Each year, loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) build as many as 67,000 nests along Florida’s beaches, and the hatchlings disperse into the Atlantic to spend their lives at sea. This is the only hatchling I’ve encountered during a blackwater dive; if it can avoid predators and fishing nets, it may grow to 200 kilograms and live more than 65 years.
The Gulfstream
When I shine my light on them, eel larvae (Leptocephalus sp.), like this one found swimming less than a meter below the surface, often curl up and wait, motionless, as I photograph them.
