Diving the Empire Mica

DIVING THE EMPIRE MICA, OFF PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA


The last day of diving we did, on that trip to Panama City Florida, was on the Empire Mica. This

is a tanker that was sunk during World War 2, and is 45 miles off shore.

The Empire Mica was a British oil tanker, built in 1941 by Furness S.B. Company of Haverton Hill

on Tees. She was 479' long, with a 61' beam, displacing 8,032 gross tons. The Mica was en route

from Houston to England for the Anglo-American Oil Company Limited when two torpedoes from the

U-67 ignited the 12,000 tons of oil she was carrying. The ship burned for a day as it drifted in

the Gulf, finally sinking in 105' of water south of Cape San Blas, Florida. Thirty-three crewmen

lost their lives in the attack

I have dove on quite a few wrecks in Lake Huron and Lake Michigan but had never been on a wreck

dive in the ocean before, so I was pretty darned excited.

As usual we were up long before the sun and headed for Burger King for breakfast and a bag full

of breakfast biscuits for our noon break.

We then drove back to the dive shop and hooked up to the boat and trailer. The gas and all of

our air tanks were full and ready for a day of diving.

It was a short drive to the launch site and it was breaking dawn as Dave backed the trailer into

the water.

It was again a beautiful morning. Calm and the weather forecast was for a beautiful day with

light breezes. I really enjoyed the smell of the sea, the sounds of the gulls, which circled the

slow moving boat, hoping for a handout. This was not coming this morning. The sun was lifting

over the horizon and it was already warming up. It looked to be a perfect day as waiting for us.

As we cleared the breakwater and headed for the open sea, Dave looked at the Loran and adjusted

out heading. He then, on glass smooth water, opened up the throttle.

The ride was as smooth as glass and as we soon left the gulls in our wake, which was stretched

out behind the boat for a long ways. I have always enjoyed watching the wake on a fast moving

boat.

It was not long before someone noticed a couple Porpus in our wake. They were about three feet

off the motor but it didn’t seem to bother them. The seemed to just hang there with no effort on

their part. In a flash they were at the bow, riding the bow wave. Bob and I were at the bow and

could look directly down at them from about two feet away. It was fun to watch these huge

animals having such obvious fun.

We got out a couple miles and Dave made another adjustment to our heading and we soon left the

Porpus behind. I think they just got bored with us.

The day was rapidly warming up and soon we had our shirts off and Bob and I were setting on the

bow with our legs hanging off the edge. Since the ride was so smooth, there was little danger of

falling off.

At this time we were still in the inshore water and it was rather murky but in a while we heard

Dave call out. I looked back and saw him pointing far ahead. We followed his gaze and we could

see the dark blue water of the Gulf Stream. It is sorta spooky for a landlubber like me.

Especially at the speed we were approaching it. We were in brown muddy water and there was a

definite change of color, where the Gulf Stream met it.

We stood up and watched as we approached it and it soon slid under out bow and even though I know

it was imagination, it seemed like the motor ran a little smoother and the boat picked up speed

in celebration of being in the deep blue of the open ocean. What a day! J

Like I said, it was 45 miles out to this wreck, probably more as we were not making a direct run

but had come from a distance to the north, if I remember right. This was a long run. In the

Gulf Stream the water is very clear. Bob and I sat on the bow and tried to see fish flashing by,

as they slid under the bow of the speeding boat. It is hard to get a good look at the fish but

it was interesting. Every once in a while Bob or I would see something huge pass under us, deep

down, but never could really tell what it was.

After a while we felt the boat slowing down and looked back at Dave, at the helm. He was

watching the Loran and then looking out at the sea. There was nothing to see but a flat blue

expanse. As far as we could see there was not another boat. No land at all.

We slowed to a crawl and Dave looked down at the Loran and back to sea. He said, “Look for the

Buoy!” We scanned the area and Dan yelled he saw it and pointed. There it was off about a

hundred yards or so, A white buoy, which marked the wreck. This was before GPS became so popular

and the Loran was not as reliable but we hit the site dead on.

Dave maneuvered the boat over toward the buoy and we dropped anchor. I watched the anchor dive

to the deep but it surprised me because it disappeared far sooner than I would have expected in

such clear water. I thought it strange but did not comment.

We all got busy getting our gear on for the dive. Many people use a wet suit when diving the

ocean but I never have. I just don’t get cold very easy and don’t like to bother with it. We

donned our BC, tank, weight belt, fins and had our mask at hand.

Dave and Dan had dove this site on other occasions and Dave said he would go down to see the

conditions and come right back up. He entered the water and after adjusting his mask, gave a

thumbs up and headed down.

It is 105 ft to the bottom and 75 ft to the wreck. In a short time he was back up and he said

that the water for the first 40 or 50 ft was murky, which was why the anchor disappeared from

sight so soon but it was pretty good on the wreck. He also said there was a fairly strong

current on the wreck. We were in the Gulf Stream and it was a flowing body of water, so that was

expected. The currents can vary quite a bit from dive to dive on the same site though.

Dan and Arnie jumped in and headed down and then Bob and I entered the water. We adjusted our

mask and regulator. We had our itty bitty spear guns in our right hand, our dump hose for the BC

in the left, nodded we were ready and dumped the air. Down we went, at a controlled speed but

steadly. I flipped over so I was headed down and I could see the bubbles of my friends rising

out of the blackness.

It was within 10 ft that the visibility started getting bad. I was wondering what the heck it

could be. Soon it was hard to see Bob, who was a couple feet from me. I felt a stinging all over

my body. Not bad but like little needles and electric shocks. It didn’t hurt but was strange.

I popped a little air into the BC, to slow my assent and focused my eyes on the crud in the

water. Dang! It was full of little critters!! Billions of little jellyfish, which probably

explained the stinging, and little dirty- squirmy-jerkey-wiggley little hairy guys filled the

water. It gave me a creepy feeling but I managed to pretty much ignore it.

We dropped through this organic soup for 30 or 40 feet. I was feeling a lot of excitement and not

just a little apprehension since I didn’t know what the heck to expect. I did know by now that

there were huge fish down there. I knew there were sharks too and that was always in the back of

my mind.

All of a sudden we broke through the plankton and into the clear water. It was like being slapped

in the face and not just a little startling. There, down below us, about 30 or 40 ft away, lay

this huge wreck. It was black and ominous from my position and frame of mind. I could see that

it was in pretty rough shape, broken up pretty badly and deteriorated from 60 or so years on the

bottom. I could see fish of every description smothering the wreck There were schools of

Amberjack and Barracuda. Huge grouper were there to be seen and many fish a newbie had no chance

of identifying. I was in awe of such a picture as was laying before me.

I found it odd that since we were hovering just below the plankton layer, that there was so

little current. As I looked below I could easily see my friends bubbles, coming from various

areas of the wreck. The bubbles were coming up for a short distance and then being blown by an

obvious current. It seemed strange and was an indicator to the conditions a short distance away.

I could see their bubbles but not the divers. I could see the wreck, which was in huge sections.

I don’t know if it was that way from the violence of the torpedo or from the decades of laying

in salt water. I could see one section that had a huge spare propeller bolted to the deck, just

as it was on that fateful day, so long ago. It seemed as if the water was as clear as gin but

when I looked into the distance, things seemed to disappear quickly into the blue distance.

I nodded to Bob that I was ready to head to the wreck and we started down, this time head first

and kicking. We knew we would have to do some serious kicking because of the obvious current.

As we neared the wreck the current was much faster, nothing that we could not handle but in the

back of my newbie brain I just knew I was gonna be blown off the wreck into the mouth of some

waiting man eater! Aaah, we men try to put on a brave front but inside we are occasionally

screaming J

We reached the deck of the ship and both grabbed onto something to anchor ourselves. We relaxed

and then looked around. As I write this, my mind is in overload as to the vision that was

presenting itself. Not being a writer but a storyteller, it is hard to describe my vista. It

would have been enough for me to just set there and enjoy the community of the wreck. I didn’t

have to kill anything to enjoy the dive.

There were thousands of fish. As I said in my last story about this dive trip, we were there two

weeks after a hurricane and nobody had been on the wrecks in that time. There were fish

everywhere. Dave has dove that wreck many times and he was to tell us it was the best he had

ever seen it. Amberjack school to size. I could see a number of schools of them, each of a

different size. There was one of small 6 or 7 lb fish and another larger and a third of fish in

the 30 lb range. There might have been between 30 and 80 fish in a school but that is just a

guess. Here were sponges all over the wreck and some soft corals, it looked like to me. There

were individual fish of every description and size. I saw puffers and angels and many that I

still have no identity for.

We worked our way across the deck and came to the anchor. I cannot remember how big it was but I

would guess 5 or 6 ft across. I looked under it and a small spotted moray eel came out to

investigate me. He was using it as a lair. I pointed it out to Bob.

We worked our way over to the rail. I am not sure but it seems there was a rail running along

she side of the deck. We looked down toward the bottom. It was only 25 or 30 ft down there but

it was dark and ominous down there. There was a jumble of wreckage and we were told to be very

careful as the wreck was falling to ruin. It could be a death trap if we were under it when it

came apart.

I could see bubbles coming from our right, about 50 or maybe a hundred feet away, I don’t know.

I nodded to Bob that I would like to drop to the bottom and he nodded his agreement. We dropped

over the side and slid to the bottom.

It was very dark down there. The sunlight was dimmed by the plankton layer and dimmed more by

the depth. Now the shadow of the wreck was blocking more of it out. It was just dam creepy down

there. The current was pretty much blocked by the wreckage but there were huge holes and caves

made by the wreck that my imagination inhabited by monstrous fish. Man eating fish, to be sure.

Bob and I bravely lay on our bellies and with itty-bitty spears leading the way, worked our way

in and out through the wreckage. I lay on the bottom, in some places, looking back into the

blackness of some of those holes and saw movement. Something big was moving and I had that dam

itty-bitty spear. Screw it ! There was no way I was gonna investigate that, whateveritis!! I

poked around a little, out of stupidity and false bravado but backed out and we moved on.

We were followed by schools of barracuda. They did not seem to be a threat but just curious. We

would move toward them and they would move off, as a group but as we turned to continue our

explorations, they would again follow.

We worked our way along the length of the wreck this way. In and out of the jumbled wreckage and

all the time expecting the whole thing to fall on us. It did not happen but we half expected it

at any moment. We saw many fish down there but I honestly don’t remember spearing any. It was a

thrill just to be down there and experiencing the wreck and the life down there and I didn’t

really need to kill something.

We finally worked our way to the end of the wreckage and again swam to the deck. The amberjack

were all over the wreck and good to eat. They also were easy prey for the spear guns

At this point I don’t think I had speared anything on the dive. The current was very strong and

seemed to be getting stronger all the time. I had wrapped my legs around the railing and was

setting in the current, just enjoying the view when Bob nudged me. I looked at him and saw he

had a bit of a problem.

He had speared an amberjack, which was about 20 or 25 lbs. The problem was the itty-bitty spear

that the itty-bitty spear gun uses had not penetrated the amberjack very well and it was going

nuts. The point and one barb was in the fishes body, just behind the gill but there was no way

it would hold. He nodded toward my spear gun and indicated he wanted me to spear it too.

The current had him pushed back against the rail, facing out and up as the deck was on a bit of

an angle. I still had my legs wrapped around the rail and I was pretty secure.

I had my spear gun at hand and extended it toward the fish. I let fly from two feet away and

shshkabobed the sucker! Man from two feet away I could not get a good hit! That spear went

right through its stomach and out the other side! Of course the spear was held to the gun by a

cable to I had not improved our situation other that making dam sure the fish would never get

away!

That dang fish went nuts! It went up and down, around and around then up and down again. It

beat the hell out of us! I kept my legs locked to the railing and grabbed the cable. I started

hauling it in. The cable was about 10 r 15 ft long and he took all of that and was trying for 80

ft more!

I was a huffing and puffing and I have no clue as to what the hell Bob was doing but the fish had

every intention of beating my ass. I finally got the sucker in to me and wrapped my arms around

its body, in a dang bear hug. Now what the hell do I do?

I got it locked down and was doing my best to squersh him but he was doing his best to fin me! I

reached up and got my hand in his gills and fetched up an hand full. He didn’t like that a bit,

I am here to tell you! I just got that handful of gill plates and ripped them out. Now I have

found from past experience that if you get them by the gills you got them. It kills them pretty

darn quick!

I held him for a bit and then, when he quit moving, Bob and I started untangling our lines. His

spear had pulled free but mine was wound all over the place. I got the spear up to the fish,

screwed the barb off and slid the spear out of the thing. I handed it to Bob for his stringer.

I looked up and saw our companions on the other rail and even though they had masks on and

regulators in their mouths, I could tell they were laughing their asses off. Dan later told me

that it looked like the dang keystone kops, spearing fish!

One thing I forgot to mention is the fact that when I ripped those gills out the water was full

of green blood. At that depth all the reds are filtered out of the spectrum and blood is green.
Our air was getting low and we had to head for the surface for a break, something to eat and for

our surface interval.

When we got to the surface there we still had the site to ourselves. This was a treat as Dave

said the wreck was rather popular with the dive outfitters.

Dave and Dan had gotten a bunch of fish, mostly amberjack, which are preferred for the table. It

seems that one of them had a big grouper but I can not remember. I do remember Dan telling about

spearing an amberjack, which was about 30 lbs, stringing on his stringer, which was on his belt.

As he swam along the wreck, he said a huge grouper came out and grabbed the jack and proceeded to

drag the fish and Dan into the wreck!

Now this guy is not lucky. He is the same one that the big barracuda was after on the Template.

I asked him if he was Bullsutting me and he said Look! He held up this huge jack and from its

gills to its tail, there were very few scales.

He said the dang grouper was dragging him sideways and he was a beating it on the head with his

spear. The grouper had taken the jack, tail first and had it almost swallered whole! Finally

Dan got the grouper to spit out the jack and Dan headed up. You could easily see where the teeth

of the grouper had gouged the heck out of the jack, from its gills to its tail. That had to be one huge grouper!!

Our surface interval was spent just resting and feasting on cold Burger King breakfast sandwiches. Oh Yummm....

Finally it was time to go back down again. The second dive was to be a bit shorter than the first because of the nitrogen that had been absorbed on the first dive. We had rested on the surface for about 3 hours or so but still had to be careful.

The weather was still holding and the sea like glass. Since this was to be our last dive, before heading north, I was determined to have a few fish to take home. I had decided that I was gonna concentrate on getting some fish.

Bob and I jumped in the water, made our adjustments and kicked for bottom. We wanted to make good use of the little time we had left. We charged through the plankton and were soon in the clear water, near the wreck.

Right away the Jacks started coming toward us. As I said, they are very curious and not very smart. This school was of 8 to 10 pound fish and this was just about right, considering the weapons we had to use against them. I shortly had shot one and had him strung. The current was pretty darned strong by now but nothing we could not handle. I was in hog heaven as the fish were all around us and I had soon shot another one.

Bob had swam off and I noticed the other guys were down now also. Bob and I had more down time because we had not been on the bottom as long as the other three, on the first dive. I could follow their progress by their bubbles.

I can not really remember exactly but I had gotten another fish or so and now I had 30 or 40 lbs of dead fish hanging to my weight belt! It was really no problem as I was just setting on the deck, near the spare propeller, and the fish were coming to me.

It seemed like a short time later, Dave, Dan and Arnie came to me and motioned their time was up and they were headed for the surface. I nodded and they headed downstream to the anchor line and followed it up into the plankton level, where they disappeared.

I speared another one and Bob came up to me and said he was ready to go up. I was trying to string the thing and nodded. With this, Bob headed for the anchor line and looking back at me, headed for the surface.

I was alone down there now but was soon headed for the line myself! It is hard swimming with now about 50 lbs of Jack hanging my belt but since I was going with the current the only worry I had was missing the dam line and having to swim against it. I am not sure if I could have done that!

I kicked toward the line and had it soon in my clutches and took one last look at the Empire Mica. It was a beautiful sight and I can see it now, as I set at my puter. It was dark and ominous but also had given me some thrills. I also noticed the Jacks were still following me.

I headed up and was soon in the thick soup of the Plankton level. I could not see more than two feet but was slowly rising. I looked at my air supply and had about 600 lbs. This was plenty to get to the surface, was plenty to spare.

All of a sudden there were Jacks all over the place and I mean close! Since I had such poor visibility, they HAD to be close! I wrapped my leg around the line, to hold my position, and shot one of the things. I soon had it strung and my spear ready for more. I messed with them for a bit more, getting another, and then looked at my air. Dam! I had 150 lbs and that is empty in SCUBA talk. I just started kicking for the surface! I must have been down about 40 ft or so, I can not remember, so it was no problem reaching the surface.

I popped up about 15 ft from the boat, as I had left loose of the line when I saw the surface. I hit the surface and immediately inflated my BS, so I could relax and swim to the boat.

The first thing I heard is, "DID YOU SEE IT? DID YOU SEE THAT BIG SUCKER? I looked around to see who the heck they were yelling at. I saw there was another boat on the wreck now but they seemed to be looking my way. I saw Dan was in the water and snorkeling my direction and I also could see he had Arnie’s Bang Stick in his hand. What the hell, I thunk?

Everyone looked excited and were standing up and looking over the side. Hell there weren't nothing there but me and Dan and he was as excited as they were and had his face in the water, looking around.

I was lost as to what the hell they were talking about. They were all yelling at me but with my head half in the water and the confusion of the moment, I could make no sense of it.

I lay on my back and with now 60 or 70 lbs of fresh dead Amberjack in tow, swam to the back of the boat. There I grabbed the swim platform and unhooked the stringer for them to haul aboard. Next came my weight belt, fins and mask.

Bob was helping me get my gear off and he was not looking at me. He was looking in the water, below me. He said, "DANG! DID YOU SEE THAT THING COME DOWN THE ANCHOR ROPE?"

I got up on the platform and asked what the hell they were talking about. I had seen nothing but Amberjack and so what?

They were yelling, "THAT HAMMAERHEAD! DIDN'T YOU SEE THAT HUGE HAMMERHEAD?"{

It was about 8 ft long, they estimated and was swimming on the surface, circling the boats. It had been there for more than 6 or 7 minutes. Dave had grabbed Arnie’s bang stick, finally and dove in to get the thing. That is when it headed down, into the mist, following the line I was ascending.

They were rather happy to see me hit the surface in one piece and I assured them that I had not seen no dam 8 ft hammerhead or I would have cleared the surface on assent!

That fish could easily have passed within 2 ft of me and would not have seen it, especially if it had passed behind me. I am not sorry I missed it either because I would probably have soiled God’s ocean.

Dave finally decided the shark was not going to come up again and he grudgenly came back aboard.

We stowed our gear and headed for shore, full of the excitement of one heck of a dive trip.

I want to thank you folks for joining me on an exciting diving vacation :)