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T e x T a n d P h o T o s b y W a l T s T e a r n s
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sUMMer 2012
LOCAL DIVING
I
t’s a hot, sunny day in late August. The seas are almost
flat, and they’re tinted an inviting shade of blue. Three
miles off the coast of Jupiter, Fla., the Republic IV swings
its bow to the south, moving up current of our intended
dive site: a grouping of a freighter (
Zion Train),
a tanker
(Esso
Bonaire III
) and a barge (
Miss Jenny
) known collectively as the
Jupiter Wreck Trek
. The captain puts the boat in neutral and
gives the call we’ve all been waiting for: “Dive! Dive! Dive!” Like
skydivers exiting a plane over a drop zone, we hit the water with
a splash and begin our drop to the bottom, 90 feet below. On
the way down we pass through a large school of spadefish fol-
lowed by an equally large school of jack crevalle.
Although our descent to the bottom is quick, the current
pushes us to Zion Train’s detached stern. Ninety-foot vis-
ibility allows us to catch an early glimpse of what awaits us
on the wreck. As we approach, an indistinct mass of slow-
moving shadows morphs into a collection of huge fish.
Super GrouperS
Seeing a spawning aggregation of goliath grouper (Epinephelus
itajara) for the first time is a jaw-dropping experience. The
breeding season for these colossal fish, many weighing 350
to 450 pounds, commences in early August and lasts into
October. A quick count places the number of fish at about 75,
which means this aggregation is close to its peak. Despite their
formidable size and number, the goliaths yield easily to our
advances; some back down into the wreck, while others edge
off to the side to allow us to pass. Here and there an individual
will posture, holding its ground while emitting a series of loud
booms, before eventually yielding like the rest.
A similar gathering of 40 or 50 of these behemoths is
currently under way nearby on the
MG-111
, a busted-up
barge in 65 feet of water one mile inshore of our current
location. Further offshore at a site called
Hole in the Wall,
named for a
giant swim-through in the side of a deep ledge,
another 30 or 40 goliaths are gathered. Well to the south, off
Boynton Beach at a depth of 110 feet, the 258-foot freighter
M/V Castor
holds a resident population of 12 goliaths
and attracts a few dozen more during spawning season.
Just north of Lake Worth Inlet is another group of wrecks
(
Mizpah, PC-1170
and
Amaryllis
) that attracts similar
numbers of the grouper.
If not for a federal moratorium enacted in 1990 to protect
this one species of fish, the opportunity to witness these aggre-
gations would not exist. Florida is now the only place on the
planet where large-scale goliath spawns occur. In terms of
Big Things cruise off
florida’s Palm Beaches