Throughout the month of September we were very fortunate to experience some amazing underwater performances at the Corridor wrecks. Beginning with the aggregation of goliath groupers, many of which weighed over 400 pounds and numbering over 60, they were closely followed by huge baitballs of cigar minnows numbering in the thousands. The schools were so densely packed that they engulfed the wrecks; turning the wrecks into a swirl of living matter.

It isn’t completely certain why the bait fish gather around these wrecks and the predatory groupers. From a personal observation it appears as though the cigar minnows use the groupers as a means of protection from the numerous jacks that are quick to pick off any stray minnow. Staying close to the grouper provides the goliath grouper with the opportunity to prey upon any jack who comes in too close.

Swimming through the school of baitfish quickly turned the hundred feet of visibility into no more than five feet. Most of the dive was spent swimming through this amazing baitball, but there was more to come. As the group drifted along the other wrecks the usual residents  of turtles, eels, and large southern stingrays graced us with their presence.

Don’t miss the video from this day’s diving: