We had 2 beautiful days with low winds and calm water to spend some time at Looe Key Marine Sanctuary. Looe Key Marine sanctuary is about 9 miles from our campsite. From the No. 1 channel marker (off the Atlantic), it is a straight shot for 5.1 Nautical Miles @ 148 degrees to the reef.
Looe Key Marine Sanctuary is a groove and spur reef. Ridges of reefs are formed by coral spurs separated by channel grooves. According to the FloridaKeys.com website, “The reef got its name from the HMS Looe which supposedly ran aground there in 1744 while towing a captured French ship, the Snow. While crossing the reef, the HMS Looe hit hard in only 25 feet of water and quickly burned to the waterline, taking the accompanying ship with her. Recent archeological studies say that the ship that went down with the Looe was named Billander Betty and that ballast stones located at the eastern end of the reef are from those two ships.”
Randy had been wanting to visit the reef so he was glad that the weather was good for a few days while Kat was visiting. I joined them for their return trip on Monday. In addition to black tip reef sharks, yellowtail snapper, Sergeant majors, several types of parrot fish, barracuda, tang and angel fish, Kat had a large spotted eagle ray swim under her. Unfortunately her dad was too far away to get it on video. On our return trip on Monday we had a large pod of bottle nose dolphins swim in front of us on our run out to the reef. I stayed on the boat while they snorkeled and was quite surprised when a large Black Grouper swam under the boat. I called Kat and Randy over so they could get a good look. This approximately 6′ grouper hung out near our boat the rest of the time we were at the reef.
On the way back from the Reef, we stopped at Newfound Harbor Key Sancturary Preservation Area. Kat and Randy saw several turtles on Sunday, but we did not see very much on Monday
