Lovely long reef on the U.S.S. Alligator, wrecked in the 1800s. It’s not a wreck dive though there are some remnants of the ship and inorganic shapes. 26′ deep. 9:40am, 64 minutes, 75 degrees, 45ft vis 11:00am, 55 min, 77 degs 5’ surge at surface, slight current below but good visibility and calm. Not so overused like the reefs at Largo– theres just 3 dive operators in this sleepy middle key. Saw: huge moray eels, turtles, lobster colonies, grouper, silver barracuda, nurse shark, conch, sea fans, brain coral, coral crab, shrimp, groupers, midnight(blue) parrotfish, squirrel fish. Highly recommend going out to this one with Seamonkeys.
Hilda H.
Classificação do local: 5 Miami, FL
One of the most beautiful reefs I ever dove at. Right below the lighthouse the the middle of open sea lies a huge tropical underwater treasure of healthy fish, corals and predators. I was on my friends boat and we were doing some fishing about three hundred feet from the lighthouse. The fishing was good, yellow tail snappers were in huge schools and my friend was catching them without any wait or hesitation. I decided to jump in the water with my spear gun and take a few shots at the snappers. caught three and a small amber jack, My streak was brought to a heart stopping pause in minutes. I have been around sharks while diving and to be honest with you I am not scared of them. So i dive just a little above the school but remained mostly in the surface to get air(I was not diving with tanks). A huge bull shark came to the site. He was massive, I had never encountered such large animal on the open ocean. He was calm and collected for a while, just circling and acting very territorial. Suddenly something snapped and that beast became extremely possessive and went to a feeding frenzy. Everything happened so fast and I was able to witness first hand hoe aggressive this creatures can be. He destroyed halve the school of fish in one gulp. My friend was reeling in a yellow tail snapper, the shark swam on his back, flipped and gulped the fish without any hesitation, the line was instantly cut. The visibility was so clear that 40 feet of water seemed like 10. My friend saw the shark when he took his catch and the maneuvers that he did to get it. It was great to share the same story but from two different angles. I was scared for my life; Never have I had my heart beat so fast out of my chest, and certainly not for a fish. There is a first time for everything!!! Its incredible how their jaws can extend out of their mouths. The scariest part was when i turned around and my eyes were no longer seeing him, I could feel the scare as if i was being chased by him, So i changed my course and began swimming backwards toward the boat but keeping my eyss locked on the shark. My buddy was waiting for me, ladder down and ready to pull me onto the platform of the boat where i continued watching that monster destroy the rest of the school of fish. Lesson learned; Chum in the water stay out don’t go spearfishing. This thing came out of nowhere, definitely a stealth master and one of the top predators in the ocean.
