I dove for a few years collecting golf balls in Palm Beach County as a commercial diver. All the golf courses will have gators in them during at least some time of the year. Spring is worse because they go looking for mates and are supposedly more aggressive. Some of the courses I dove had 10 or 30 gators in them.
Often the vis was 1 foot or less and 40 or 50% of the time the water was so dirty that it was impossible to even read your pressure guage. It is a tough way to make a living at 8 cents per ball.
The guy who taught me said that if you see a gator before you get in, try to make sure he sees you. He told me that they will let you know if they want you out of the water. He also explained that it was important to think pleasant and non-threatening thoughts about the gators, since he felt that they could sense your thoughts. He also said that if you begin to feel unusually nervous, for no apparent reason, then pay attention and leave the water.
All the advise was probably BS, but it gave you something to think about when spending 4 hours per day, underwater, in the dark, running around with snow boots (no fins), ankle weights and 25 to 50 lbs of lead which varied depending on the exposure suit.
In the winter, the shallow ponds could drop into the upper 40's and in the late summer the water was in the 90's and unbearably hot, especially since you had to wear a hood to keep the critters outta your ears. Actually I don't miss it. On good days I would pull over 400 lbs of balls from a single course.
