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Overview
510-foot Thomaston-class dock landing ship sunk as an artificial reef 6 miles off Key Largo in 2002 — one of the largest intentionally scuttled wrecks in the world. Sat on her starboard side until Hurricane Dennis rolled her fully upright in 2005. Bow tops out near 18 m, main deck at 27 m, sand bottom at 40 m. Strong Gulf Stream currents are typical; advanced wreck training is needed for the cargo hold, well deck, and superstructure penetrations. Encrusted in sponges, hydroids, and coral colonisers with resident goliath grouper, barracuda schools, and silversides.
Briefing note
Goliath grouper aggregate here during their late-summer spawning season. Strong Gulf Stream currents require negative entries and reef hooks; nitrox is standard for bottom-time management. Penetration requires wreck certification — the hull is buoy-moored at multiple points to spread diver load.
What you'll see
5 species curated- seasonalGoliath grouperPeak: Aug · Sep · Oct
- year-roundGreat barracuda
- year-roundAtlantic spadefish
- rareBull shark
- seasonalSilversidesPeak: Jun · Jul · Aug
Sightings evidence
1 record on file- medium confidenceGoliath grouper
- Last confirmed
- Oct 2025
- Recent records
- 45 within 10 km
- Cluster months
- Aug, Sep, Oct
Sources & methodology
How we summarise this
We aggregate confirmed occurrence records from GBIF and OBIS within a fixed radius of each dive site. Occurrence records confirm presence and reveal seasonality clustering, but they DO NOT measure per-dive probability — there is no eligible-effort denominator. We deliberately do not publish a numeric '% chance of sighting' from this data.
Sources
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility — GBIF Secretariat
- Ocean Biodiversity Information System — IOC-UNESCO
- OBIS-SEAMAP — Duke University Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab / OBIS
- iNaturalist — California Academy of Sciences & National Geographic Society
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature
- WoRMS — World Register of Marine Species — Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ)
- FishBase — FishBase Consortium
- Atlas of Living Australia — CSIRO / GBIF Australia
- REEF Volunteer Fish Survey — Reef Environmental Education Foundation
The wreck
Ship history- National marine sanctuary
Warship · United States
USS Spiegel Grove
- Built
- 1956
- Sunk
- May 17, 2002
- Length
- 155 m
- Tonnage
- 11,270
- Diveable depth
- 18–40 m
- How she sank
- Scuttled as artificial reef
US Navy Landing Ship Dock scuttled off Key Largo as an artificial reef. Sat on her starboard side until Hurricane Dennis (2005) rolled her upright.
Notable features
- main deck
- well deck stern
- engine room swim-throughs
- goliath grouper
Vessel histories sourced from the Naval History and Heritage Command (DANFS), NOAA ENC Direct, and editorial research. Bathymetry per GEBCO. See the methodology for limits.
Conditions
| Month | Water | Visibility | Current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 22–24 °C | 12–20 m | moderate |
| Feb | 22–24 °C | 12–20 m | moderate |
| Mar | 23–25 °C | 15–25 m | moderate |
| Apr | 24–26 °C | 18–28 m | moderate |
| May | 26–28 °C | 20–30 m | moderate |
| Jun | 27–29 °C | 20–30 m | moderate |
| Jul | 28–30 °C | 20–30 m | mild |
| Aug | 29–31 °C | 20–30 m | mild |
| Sep | 28–30 °C | 18–28 m | moderate |
| Oct | 27–29 °C | 18–25 m | moderate |
| Nov | 25–27 °C | 15–25 m | moderate |
| Dec | 23–25 °C | 12–20 m | moderate |
Season calendar
Peak season highlighted · current month outlined
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