I was just checking out your webcams. They are very nice.

But I noticed the water temperatures are running around 75 or 76. That sounds pretty cold to me. I think the water temperature in south Florida now is around 78 now.

I usually don't stick my toe in the ocean till it is 80 degrees. I am strickly a tropical diver and love warm clear water.

Do you think that temperature reading is right? If so please turn up the heat I will be there in 3 weeks.:-)

The water temperature, at least in the area we measure it, does appear to have dropped a little (about a degree Fahrenheit) in the last few days.

However, the temperature probe device we use is extremely accurate, so I would be quite comfortable in saying that the read out on our (Caribbean WebCams LLC's) Bonaire WebCam site at http://www.BonaireWebCams.com is right on the money. Keep in mind that typical dive computers, dive watches, and other devices which measure temperature may vary as much as 3-5 degress among one another.

In terms of why the water temperature here on Bonaire would be similar or slightly lower than what you have in southern Florida, I can say that when Hurricane Lenny passed north of us, sharing a major surge system, it created a significant and sudden chill in the water, probably a result of the mixing of deep water with shallow. I think our water temperature is still a few degrees below where it would normally be this time of year as a result of that action back in November.

In any event, I've been in the water quite a bit lately, and it's quite nice (as long as I wear my shorty and a vest :-) ).

Jake

Burr! Thanks for the encouragement Jake.

Let's just hope you have some nice hot days in the next couple of weeks. I don't want to do any ice diving. :-)

ICE DIVING? Wimps! After the first good day of sun and slight sunburn, I hate peeling on and off that dive skin without a fresh water shower in the vacinity. This is the Carribean, for goodness sakes, not New England! I guess some are just more cold natured than others.

Hi,

A comment regarding the "cool" water temperatures:

If this cooling is indeed the result of the arrival of water from deeper layers, while presenting a little discomfort for swimmers, it could have a silver lining, so to speak.

Deeper waters tends to possess higher nutrient concentrations than shallow waters, this being particularly true in the tropics. The surge of nutrients that would accompany this cooler water mixing into the shallow coastal areas would present a real benefit to the coral reef ecosystem which was badly battered by Lenny's fury. A little like intravenous to the infirm.

Though I do not recall seeing reports of this in the literature, it is a very interesting hypothesis.

Nature always seems to seek to maintain an equillibrium in the long term, so a natural force that negatively impacts on an ecosystem which
later results in a positive impact on that same ecosystem makes sense. If such positive impacts did not occur a storm event would result in the destruction of the reef, with it never being replaced.

It would be very interesting to analyse coastal water samples to attempt to determine the "source" water for the recent intrusion...

Does anyone know if the lab at the Marine Reserve in Bonaire is set up to do this type of work?

Mitch

Thanks for heating up the water over there guys. Looks like the people in Bonaire do anything you ask.:-)

I see the temperature was up to 79 this morning.

We fly this Friday!!