Scalloping in Steinahatchee, FL. No oil that far down the coast yet. BUT, I experienced something that I have never seen. In the water column I noticed a clear but fuzzy layer where the water was clear but was bending light in a funny way to the point you couldn't see thru it. The water was also red as if it was stained with tanin acid from the cypress swamp. 1/4mile away the water was pristeen. The area has had a lot of rain which could have been contributing. I kinda guessed that the fresh water running out of Rocky Creek was causing a layer effect similar to a thermocline. Yet I have never experienced a thermocline while snorkeling in 4 to 5 feet of water. Anybody got any ideas?

You're not alone in this, everybody is complaining about this all along the gulf coast of Fl. It's due to all of the run-off from the rivers from the rain here lately. We went awhile without much flow which stained the rivers pretty badly, and now all of the rain this week is washing it all out of the rivers in a hurry. Add in the 65-70 degree water from the springs that many of those rivers are fed by and it makes for cool stained water.

RR, kinda the same here (panama city), no real oil yet, just a few tar balls here & there, but no mats or sludge. i was snorkling in our bay monday and noticed when you looked down intothe water column it was clear, but looking horizonal it was murky. also noted a definate thermocline where the cool fresh water was on top of the warm salyt water, but we have had tons of rain in the lasat 2 weeks.
how where the scallops, i've gottn reports from st joe and they are plentiful but small. i usually don't go unitl the first of august because of the size/

Thanks for clearing that up. That would also explain the 72 degree water temp on the Suwannee.
As far as Scallops, the weather was dicey. We were dodging rain all day and the sun was less than cooperative. We got some but not enough for an appetizer. All reports had about the same tone. They were there just poor conditions. The size of the shell was running small but the meat was not much smaller than late season IMO. Planning to give it another shot in a week or two. Homasassa was red hot this past weekend if you can endure the boat traffic.