Shark at Castawy Cay - UPDATED with pictures

[pugmom626]

I would love to see a shark while snorkeling! DH would be out of the water for the rest of the day though.

 

[catzle]

I have swam with nurse sharks a lot. They do not bother you. My dad used to mess with them down in key west years ago and they still don't bother you. I would love to see one and get pictures. That's half the fun of snorkeling. I miss the coral reefs in the keys we used to dive. I love seeing the tropical fish they are so nice.

 

[barney4liz]

We saw lots of big nurse sharks when we did the hiking/kayaking tour of CC. They were cool.

I am a little surprised that people are worried about going snorkeling and . . . actually seeing nature up close and personal! Isn't that the whole point??

 

[ScarlettinWonderland]

I love going snorkeling and seeing innocent and pretty tropical fish, not something that could kill me, lol.

 

[TwingleMum]

both nurse and reef sharks can get over 6 feet. These types of shark pose little threat to humans I have been diving around these types of sharks for over 30 years and if you give them respect they will respect you

Rob

I'm sorry Rob but this made me laugh. How does a shark know you respect him " Mr.shark I've never eaten Mako or shark fin soup. Jaws I was rooting for the shark...

 

[Mickeyhugger]

I'm sorry Rob but this made me laugh. How does a shark know you respect him " Mr.shark I've never eaten Mako or shark fin soup. Jaws I was rooting for the shark...

In other words leave them alone and they will do the same you jack with them be ready to pay the price

 

[BrennaM]

I read a similar article to that one; after we got back from our trip where I saw it I researched the lion fish a bit. I was a little scared that I saw one of them there, even though they are a beautiful fish! My wife didn't believe me, but I had an underwater pic to prove it!

The quills are what contain the poison on a Lion Fish and they are not aggressive at all, so unless you are going around and touching all the fish around then you should be fine with these guys. You definitely don't want to get hit by one though, my father in law sold them to pet shops and when one jumped out of a net he reached for it instinctively and ended up in serious shape in the hospital. Not a fun experience for him.

 

[jackieslp]

HOly HECK I like to think of Castaway Cay as my private safe snorkeling area not prone to sea creatures that scare me: aka: barracuda and any type of sharks...as my husband tells the story,,,the first time I snorkeled in CC, I began and popped my head up and yelled "Holy ****" he said - this is disney....quiet....I have snorkeled before in Jamaica so that wasn't my first time but I am a major scardy cat...

 

[tvguy]

These are the only creatures that scare me at Castaway Cay.

 

[truck1]

Looks like a nurse shark. They can get to 12-14ft in length...

I read an article a few months ago about the lionfish, I found it a good read on how it's intrusiveness into the Bahamas is bad for the other reef fish.

It has nothing to do with the original question, but it's a good read on how they got to the Bahamas, and what they're doing to the local ecosystem.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111695369

-Steve

Yeah, the lionfish has made it to the Florida East Coast also.Theres a directive to divers that the FWC( I think.I know its one of the alphabet soup orginizations) has issued.

Okay. You guys are FREAKING me out. My two older kids (11 & 8) love to snorkel and I have to take them because DH doesn't like it. I think I would NOT do well if I encountered one of these creatures....YIKES!

I wouldnt worry about any of the above,the shark, Barry or the lionfish.I would consider it an added bonus to the trip if I had seen one there.Except the lionfish.Its not supposed to be there.

 

[truck1]

I just got our pictures back. Anyone know what type of shark it is?

Nice pictures.

From the looks of it, Id agree that its a nurse.Especially if it was sitting still on the bottom.Most of the nurses Ive seen in the Keys, have been sitting still on the bottom in some type of outcropping. Just like this one.
Nothing to worry about.They are more likely to swim away from you if you annoyed them enough than to bite.
Ive been up close to a bull shark which is more likely to bite than a great white, and a nurse that was a little bit more then upset that the bull was nearby and neither botherd me or the other divers that were with me.Ive also done a 3 minute safety stop,on the way up from a dive on a wreck in the keys, in a cloud of barracudas, with other divers, and we were ignored the whole time.
I agree with Tvguy. Id be more worried about the landsharks.

 

[tmbcole]

My husband and I have seen the barracuda's. My husband tugged on my hand and pointed to the surface . . . we came up and he told me not to panic but we should leave. Two other women came to the surface and were shocked at what they saw. I have no desire to go snorkeling on Castaway Cay ever again.

 

[inkkognito]

I guess people come in two varieties when it comes to the CC nurse sharks: scared and brave (or should that be foolhardy?). When I saw them at the adult beach I didn't even know they were there till another guest alerted me. He was pointing out to everyone in the area that there were two sharks right there swimming among us. Half of us were like, "Ooooo, cool!" and gaping at them, and they other half got out of the water quick.

I also saw a small squid there once. Poor little thing was squirting ink in a vain attempt to scare off all the humans but all that did was attract more.

Barry and his buddies like shiny things, as DH discovered when one of them wanted to check out his watch a little too close for comfort. He covered it and hurried away.

 

[suzyqn]

I was just glad to hear there was some sort of fence protecting the family beach. I have been lying to my daughter for almost 2 years telling her that there are no sharks at CC. (She is only 4 and barely gets her ankles wet)

 

[WDdaughter]

I agree with some earlier comments, what are you doing swimming in the ocean if you are afraid of the local sealife? I'm a big chicken usually, but in October at Serenity Bay, I saw lots of creatures, it was great. In less than waist deep water, we saw a huge stingray sitting in the sand, he swam away when we got too close. We also saw 2 sea urchins, a flounder, a hermit crab in a beautiful white shell, and several colourful small fish. Other visits, we've seen numerous starfish.

 

[TinksDH]

The quills are what contain the poison on a Lion Fish and they are not aggressive at all, so unless you are going around and touching all the fish around then you should be fine with these guys. You definitely don't want to get hit by one though, my father in law sold them to pet shops and when one jumped out of a net he reached for it instinctively and ended up in serious shape in the hospital. Not a fun experience for him.

Exactly! This "reef" that he was in was in an area where if you were trying to snorkel down to the bottom, you could easily use it as a place to step on, or to push off. He was just hanging out, just inside the concrete structure. I'd be afraid of accidentally kicking him or something like that.

 

[natale1980]

You know whats funny... when I first saw it I would have sworn it was a baby great white.
I enjoyed seeing it, but afterwards I was looking around alot and I also started hearing the theme song to jaws.
My DH really wants to scuba dive now.

-nat

 

[truck1]

Most sharks have the same basic shape.Its the details that tell the difference.
A nurse is one of the few if not the only shark that can sit still on the bottom and not drown.

The hammerheads are easy to pick out, as well as a bonnet head.The bonnet looks like a baby hammerhead. The white tip are easy also as they are as the name implies white tipped on their dorsals.

A great white can be confused with other sharks, especially when small.They can look like bulls.

This is a bull shark pic that I took in 07 in Key Largo on the Eagle wreck.He was just cruising and if I m not mistaken he was checking out lunch.You can see that it looks similar to the nurse that you saw.

 

[cmc1000]

I really want to take my 2 10-year-olds snorkeling on CC but if they hear "Sharks!" it'll never happen. They are already making noises about not swimming because a friend of theirs saw jellyfish there in November. Can anyone give me a report on recent jellyfish activity, or non, at CC? Thanks!

 

[camarks1234]

I am a little surprised that people are worried about going snorkeling and . . . actually seeing nature up close and personal! Isn't that the whole point??

exactly what I was thinking!