scuba and gators

[BCSAR]

I am in the process of setting up a Search and Rescue in the South East. Doing this, I have thought of potential hazards that might present themselves. Alligators pop into mind, I was wondering what encounters, if any that I could expect when diving with these creatures that are not really, known for being friendly?

I know we will not be diving in ideal conditions, and I have not really found anything about diving with gators and what their habits or trends might play when diving with them. I am sure a majority of our dives will be in near zero visibility looking in every nook and cranny. We do not want to disturb their habitat but we will have to be in it till what is found is found.

So any help with this would be great, or if anyone has any experience diving with the gators that would be helpful information as well.

 

[cudachaser]

I don't trust them...much rather be diving with sharks....However, I only know of 1 recorded attack....some guy snuck into to Cocoa Beach Golf Club to retrieve golf balls, think it was at night. Gator mauled his leg pretty bad. Gator was killed and guy has nasty scars to tell off his adventure...other than that...that's the only gator tail I know in 40+ years of Florida diving

 

[IslandFrog]

I have no real expertise in this, but I do remember reading in Sheck Exley's book "Caverns Measureless to Man" that gators can not go below 10'. My copy of the book is on loan right now, so I can't verify this statement, nor do I know if it is really true. I'm also not inclined to go and put this one to the test either.

Good luck!

 

[Kevin Carlisle]

I am in the process of setting up a Search and Rescue in the South East. Doing this, I have thought of potential hazards that might present themselves. Alligators pop into mind, I was wondering what encounters, if any that I could expect when diving with these creatures that are not really, known for being friendly?

I know we will not be diving in ideal conditions, and I have not really found anything about diving with gators and what their habits or trends might play when diving with them. I am sure a majority of our dives will be in near zero visibility looking in every nook and cranny. We do not want to disturb their habitat but we will have to be in it till what is found is found.

So any help with this would be great, or if anyone has any experience diving with the gators that would be helpful information as well.

Well I dive river caves and springs all around North Florida. My buddies have taken some great pics of gators. Sometimes you see them and sometimes you don't, but we kinow they are there. Never been bothered by them but a big one would cause us to pick a different site. My thought are just like diving offshore with sharks and that is if your scared of them you shouldn't be there.

 

[bleeb]

If you haven't tried there already, you might get more first-hand directly applicable information if you ask the Moderators to move this thread over to the Public Safety Diving forum. I think the topic has come up before, but it was a while back, so it might be hard to find.

 

[jgoodstein]

Most of the places that i experience in Florida the waters are murky and shallow, both not ideal to Scuba diving. You are playing in some interesting scenarios:

1. its murky, thats just bad 100% of the time. what are you planning on seeing? if it is murky why not be boat side collecting samples, using other tools for whatever it is you are planning.

2. Day time the gators are hiding sleeping, so do your diving then, night time they are very active ( night is when i do research on them for tagging and what not)

3. What exactly are you searching and rescuing for? It may facilitate other methods that don't put you at risk.

To be honest gators are not as investigative as sharks in my opinion, they keep to themselves and stay away. there are some species and types that are clearly more aggressive, but it will depend on the region in which you are doing things. Sharks bite and release gators bite and roll, so be carefull

 

[CaptEsteban]

I have looged many, many dives in the Cooper River, of S.C., & rivers in Fl . I have seen plenty of gators in both places . Surprisingly, the biggest & most gators I have ever seen were in S.C. ! They CAN be down below 10ft , too. Of course, NO night diving !!! I don't remember a single time that our group was bothered by gators, but I do remember one gator being TOO curious , so we didn't get off the boat. Search & recovery teams routinely dive Florida rivers, lakes, & ponds looking for missing people, crime evidence , etc. Maybe contact some Florida county's dive teams to learn more.

 

[marinediva]

I spent some time in Far Nth Qld, N.T. and Western Australia diving using hookar.
There are salt water crocodile as well as fresh water crocodile.
Cannot image they are to different with their habits.


Also managed to spend some time on a croc farm, this is what I learnt.
Crocodiles are extremely intellegent and have no fear. They are curious creatures and learn habits quickly. Change the place you are diving everyday. Try to avoid creating a habit.
Crocs avoid opening their mouth underwater, they prefer to push objects to the surface to attack,
They attack till their is no resistance. They have extreme bursts of power, and can run extremely fast for short distances the longer the distance the slower they become.
At the rear of their neck there is a flap. This flap closes when it has something in its mouth.
If for some reason you find an arm or leg in its mouth, push forward to retrieve your body part. lol

We always had someone on watch. They would send warning by hitting the side of the boat.
We were safer on the bottom so would wait for the clear sound. I do recall once having to assist a diver with an urgent exit from the water when one biggish croc did not respond to our above water scare tatics. We were directly above him, and he managed to propell himself straight over the side of the dory on exiting the water. Just glad he did not have tanks.

 

[Deep South Divers]

My experience with Search and Recovery operations is that the people are a lot more dangerous than the wildlife.

My recommendation is for you to create a single, focused set of Standard Operating Procedures - no more than 50 pages - that gives clear, concise, simple rules that people should follow. Deviations from SOP's should result in clear and harsh, yet short punishments with little permanent effect.

Comparatively, 'gators hold little threat. Much more threatening to any Search and Recovery operation is individual ego, bending of SOPs, too many chiefs and not enough indians, gossip, and backstabbing.

It's the people - not the 'gators - that are going to make or break a SAR operation.

 

[Live Aboard Dive Boat]

I have spoken to many people that have dove the Cooper River and they have never had a problem with the gators either. Knowing when & where to dive also help their chances.