Goliath Grouper

[Capt. Scott]

Goliath Grouper aggregation in Palm beach 9/6/2014. Goliaths on the Danny YT - YouTube

 

[fire_diver]

Another great vid Cap! I'm going to have to subscribe to your channel!

 

[Capt. Scott]

Another great vid Cap! I'm going to have to subscribe to your channel!

Thanks, the Goliaths are an amazing fish to dive with!

 

[TN-Steve]

I'm curious, why did the big baitball form up around one of them? I'd think if I were a bait-fish I'd want to be well away from the grouper, not all packed in tight?

I have to admit, I've only seen them from a glass-bottom boat in Florida, but saw 2 of them together. Looking forward to seeing one in person sometime in the 'not too distant'

Steve

 

[Keith.M]

I was diving in the Gulf a couple of weeks ago and saw about 5 of them on bridgespan 14 off of Panama City Beach.

They were considerably larger and they wouldn't let me get any closer than about 10'.

They were though, very cool.

[video=youtube_share;fIcT7DDu8vs]http://youtu.be/fIcT7DDu8vs[/video]

 

[fire_diver]

I'm curious, why did the big baitball form up around one of them? I'd think if I were a bait-fish I'd want to be well away from the grouper, not all packed in tight?

I have to admit, I've only seen them from a glass-bottom boat in Florida, but saw 2 of them together. Looking forward to seeing one in person sometime in the 'not too distant'

Steve

The giant grouper is shelter for them. They know that they are small enough to probably be safe from becoming grouper-chow. The intermediate sized fish that will eat the tiny ones would also be a prime target for the grouper, therefore the grouper is protection. you can see the same thing with fish that hang out with reef sharks.

 

[Capt. Scott]

The giant grouper is shelter for them. They know that they are small enough to probably be safe from becoming grouper-chow. The intermediate sized fish that will eat the tiny ones would also be a prime target for the grouper, therefore the grouper is protection. you can see the same thing with fish that hang out with reef sharks.

Exactly, the grouper are looking for a much bigger meal.

---------- Post added September 9th, 2014 at 07:27 PM ----------

The grouper on these wrecks in Palm Beach county get a lot of diver activity. I'm sure they get used to people a bit. But there is usually twice as many that don't hang around they see you coming in and they fade off into the distance. Some are very curious and will follow you around.

 

[TN-Steve]

The giant grouper is shelter for them. They know that they are small enough to probably be safe from becoming grouper-chow. The intermediate sized fish that will eat the tiny ones would also be a prime target for the grouper, therefore the grouper is protection. you can see the same thing with fish that hang out with reef sharks.

Thanks.... That makes perfect sense. Now I've learned something new and useful today.

Steve

 

[dumpsterDiver]

The giant grouper is shelter for them. They know that they are small enough to probably be safe from becoming grouper-chow. The intermediate sized fish that will eat the tiny ones would also be a prime target for the grouper, therefore the grouper is protection. you can see the same thing with fish that hang out with reef sharks.

that is a cool video. Nice shot of the scamp through the porthole.

I do not think that the reason the bait fish are there is for the reason you indicated. If that theory were correct, then it woud seem that the bait fish would be with the jewfish all the time. However, that is not the case.

The bait fish are there to eat jewfish.

Well actually, they are almost certainly targeting the jewfish eggs which are released during spawning. The aggregation of bait is very much synchronized with the spawning.

---------- Post added September 9th, 2014 at 08:21 PM ----------

my video from same wreck just a month ago... Different conditions, few jewfish, no swarming bait fish.. big difference in a month..

[video=youtube_share;kzLvwGvALTA]http://youtu.be/kzLvwGvALTA?list=UU1utDku8vJRJYgBZImLyLJQ[/video]