Video of Snapping Turtle and Loons at Crosby

[AandA]

Below is a youtube link to some video clips I put together of a dive up at Crosby this weekend.

The water is still pretty cold and the fish are not really relating to structure yet.  The visibility is down from what it is usually becuase of all the rain we've had. BUT it sure is great to get up close and personal with the wildlife...

The snapping turtle was a REEEEALY big guy!  He was also very torpid, due to the cold water temps.  The loons were just plain curious and two of our divers had them swim up to them while underwater. 

[tullibee]

How come you didn't reach out and pet the turtle to give us your hand as a scale for size? 

Looks like you had fun despite the poor viz!

[jasondbaker]

Cool, congrats. I've seen turtles underwater but never loons.

[flyboy65]

Great vid of the turtle and especially the loons...we had one at OreBGone today, but he didn't dive down to us, and even if he did, viz was REALLY bad today.  (See OreBGone post and pics)

[AandA]

John,
The last time I actually found myself petting a snapping turtle (1 foot viz river dive looking for old bottles) underwater pretty much cured me of any temptation to put breakables within their reach ;D

[flyboy65]

The vid of Brie diving wet and being warm was quite the contrast to the one running the camera!  Brrr...I HATE being that cold, especially in Lake Superior!

[freedivernd]

yeah, you really need to put your hand on the turtle's back next time so we can judge the size.

[DetectorGuy]

Nice video of the loon and turtle. Less colorful language in this video than the last snapper you saw. I remember hearing you on the AGA in the river saying some choice words, and I didn't know where in the river you were, but I instantly made fists to keep my fingers from looking like turtle food.

[tullibee]

for such slow seeming critters, they sure can strike out with a bite at lightning speed!  (and reach out a lot farther than one might expect too!)

judging by the rocks it was between, I'd bet you could have fed 6-8 people on that one!  our neighbor lady up north would have loved to catch one like that - that's who we brought them too growing up - I should have had her teach me to butcher them, but I always thought the meat was a little tough so I didn't get into it enough to want to learn.

[freedivernd]

they're (turtles) the worst animals I've ever cleaned.  dang things never die!  cold blooded buggers.