Barracuda Escort

Dry Tortugas continued...

As promised in my last post here are the pictures from our two snorkeling excursions to Loggerhead Key.  While going through our pictures I quickly learned that our underwater photography skills have great room for improvement!  We took approximately 250 pictures, and of those, 50 actually captured something.  There were many near misses, with a fin on the edge or a mouth in the corner, but the majority were pictures of nothing😁.  Great excuse to practice!

Loggerhead is approximately three miles away from the main harbor at Garden Key, and can only be visited by personal watercraft.  There were no commercial trips to Loggerhead, which made it amazingly empty.  On our first visit there was one boat on a mooring ball with 3 people walking the beach.  On our second trip, we were the only visitors there. I would imagine it is more crowded during the summer months, but the regulations state that a maximum of 25 people per day are allowed to visit Loggerhead Key.

If you approach from the west side of the island you will find the dinghy mooring area off the shore from the collapsed boat house.  You can not beach any vessels from this side, as there is a rock ledge that runs the entire length of the island.

The water was very clear on our first day of snorkeling.

Immediately upon entering the water we were surrounded by barracudas. There were at least 15 (3-4 foot) barracudas escorting us, at all times, and sometimes we counted as many as 30.  However, on the first day they stayed a respectable distance away.

There were numerous amazing coral formations.

He definitely thought he was hiding behind the sea fan.

A perfect brain coral.

This school of Atlantic Silversides startled me as the rushed past, then again, I am easily startled 😮 

Everyone stay still...she definitely does NOT see us!

One our second day of snorkeling the water wasn’t quite as clear, and the barracudas were MUCH more friendly.  On our first day they stayed at least 20 feet away,  but on the second day they came as close as 3 feet.

This was a beautiful beach to rest on after a phenomenal day of snorkeling.

And guess who was waiting under the boat when we returned from our second snorkel trip...a four foot barracuda.  I guess they just wanted to make sure we made it home alright.

Our visit to the Dry Tortugas has inspired us to search for more baby blue water, and crystal clear snorkeling opportunities.  We have decided to head to the Bahamas for the months of March and April.  Our current plan is to leave Key West early next week and head north to Key Largo where we will stock provisions for our two month trip.  We have learned from our friends Eddie and Gail that food is REALLY expensive in the Bahamas so are planning to stock as much as possible!