Snorkeling at the Atlantis
Jan 24th, 2003, 04:27 AM
#3
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Brenda; I snorkeled off the Atlantis beach four years ago. There are no coral formations, although there are a few rock formations which house some reef fish, like Sargeant Majors (the vertical stripped ones you see on cruise ship commercials), an octopus, many damselfish which defend their nesting sites and territory, and a cornucopia of "silversides" which are herring and anchovies which congregate together by the thousands. A few interesting predator fish like bar jack and needlefish are attracted to the shores off Atlantis, and of course, the common barracuda was seen on every snorkeling excursion. Their is mainly seagrass beds directly off the shore and much "rubble," a term for broken up shells, sand, rocks, etc. You will see ocean life off of Atlantis, particularly farther out about 70 feet by the floating markers. Of course, you never know, it's the ocean, and a migrating sea turtle could fly by you as well. Do NOT snorkel in the dawn or dusk hours off of Atlantis or anywhere for that matter. You won't see the more beautiful Bahamian reefs which circle New Providence, but you definately will see something. Have fun! Robert
Jan 27th, 2003, 02:19 AM
#5
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Sally; those are the times when shark attacks are most likely. The reefs are overcrowded with fish, so nature has fish like the squirrel fish, etc., which are lively at night, while others like parrot fish, etc., feed and move around during daylight. If all the fish were out at the same time, the reefs would be overcrowded. During dusk and early morning hours, the night fish are returning to the caves and reef crevices to hide and sleep, and they pass the day trippers coming out of them. Much activity, and predator fish take advantage of this bustle of activity during those times. Also, visibility is less as well. Just a precaution, but don't worry, the case of shark attacks are very slim; they don't like humans and they live on a very narrow band of variety of marine life. Robert
