Diving with alligators

[CanadaDan]

Not an intentional encounter lol. I was with a friend on his refresh dive at Casa Cenote in Tulum. The instructor surprised us with the resident croc... I kinda wondered why he had us surface halfway through the dive lol.

Actually can anyone confirm if this is a gator or croc? Sign says croc but some references say it’s a gator.

 

[RyanT]

@CanadaDan, it's hard to tell from your photo, because you don't have a good view of the snout. Given the location though, American crocodile is my bet.

 

[Raphus]

It should be an alligator.
Are there even Krokodiles In amerika?

 

[Divin'Papaw]

It should be an alligator.
Are there even Krokodiles In amerika?

Yes. American Crocodiles. Also if the location is correct it is too far south to be an alligator.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Not an intentional encounter lol. I was with a friend on his refresh dive at Casa Cenote in Tulum. The instructor surprised us with the resident croc... I kinda wondered why he had us surface halfway through the dive lol.

Actually can anyone confirm if this is a gator or croc? Sign says croc but some references say it’s a gator.

View attachment 629462 View attachment 629463

It is a bit hard to tell but it should be an American Crocodile given the location. The eyes and coloration on the tail sure look like a crocodile. South FL is the southern most range of the American Alligator and the northern most range of the American Crocodile. This is the only location the two species coexist. If you visit Shark Valley in Everglades National Park there is a croc that lives amongst the gators at the observation tower.

 

[CajunDiva]

Looks like a croc to me.

 

[Catito]

It should be an alligator.
Are there even Krokodiles In amerika?

Yes, yes there are. In Florida Keys

 

[Hank49]

They are sneaky bastards. One was about to bite my brother in law here in Sittee River. Lucky my stepson saw it coming, jaws agape, and screamed to his uncle. They still had to beat it with their spearguns as it kept coming.
Another one was about to grab my dog. I threw a few coconuts at it and it disappeared....for now....brrrrrrr...

 

[Jacobyz]

It should be an alligator.
Are there even Krokodiles In amerika?

Yes, there are salt water crocodiles in the Florida Keys. We have one in the “creek” behind our house in North Key Largo. There are many/more to the south of us in the Crocodile Lake Wildlife Preserve. Creates some interesting encounters with paddle boarders, although the crocs are primarily nocturnal; more so than alligators.

 

[RKO]

We have many salt water Crocs "American Crocodile" swimming in the canal's here in Key Largo, especially in the spring and summertime. In the last 30 years the Croc population has grown tremendously down here. Late summer when the tides get high, the Crocs will go on peoples property and hang out soaking up the sun. Croc's are very skittish and stay away from humans for the most part but smaller one's seem to be more curious and will get close. In the winter time you can see hundreds of them hanging at the Turkey Point nuke plant cooling canals, that's if you can get on the property!