17 Oct 2020
Today, I hit 100 dives!
While I usually prefer shallower dives on the reef, the weather was unusually calm, so I decided to take advantage of that and check out the wrecks.
Dive #3 – Spiegel Grove
Sunk about 6 miles off the Key Largo coast in 2002, this 510′ ship sunk prematurely and initially laid on its side until it was stood upright by Hurricane Dennis in 2005. At the time of its sinking, it was the largest ships ever intentionally sunk, creating an enormous artificial reef. The bottom rests at 130′, though the upper decks rest between 60-90′.
The ship has become home to many marine species:
Oo, barracuda:
A school of grey snappers:
French angelfish:
Graysby grouper:
Sergeant major:
Do not go down:
Shark!
something was wrong with this guy’s jaw 🙁
Dive #4 – Benwood
A shallow wreck, sitting between 30-45′, the Benwood sunk in 1942 when she collided with another ship. Much of her structure is flattened as she was deemed a navigational hazard and dynamited.
A school of yellow goatfish and grunts:
Longspine squirrelfish:
Foureye butterflyfish:
Spanish grunt:
Knobbed porgy:
Schoolmaster:
Green turtle:
nestled among the corals
Porcupinefish!
Ocean surgeonfish (and I think that little yellow guy is a juvenile bluehead wrasse):
Blue tang:
<chubs>
Bar jacks (along with a Bluehead wrasse):
Yellowhead wrasse:
A pair of sharpnose puffers!
Bluestriped grunt:
So I think the three little spotted guys are juvenile Stoplight parrotfish, the big one with the yellow nose might be a young Striped parrotfish and the big one with the blue nose a young Princess parrotfish?
Foureye butterflyfish, just hanging out in the vertical position:
Clown wrasse:
Hogfish! These are his “rooting around for food” colors:
same guy, displaying his “I’m swimming” colors:
Unfortunately, the winds picked up and the boat didn’t go out for an afternoon dive.