The Florida Straits DO look a bit warmer this year. It would be cool to see the area from the straits SE of those pictures as a comparison as well. Good catch on the scales. I had a feeling something was amiss as we have NOT had that much warm weather this spring to lead me to believe the Gulf is much warmer than usual. Didn't have a lot of really cold weather this winter either, so it balances out a little. Just for trivia, the beach water temps here in the Tampa area just crested the 70 degree F line this weekend (I guess that would be 21 degree C).