Gators in unexpected places

[sskasser]

This is a couple of months old, but I just came across it. A gator off of West Palm Beach, cool footage:

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_...-Breakers-reef

[cave83]

that would be a trip to see...

lake mary huh? apopka here. used to work/live in lake mary for years...nice city.

[WEPIV]

The gator was on the Breakers reef off shore from the Breakers Hotel on Palm Beach Island. And the lake behind the island is Lake Worth -- not Lake Mary -- and is also the intracoastal.
I'm diving off Palm Beach County tomorrow but don't expect to see any gators.

[sskasser]

LOL, Gene, I think he was talking about where I live (Lake Mary), not the locale of the gator Have fun down there tomorrow! I'll be there next weekend!

[WEPIV]

Thanks Shirley. I didn't know so I thought he had confused Lake Mary with Lake Worth....
Anyway, we went out today for two dives off Ft. Lauderdale -- one on the Ancient Mariner and the other on the Sunshine Reef, (if I have that name right).
Current was up a bit and the vis was around 50 feet or so and the bottom temps were in the mid 80s. (I knew I made the right decision to dive sans wetsuit.)
I also had the pleasure of meeting fellow cave divers Kevin James and his wife on board too.

[Slüdge]

A little trivia here - Lake Worth in Florida and Lake Worth (and Fort Worth) in Texas were named after the same person (Major General William Jenkins Worth).

[WEPIV]

Thanks for the info Russell.... I looked him up online to see what his background was. Figured he was in Florida at some point and indeed he was (Second Seminole Indian War). Also saw that he was a Mason and was also involved with a clandestine attack against Cuba!
I've always wondered if Lake Worth was fresh water, or at the very least brackish prior to the inlets being cut in in the 1920s.
The entire Peanut Island in Lake Worth near the Palm Beach Inlet was made up of sand removed to create that inlet (and thus cutting Palm Beach Island in two).
When we were kids we used to sneak on the Coast Guard portion of Peanut to go into Kennedy's bunker/bomb shelter. That was a true adventure then but now it has been cleaned up and made into a little museum where anyone can go in for a price. (I prefer how it used to be....)