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DIVE CLUB Judy Minier, 941-979-7316, judyminier@earthlink.net, www.pgidiveclub.com

November greetings from the Punta Gorda Civic Association Dive Club! Our
club members are among the many PGI residents who are thankful that
Hurricane Irma did not devastate our beautiful community the way that
Charley did years ago. However, our concerns and prayers go to everyone in
Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico, and elsewhere in the Caribbean who have lost so
much - their homes, livelihoods, and basic infrastructure like water,
telephones, gas stations, electricity, and roads. We encourage all who are
able to support relief efforts to do so generously. Some PGICA and Dive Club members have been involved in gathering
and distributing food and water, toiletries, paper goods, cleaning supplies, and clothes to nearby communities and
neighbors. Fund raising
events have also been held at
the Civic Association to
support those who faced so
much destruction. It is
impressive to see our
community pull together to
help others. Thanks to all who
have participated in recovery
efforts! We know it could have
been so much worse than
what we ultimately faced in
Punta Gorda and are grateful
for our good fortune.

Hurricane Irma affected our
diving opportunities, but
hopefully all will recover
quickly on the East Coast of
Florida to get us back in
action. It was disappointing
not to dive with the giant
Goliath Grouper fish near
Jupiter Beach, but we’ve
learned there is a colony of
these magnificent creatures
that stay around all year, not
just during migrations and
spawning events. The club will look into an excursion to Jupiter in the near future to fulfill the desire of seeing these
magnificent, protected creatures that can grow up to hundreds of pounds. We are fortunate that the dive club we charter
with at Jupiter Beach is willing to work with us to reschedule our trip, after refunding money we had already paid.

Our monthly meeting was filled with upcoming dive
discussions and plans. Many of us learned that
there are Saturday opportunities for six lucky divers
to do two dives at Venice Beach at a very
reasonable cost to search for shark’s teeth. Now
that we’ve experienced a lot of wind, rain, storm
surges, and the emptying of Charlotte Harbor and
our canals, the conditions are ripe for getting out
there to find the big fossilized teeth which get
shaken loose in storms and heavy rains. The dives
are different than the usual kind we plan because
visibility is not a big concern since we are crawling
along the bottom sifting through the sand to locate
teeth. Divers need to bring along flashlights and
develop strategies for kicking up the sand with your
fins or with sieves to shake the specimens loose.
Conditions currently at Venice are favorable for
some good dives since the water temperatures are
in the mid 80’s and it’s fairly easy to take the charter
boat out to the dive sites. We’ll let you know next
issue if we have any luck; the big teeth (sometimes
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