Levy Island is literally just outside of Governor’s Harbor and the Bay next to it is called Tom’s Rocks. It is close enough to take the dinghy, but we decided to rather move the big boat and then take shorter trips with the dinghy. We haven’t been in the water for a few days and a remote island always draws our attention, so snorkeling on Levy island was definitely on the plans.
It turned out to be a pretty good snorkeling site, with interesting rock formations and a few pretty fish, some nice sized crabs for dinner and some lion fish. We always spear any lion fish that we see because it is an invasive species in Florida, the Bahamas and the Caribbean. They have no natural predators in these waters and can kill massive amounts of small indigenous fish that hide in the reefs. Although their fins are toxic, they make really good eating if you are careful when cleaning them. The meat is delicately flavored, very white and has a fine texture. The only draw back is that they are normally quite small, so you need more than one for dinner. It also makes a really good fish dip.
As we were just getting onto the dinghy to go ashore, I spotted a shark in the shallow water. We almost immediately noticed another shark that seemed to be chasing the first one. At first we thought it was going to be a territorial fight, but it soon transpired that it was a mating ritual. We slowed down the dinghy and slowly went closer to see what was happening. To our amazement the nurse sharks started mating and didn’t give us any attention. It was quite a violent display of fins out of the water, rolling around and what seemed a very steamy affair. This lasted for about three minutes and then they both swam away. We were amazed at the very rare privilege we had to have witnessed such a rare act of nature.
It was quite a ride to eventually get around the very shallow areas and being able to beach the dinghy. As we walked around the side of the island, we saw the one shark basking in the sun in very shallow water. Most of it’s body was out of the water and we were worried that it might’ve gotten hurt during the sex ordeal, so Andre walked up to it but it still didn’t move. As I stood by nervously, Andre grabbed it by the tail to try and move it into deeper water, but the shark was very much alive then and after a few seconds, quickly swam away into deeper water.
