I went scuba diving yesterday on two different wrecks on the southern side of Nassau, Bahamas.
Port Nelson Wreck
The first wreck we visited was the Port Nelson. The Port Nelson was a 130 foot Royal Bahamas Defense Force patrol boat that was intentionally sunk to create a dive site.
This wreck sits upright in about 75 feet of water. This is a fantastic wreck dive. The hull is in perfect shape and it is listing slightly to port.
Sea Viking Wreck
The second dive was on the Sea Viking Wreck. The Sea Viking was a 50 foot long commercial fishing boat which was also intentionally sunk to create a dive site. It lies on its port side on a sandy bottom in 60 feet of water. There is a lot of fish life around this wreck.
On the swim to the wreck, I came across a large Southern Stingray that kindly posed for a few shots. After a few minutes of slowly approaching it, I was able to get close enough to touch it.
Lionfish and Wrecks
Unfortunately, lionfish are changing wreck diving. Before the appearance of lionfish, I wouldn’t have been concerned with entering the wheelhouses of either of these wrecks. But now, before entering any wreck you have to be really careful to check out the the ceiling, floor and sides of any part of the wreck you are thinking about going into.
The shot that you can see above and to the right was taken on the Sea Viking Wreck. What you don’t see in this shot is the 5 other lionfish that were beneath and to the right of the one in the picture. There were even more inside the wheelhouse.
Before venturing into any enclosed space like that, you better be sure that you have perfect buoyancy control because they are not going to get out of your way. You had better be ready to get out of their way!
Unless lionfish are somehow contained, it seems that wreck diving will be limited to only having a look from the outside.
Have you seen lionfish while wreck diving in The Bahamas? If so, please post your comments.
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I jsut got back a couple of days ago from the Bahamas and dove the Port Nelson, James Bond Wrecks, and the Sea Viking with Stuart Cove’s (great outfit). We were not allowed to penetrate the wrecks for this very reason, which is a shame. It’s my understanding that Lionfish are an invasive species, and efforts are ongoing to control their populations. I hope so, because just peeking in, I saw several lionfish inside several of the wrecks. While wall diving, there were also some in the open.
Hi Jim,
Unfortunately, the lionfish are taking over. They are all over the wrecks you dove on. I recently dove on the Anthony Bell wreck (which was only recently sunk) and only spotted one inside the wheelhouse. It was great to be able to go inside the wreck but soon that won’t be possible. Efforts are underway to control them – right now though it seems the battle is being lost. Hopefully, this will change.