Atlantic & Caribbean Lionfish question.......

[diver 85]

In reading another post about Atlantic seaboard & Caribbean sitings of lionfish, where in particular have you seen them ie in the Atlantic & Caribbean regions???....Having only dived Roatan, Cozumel, Little Cayman, & the Flower Gardens in the last couple years & not spotting any, I want to know where I need to go,.....lol......TIA.......

 

[seaducer]

I have heard the wrecks of NC are a good place to see them. I will let you know this summer...

 

[cdreamer]

They are all over the wrecks in N.C. I think I saw the most on the wreck of the Schurz. They are also all over the Bahamas.

 

[Guba]

Go here for a fairly comprehensive listing of U.S. sightings/collection points for lionfish (as reported to USGS).

Collection Information

This site has limited information on Carib sightings, too. A report I received only this morning through the NMS system mentioned this...
"Lionfish have become the first successful marine fish invasion of Atlantic waters. They are now documented from Massachusetts in the north (juveniles), to Bermuda in the East, as far south as Turks and Caicos and west to Cayman. The Florida population begins around Palm Beach and increases steadily as one moves north. The Carolinas have large numbers. The Keys have not shown fish yet."

 

[Joe from MN]

We saw them on all 6 dives recently at New Providance in Bahamas

 

[diver 85]

thanks all....very interesting.......

 

[jbd]

We saw a lot of lionfish while diving the south side of Grand Bahama.

 

[mrlipis]

They are going to be a problem in the future and I have heard that there may be some efforts to kill them in the bahamas as they have no natural enemies, are very aggressive and could do some serious damage to the ecosystem. I read an article from a few months back in one of the dive magazines. Sorry don't remember which one. I was on the CEX1 in the Bahamas when I read it and by the way I saw lots of lion fish... every dive at San Salvador. They are very beautiful and seem peaceful but not according to what I read.

Bruce

 

[Garrobo]

I thought I saw one on the Eagle off of Islamorada. Most everyone poo-pooed the idea except a couple of locals who said tht they had seen a few also. Maybe it was a puffer and I was narced. Who knows? Also saw some spiny black urchins a couple weeks ago in the same area on a shallow reef. Hopefully they are coming back too.

 

[Don Wray]

Bahamas, as a matter of fact, Blackbeard's does cruises specifically designed to collect data on them. The cost is the same, but it's tax deductible.