Gord Neck Spring - Orange County

[Superlyte27]

Anyone dive this recently. I've always been afraid of it because my buddies kept pulling cavers out of it (dead). But, it's close to my house and I'm wondering about it. I know the issue alot of people had was no way to run a continuous line to the surface, but I considered using a large bouey and tying the line to that. Any thoughts?

[Tegg]

Anyone dive this recently. I've always been afraid of it because my buddies kept pulling cavers out of it (dead). But, it's close to my house and I'm wondering about it. I know the issue alot of people had was no way to run a continuous line to the surface, but I considered using a large bouey and tying the line to that. Any thoughts?

Expect there to be debris in the way... Watch for the gators...

[CaverCraig]

Anyone dive this recently. I've always been afraid of it because my buddies kept pulling cavers out of it (dead). But, it's close to my house and I'm wondering about it. I know the issue alot of people had was no way to run a continuous line to the surface, but I considered using a large bouey and tying the line to that. Any thoughts?


I dove it many years ago. I remember seeing more gators in that lake than anywhere I've ever seen except for gator land. :) There's really not too much to see, I remember a really tight restriction with a ton of water coming out of it at the back of the cavern. I did not push it, as it looked to be no mount. Let us know whats behind the restriction if you make it past it. As for running a line I believe I ran it from my boat, the entrance is a birds nest of sticks. Overall it was worth checking out once.

[Superlyte27]

I don't mind gators too much. Come to alexander springs on a weekend and i'll pull a 7 footer out for you to play with.

Honestly, this cave scares me. My friends were the team in Lake County that did recoveries for several years. I know people die in lots of caves, but this one being in my backyard, it seems to hit closer to home. If it's not something spectacular, i'll probably just steer clear of it.

[WEPIV]

I don't mind gators too much. Come to alexander springs on a weekend and i'll pull a 7 footer out for you to play with.

We'll be camping this weekend at Alexander (first time for some of us) and some of us will be diving.
I was curious about gators there. Any advice?

[sskasser]

We'll be camping this weekend at Alexander (first time for some of us) and some of us will be diving.
I was curious about gators there. Any advice?

I've dived at Alexander many times with gators around. They usually do all they can to avoid us. I've never felt threatened by one.

Have fun this weekend! Take some golf balls and "balance" them on the vents...great fun!

[WEPIV]

I've dived at Alexander many times with gators around. They usually do all they can to avoid us. I've never felt threatened by one.

Have fun this weekend! Take some golf balls and "balance" them on the vents...great fun!


Thanks Shirley.... Welcome back and you have fun at Madison. And as I said on another thread ... I want to hear some Mexico stories.

[Superlyte27]

Alexander Springs

In the basin, there is only one gator. He's 7' with a chipped tooth on his right side. He's pretty skittish. He usually swims hard to get away when you pull his tail. I can post video next week. Hehe.

He's the only gator near the basin. He's just north of the hole in a little alcove. He won't bother you.

[sskasser]

Thanks Shirley.... Welcome back and you have fun at Madison. And as I said on another thread ... I want to hear some Mexico stories.

Thanks Gene! Mexico stories...I got 'em! It was a blast!



Alexander Springs

In the basin, there is only one gator. He's 7' with a chipped tooth on his right side. He's pretty skittish. He usually swims hard to get away when you pull his tail. I can post video next week. Hehe.

He's the only gator near the basin. He's just north of the hole in a little alcove. He won't bother you.

I know you're kidding about the tail pulling, but a serious reminder to all...don't try to interact with a gator (feeding, etc), no matter how skiittish or "tame" it may seem. This isn't for your safety (you're on your own if you want to play that game), but for the gator's safety. Once a gator loses its fear of humans and begins to approach, even if non-threateningly, the park officials will often have to remove it. In the case of most gators of any size, "remove" means kill.

[LiteHedded]

good thing they're so dang delicious :)

[Slüdge]

good thing they're so dang delicious

And they make beautiful luggage. Remember the suitcase Fred Flintstone's mother-in-law carried?

[WEPIV]

We'll be careful at Alexander. My son is already talking about getting some over and under photos though of the gator. I guess growing up in the Micanopy area and seeing gators a lot has made him not terribly afraid of them.
I eat so much gator tail that I hope the gators can never tell because if they did I imagine they would want to even things up....

[JE]

Anything up to 7' not too much to worry about.....7' to 15' best to have some kind of rubber on you & a tank or two, & even some kind of lights ! Reels are handy too ! swim trunks & a snorkel you'll look like a yummy turtle in the water ! BTW, stay out of -Mom's- nesting area too, they could get mad & become aggresive !
Alexander Spgs., cool around the main boils.....down the river run you'll see lots of gators.
Waters high right now, & suns up so water getting a mite warmer. Gators like to fool around this time of the year ! :)
Have fun, don't worry too much. Just go by the suggestions above !
^)^
je

[Superlyte27]

quote: I know you're kidding about the tail pulling,


I'm absolutely not kidding. As I said earlier. I have video.

[Tegg]

I would think seeing the video would be funny.... Can you post it?? :)

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Just make sure to inflict pain in the gator on every occassion you decide to pull its tail, don't let them lose their fear to us peeps! :D

[LiteHedded]

Just make sure to inflict pain in the gator on every occassion you decide to pull its tail, don't let them lose their fear to us peeps! :D

and make fun of it. take it down a peg or two.
i can think of another that could use a good 'relocation'

[jj1987]

and make fun of it. take it down a peg or two.
i can think of another that could use a good 'relocation'
I have a few relocation machines.

[Superlyte27]

How do I post the video from Facebook. I can't seem to get it to work.

[Tegg]

How do I post the video from Facebook. I can't seem to get it to work.

Is it on youtube? (good place to put it for sharing)

[billyf]

well you won’t be seeing that gator anymore.

it is scheduled to be destroyed, because of dumb ass people have been getting to close and the park is afraid that there will be an incident

[JahJahwarrior]

Wow...Superlyte, do you mess with other natural things, like claybanks and rock formations? Do you go tugging on the Whalebone at Ginnie?

Some sources say it's illegal to mess with gators like that, but virtually all of them suggest that it is stupid, for two reasons. First, you could get hurt. Secondly, it almost always leads to gators getting destroyed.

Any cave diver who rejoices when wild animals are killed for stupid reasons (believe me, I'm all for eating animals. It's not a meal unless there is meat! But, you have to be responsible about it, or we'll overkill and run out, or underkill and have too many animals preventing me from getting to dinner...) is a walking contradiction. Remember, we are supposed to support the conservation of nature!

Please, post your video, so the link can be forwarded to the local park authorities.

[Superlyte27]

You guys are too funny. The park has the video. They got the first copy. This latest forum is no surprise to them. And the video is um... 3 or 4 months old. I doubt they suddenly decided to do something about this alligator now. Especially since it's never tried to bother anyone. You guys understand that I live here right? I'm here most weekends. I'm not someone who only comes once a year or something. I'm here often. I've seen how this parks runs. An alligator will stay until it reaches about 10-12' then be removed and replaced by the next alpha male. This alligator will be no different. I'll post again after my next visit to alexander to verify that your precious natural environment has been preserved. Relax. All is well. Oh, by the way. I was the camera man, not the tail puller.
:rollguy Man what a bunch of little girls.

[JahJahwarrior]

Just because I live near Ginnie doesn't mean I have some license to leave my mark there. I fail to see why living near Alexander means you have a right to harass wildlife. I also fail to see why you are so proud of yourself for it. It's like a 2 year old being proud that he drew on the walls with crayon.

[metaldector]

http://www.cavediver.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7264&highlight=Apopka+Springs We dove this two years ago.

[billyf]

I was teaching an OW class there on 3/21, being the only two people there the Ranger was down at the spring. He indicated that the park would be brining in a trapper later that week to discuss the removal of the gator. He also indicated that relocation is not possible if the gator is over 6ft (a policy thing)

[Superlyte27]

Not sure i've left my mark anywhere. Can you try to grow up a bit? Wow, you always over react this much? If so you must be quite the candidate for a heart attack, or a failed marriage (or both).

You know, as I give it more thought (not about your failures in life, but about the alligator), quite honestly there are 10 yr old kids swimming not more than 30' from this alligators home. These kids are completely unaware that he is that close. Hmm, come to think about it. I'm completely ok with the alligator becoming someone's snack. Thanks for opening my eyes.

I wasn't saying that my location made it ok for me to harass the alligator. I was saying that my proximity to the spring has given me the knowledge to see how the management treats these cases. And just for the record. I've never done a single thing to the alligator with the exception of holding the camera.

Thanks for derailing a perfectly honest inquiry about gordneck. Friggin adolescents.

[Superlyte27]

Thanks Metaldetector. Great report. Yeah, sounds like I won't be diving Lake Apopka.

[JahJahwarrior]

I'm the one who is mature enough to not support harassment of wildlife...

friggin rednecks...



(for the record, I LOVE gator tail, it's way better than lambchops. I also love shooting gators for fun...with my camera. I have great respect for wildlife and while I do enjoy eating it, I also have the self control not to harass it. Except mosquitos. I harass them with this nifty blue light that kills them :)
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4031/4478845713_02295b45a5.jpg
La Chua trail is great for gator shots. Plenty of them let you get close enough for good shots, <8 feet in this case)

[Superlyte27]

quiet kid, go work on your failing marriage

[sskasser]

quiet kid, go work on your failing marriage

See Rule 6.

Be civil here, or find somewhere else to brag about harassing wildlife and breaking the law.

[Superlyte27]

You guys have difficulty reading or difficulty comprehending? I didn't harass wildlife. I merely took the video. I was never closer than say 20' from the alligator. Do me a favor, adjust your bra and quit whining.

How did this fly so far off the topic. Are you guys really this bored, really this unhappy in your life that you got nothing better to do than make an issue out of a non-issue? Geez guys. Give it a rest. Let's say worsed case scenario the alligator is removed because my buddy didn't demonstrate the greatest common sense (which admittedly sometimes he doesn't do). Life will go on (albeit maybe not the alligator's life). Is this really worth trashing feelings and relationships over? Absolutely not.

You know, I was quite surprised at this new breed of cave divers. I quit cave diving for more than a decade because of my career and newborns. I come back to see that a sport I loved dearly had exploded. Where there were only a few hundred divers, now there are thousands. I wondered if cave diving might be turned sour like so many organizations or activities do when they blow into large proportions. Then, on my very first dive in 10 years I lose a $400 light in Ginnie. Imagine my amazement when I discovered two things. The first thing was that someone found my light and returned it to me. The other thing was that our community is made up with great people, honest people, people with integrity.

I'm not sure how this got blown out of proportion, but I'm pretty certain I didn't throw the first stone. I asked about gordneck, offered some insight about alligators, and suddenly i'm a cave destroying, nature hating bastard. Where do you want to go from here? I can throw another stone, or you can, or we can kiss and make up. I for one would really like to keep believing that ours is a community of great, honest people filled with integrity. But, I guess that's really up to the next post.

I apoligize for my role here. I'll will play this out to the end, whichever direction you desire to go. I already told you my desire.

[FW]

You guys have difficulty reading or difficulty comprehending?
I don't, and this an official warning from the head moderator, one more rule violation, and you will get a weeks free "vacation".

[FW]

I'm the one who is mature enough to not support harassment of wildlife...

friggin rednecks...
This is a warning for you too, don't fight fire with fire.

[billyf]

you do know you spelled Superlite27 incorrectly, dont you?

[FW]

How did this fly so far off the topic.
Check post #8

[Superlyte27]

Yes, I do know it. But I didn't 12 years ago when I first dove one. So it stuck.

[Superlyte27]

It was rhetorical. We don't care anymore. Move on.

[gasdiver]

Yes, I do know it. But I didn't 12 years ago when I first dove one. So it stuck.

(drift on)
I owned a Superlite 17, but that was a little more than 12 years ago...
(drift off)

[Superlyte27]

17 Is a good hat. Lots of guys in the GoM still using one.

[Tegg]

Let's keep the thread on topic.... If you guys want to talk about non-cavediving related things, feel free to start a thread in the "fill station".

[Superlyte27]

What was the topic again? Gord Neck or Alligators. I can't remember