SFLDiver3445
Contributor
This weekend, I joined a few of my local dive buddies and we did some great wreck diving with (http://www.silentworldkeylargo.com/) during their annual Wreckfest event. On Saturday afternoon, we dove off Islamorada on the wreck of the Queen of Nassau.
This 200' long and 25' wide Canadian Navy Gunboat sank in 1926 in approximately 230' of water. It was identified by the Association of Underwater Explorers approximately 9 years ago (Association of Underwater Explorers - QUEEN OF NASSAU:).
On the surface, the current was mild and the water temperature was 86 Degrees; however, we had no current on the bottom, which allowed us to cover the vessel from end to end a few times, but the water was considerably cooler at 71 Degrees.
On the wreck itself, we did see the usual large Amberjacks and several very large Goliath Groupers, but the wreck didn't seem to have as large an abundance of other typical local fish (i.e., grouper, Hogfish, Snapper, etc.) as I would've expected from a wreck in that area.
We did unfortunately see many Lionfish.:depressed: On one small raised section of the superstructure, I recall seeing 4 Lionfish together in that spot alone. All in all, I'd say I probably saw near a dozen of them throughout the superstructure of the wreck - I can only imagine how many there are hidden deeper inside the wreck.
I mentioned it to the captain, and he wasn't too happy to hear that, but I suspect that, because it's a protected area and at that depth, there's not much that can be done about it.
On a brighter note, while completing our drifting decompression underneath our signal marker buoys and reels, the water was beautiful, blue and clear, and we were treated to a visit by an assortment of many sharks!:banana: In one school alone, my buddy Don counted 18 Scalloped Hammerheads. We also saw several other sharks that appeared to be Blacktip and Bull Sharks - not a bad way to spend an afternoon!!
Regretably, I did not have my camera with me on this weekend trip, so I don't have any pictures to share, but believe me, I will definely not leave it behind on the next trip to the Keys!:nope:
Adrian
This 200' long and 25' wide Canadian Navy Gunboat sank in 1926 in approximately 230' of water. It was identified by the Association of Underwater Explorers approximately 9 years ago (Association of Underwater Explorers - QUEEN OF NASSAU:).
On the surface, the current was mild and the water temperature was 86 Degrees; however, we had no current on the bottom, which allowed us to cover the vessel from end to end a few times, but the water was considerably cooler at 71 Degrees.
On the wreck itself, we did see the usual large Amberjacks and several very large Goliath Groupers, but the wreck didn't seem to have as large an abundance of other typical local fish (i.e., grouper, Hogfish, Snapper, etc.) as I would've expected from a wreck in that area.
We did unfortunately see many Lionfish.:depressed: On one small raised section of the superstructure, I recall seeing 4 Lionfish together in that spot alone. All in all, I'd say I probably saw near a dozen of them throughout the superstructure of the wreck - I can only imagine how many there are hidden deeper inside the wreck.
I mentioned it to the captain, and he wasn't too happy to hear that, but I suspect that, because it's a protected area and at that depth, there's not much that can be done about it.
On a brighter note, while completing our drifting decompression underneath our signal marker buoys and reels, the water was beautiful, blue and clear, and we were treated to a visit by an assortment of many sharks!:banana: In one school alone, my buddy Don counted 18 Scalloped Hammerheads. We also saw several other sharks that appeared to be Blacktip and Bull Sharks - not a bad way to spend an afternoon!!
Regretably, I did not have my camera with me on this weekend trip, so I don't have any pictures to share, but believe me, I will definely not leave it behind on the next trip to the Keys!:nope:
Adrian
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