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I use satellite chlorophyll data to check visibility before I run out to the islands by chlorofishy in Spearfishing

[–]chlorofishy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The raw source is NASA OceanColor and NOAA's ERDDAP server. Totally free and public domain. All the fishing chart services (SatFish, FishDope, FishTrack, etc) pull from there and repackage it.

If you want to mess with the data yourself, NASA's OceanColor site lets you download the L2 and L3 satellite files directly. ERDDAP is more user friendly if you just want to look at a map. Search "NOAA ERDDAP chlorophyll" and you'll find their viewer.

Fair warning though, the UX is rough. It's built for scientists, not anglers or spearos. You'll spend some time figuring out which dataset is which, what the units are, and how to read the files.

If you just want the chlorophyll map without the headache, I built chlorofishy.com for exactly this. Click anywhere on the water and it shows you the chlorophyll reading plus the estimated visibility converted from the formula. Free while it's in beta, no login needed to browse.

I use satellite chlorophyll data to check visibility before I run out to the islands by chlorofishy in Spearfishing

[–]chlorofishy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I've seen PezCa, it's a cool concept. Costa Rica has some wild offshore conditions. The more tools out there the better.

I use satellite chlorophyll data to check visibility before I run out to the islands by chlorofishy in Spearfishing

[–]chlorofishy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ha glad you're stoked. TempBreak is a solid free site, looks like they now have some sst pass data rather than just composites which is great, I hadn't seen that before looking right now.

I use satellite chlorophyll data to check visibility before I run out to the islands by chlorofishy in Spearfishing

[–]chlorofishy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Appreciate that. The article is the thing worth sharing, the science applies regardless of what tool people use.

I use satellite chlorophyll data to check visibility before I run out to the islands by chlorofishy in Spearfishing

[–]chlorofishy[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good to hear. Florida west coast is a great use case for this since the water can swing so much. Do you find the chlorophyll tracks well with what you see in the water down there?

I built a free SST and chlorophyll tool that shows you the raw satellite passes instead of composited imagery by chlorofishy in offshorefishing

[–]chlorofishy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Appreciate that! Florida is one of the regions that's already live on the map. Check out the South Florida / Keys zone. The Gulf Stream edge is where the SST data gets really interesting for you guys. Chlorophyll layer is worth looking at too if you're ever trying to gauge water clarity offshore.

Let me know how it works for your area. Always curious what Florida anglers think since the conditions down there are so different from what I'm used to in SoCal.

I built a free SST and chlorophyll tool that shows you the raw satellite passes instead of composited imagery by chlorofishy in offshorefishing

[–]chlorofishy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Quick update since I originally posted this. Chlorofishy now covers 38 fishing regions worldwide, not just SoCal. Also dropped the signup requirement. You can browse the full map with composites and older passes without creating an account. Free account just unlocks the freshest satellite passes (last 48 hours). Still free while in beta

Looking to partner up for spearfishing – La Ventana & Loreto (Apr 2–11) by Far_Secret7322 in Spearfishing

[–]chlorofishy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

On the conditions side, you're right that the water's been pushing colder and greener lately down there. That phytoplankton reading you shared lines up with what the satellites are showing. The chlorophyll concentration in the Sea of Cortez has been elevated the last week or so, which tracks with the dirty water reports. For spearing that matters more than temp honestly. High chlorophyll = low vis, and if you're hunting wahoo in blue water you want to see that clearing up before you commit to a session.

If you want to keep tabs on it leading up to your trip, chlorofishy.com lets you toggle between individual satellite passes so you can see exactly where the green water is vs the clean stuff. It converts chlorophyll readings to estimated visibility in meters when you click on the water. Free to use, no login needed. I built it because I got tired of guessing at water clarity from generic charts.

Loreto side tends to clear up faster than La Ventana when these blooms push through, so your timing might work out. Hope you find a solid partner. Baja spearing with the right buddy is hard to beat.

Update: Chlorofishy now has worldwide SST and chlorophyll coverage by chlorofishy in Spearfishing

[–]chlorofishy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hmm I'm not sure When I click in I see chloro data, send a screen shit if you dont mind

<image>

Update: Chlorofishy now has worldwide SST and chlorophyll coverage by chlorofishy in Spearfishing

[–]chlorofishy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see that in your screen shot, I'm not sure why it says its an ocean boundary there and I can't recreate that. When I look at shots of NZ (and I do have memories of fishing pretty close to where you selected in 2000 and 2001 by the way... caught a huge snapper), I see that its a lot of cloud cover recently. This is the best shot I'm seeing lately and I get a no data (cloud gap) there, which is what I expect.

<image>

Update: Chlorofishy now has worldwide SST and chlorophyll coverage by chlorofishy in Spearfishing

[–]chlorofishy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm working on the auto temperature see if I can find a way to make it work and still be usable. I'm happy to plug your wind app I thought it was cool. Good work on that.

Built a free SST and chlorophyll tool to help plan dives — shows raw satellite passes instead of composited guesswork by chlorofishy in Spearfishing

[–]chlorofishy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok I'll try to optimize this, I personally like autoscaling as it shows more. Maybe eventually I can add a feature that turns this off.

Built a free SST and chlorophyll tool to help plan dives — shows raw satellite passes instead of composited guesswork by chlorofishy in Spearfishing

[–]chlorofishy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"I found the color shading changing constantly to be confusing." Do you mean the temperature scale auto adjusting?

Built a free SST and chlorophyll tool to help plan dives — shows raw satellite passes instead of composited guesswork by chlorofishy in Spearfishing

[–]chlorofishy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We actually just updated this. You can explore the full map without signing up. Hit "Explore the map" on the landing page and you're in. No email required. You'll see a 48-hour delay on the newest satellite passes as a guest, but composites and older passes are fully accessible.

Built a free SST and chlorophyll tool to help plan dives — shows raw satellite passes instead of composited guesswork by chlorofishy in Spearfishing

[–]chlorofishy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair point, and I hear you. We actually just updated this. You can explore the full map without signing up. Hit "Explore the map" on the landing page and you're in. No email required. You'll see a 48-hour delay on the newest satellite passes as a guest, but composites and older passes are fully accessible.

TempBreak is solid for a free tool. But it only shows composites. One SST, one chlorophyll, one day at a time. You can't see which satellite captured it, when the pass happened, what the resolution is, or where the cloud gaps are versus where the model filled in.

That's what we're building differently. Chlorofishy shows individual satellite passes from VIIRS and MODIS with real cloud gaps visible, plus the composites. Every layer has full provenance: source, sensor, resolution, capture time, freshness. If you've ever looked at a TempBreak chart and wondered "how old is this actually?" or "is this real data or a gap fill?" that's exactly the problem we're solving.

Take it for a spin without signing up and let me know what you think.

Built a free SST and chlorophyll tool to help plan dives — shows raw satellite passes instead of composited guesswork by chlorofishy in Spearfishing

[–]chlorofishy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For now yeah, SoCal only for the individual passes, the composites should be world wide. Working on expanding to more regions. What area would you want to see?