Make sure you ask Weblizard (Liz) of Team Cache Divers about her diving with a Goliath Grouper at the sugar barge off of Bradenton Beach. A great story of why she decided to have the laser surgery on her eyes after that.
The Goliath Grouper (see below), formally/commonly known as the jewfish, is a large saltwater fish of the grouper family found primarily in shallow tropical waters among coral and artificial reefs at depths from 16 to 164 ft.
They may reach extremely large sizes, growing to lengths of up to 9 feet and can weigh as much as 790 lb. The world record for a hook and line-captured specimen is 681 lbs, caught off Fernandina Beach, Florida, in 1961.
The grouper's inquisitive and generally fearless nature makes it a relatively easy prey for spear fishermen.
Goliath grouper eat crustaceans, other fish, octopuses, young sea turtles, sharks, and barracudas.
Goliath groupers change sex from male to female as they mature and grow from a grouper to a goliath grouper.
The common name of the goliath grouper is jewfish but, in 2001, the American Fisheries Society stopped using that terminology due to the potentially offensive nature of the name.
Permission to place caches in the park was given by Steve Giguere, Assistant Park Manager