Forrest Brown and Danny Freeman, CNN
Wed February 19, 2025
After months of multiple delays, the SS United States finally left its longtime home of Philadelphia just before 1 p.m. ET Wednesday. The storied ocean liner's next stop is Mobile, Alabama, where it will be prepared for its final mission - to become an artificial reef off the coast of the Florida Panhandle. The American maritime icon, nearly as large as the Chrysler Building, was launched in 1951 and set the transatlantic speed record in 1952.
"Today, the nation's sole surviving ocean liner will glide down the Delaware River to begin the next chapter in her uniquely American story," said Susan Gibbs, president of the SS United States Conservancy and granddaughter of the ship's designer, William Francis Gibbs, in statement just before ship left. After spending nearly three decades docked empty in Philadelphia, the tow to Mobile is expected to take about two weeks.
More: Reef Program Dodges a Bullet ...
The Susan Rose has been raised and is presently at a dock in Point Pleasant. Hopefully it will be sunk on a New York reef, for all to use.
Dragger Susan Rose Raised One Year After Sinking
National Fisherman Staff
Mid-Atlantic Northeast News
November 22, 2024
The Rhode Island steel trawler Susan Rose was raised from the sea floor this week a year after sinking off Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., removed as a hazard to navigation.
More: Susan Rose Update ...
Dive Sites - pick your starting point
I figured out how to customize the map graphics and made them much better for the purpose here.
More: Not Quite Done ... ...
Weather Stations
... I hope. There may still be an old-style chart lurking somewhere, but I think I got them all. Above is the new weather chart, with extant stations and buoys. The old chart still showed ALSN6 - the Ambrose Tower that got knocked into the water so many times that they finally gave up on it. The replacement buoy is in the exclusion zone of the shipping lane, where it should be safe.
More: Just About Done ... ...
Dive Sites
Actually, the shape of things that have come. While re-doing the artificial reefs charts, I refined and extended the mapping plugin to the point where it seemed like it could do the shipwrecks charts as well. There is a structure and order to the artificial reefs while the shipwrecks are a big jumble, but I figured I'd give it a try, and it worked.
More: The Shape of Things to Come ...
Artificial Reefs
The charts on this site have always been a pain to update. Starting with a spreadsheet of coordinates, converting DMS to decimal and then to pixel coordinates, then precisely placing markers in an image editor. Then generating a corresponding html image map for the links, and putting the whole thing in WordPress in such a way that WordPress doesn't simply eat it, as it is prone to do with a lot of things.
More: New Reef Charts ...
Lake Hydra, formerly Dutch Springs, has re-opened. However, it is strictly for certification classes, and all the land-side facilities are gone. Still, much better than nothing!
Fishing vessel Susan Rose was bound from her home port of Port Judith, Rhode Island to Manasquan to begin fluke fishing off New Jersey. Instead, just before 5AM * Friday November 17, 2023, she ran aground approximately 350 yards ** south of the inlet centerline. All four crew were safely gotten off. After de-fueling and de-watering, she was successfully pulled off the beach on the second attempt, at about 2AM Sunday morning, after rolling in the rough surf for almost two days. The vessel rapidly filled with water, capsized and sank, a few hundred yards ** off the beach, in approximately 50 feet of water. Again, everyone was gotten off safely.
* about 90 minutes after low tide
** news reporters said half a mile, but ... well, reporters
More: Susan Rose ...
I ran across this article that frankly shocked me until I read it. See the "Dive Planning" link below, second page.