We swim with alligators nearly every week. Alexander Springs has a 7' resident. We get close enough to grab his tail. He's never aggressive and always flees us. It's very rare for an alligator to be aggressive around scuba divers. In probably 500 dives with alligators, only 3 have tried to eat me. Granted I was in a small swamp, and they were 12'7" 12'2" and 11'7" long, and didn't perceive me as a threat.
But go to manatee springs, there's been an alligator in Catfish Hotel several times over the decades. Peacock springs has an alligator a few times a year in the basin. Alexander Springs has an alligator nearly everyday.
I did a dive job in Lake Yale last week where a 7' alligator hung out 30 yards from where we were working all day. He never got closer than about 30 yards.
They're usually not an issue. I won't say NEVER an issue because that diver in Silver Springs got munched on the head a few years back, and I had those 3 try to eat me.
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