Yesterday afternoon we headed over to the far southern end of Seven Mile Beach where the Wreck of the Gamma is located. August is our hottest month of the year and we hoped that going for a swim would be a refreshing activity. With the water temperature in excess of 85 degrees though it was more like swimming in a warm bath. It is water temperatures like this that create the monster storms when they get into the Caribbean and one reason why everyone here breathed a sigh of relief when Hurricane Bill turned north
and headed into the Atlantic. The Gamma is a ship that is beached in about 8-10 feet of water so a part of its structure is above the surface. It is just a few feet from shore so it is an easy swim to get to. You can actually swim into the structure of the boat and around its gutted open insides. The
Sergeant major fish love to use the Gamma for laying eggs and it is not unusual at all to see the bright blue colored males swimming around a specific area
protecting their eggs. Normally the
Sergeant majors are yellow and black but when the males are protecting eggs they take on a blue hue. In the past we have seen several varieties of unusual fish at this location but yesterday it was mostly grunts, chubs and of course the
Sergeant majors. We did see a southern ray swim past on his way into George Town but he never slowed to visit the wreck. The two pictures of the wreck are views of the front and rear of the boat. At left is one of the males protecting his eggs.
Yesterday afternoon we headed over to the far southern end of Seven Mile Beach where the Wreck of the Gamma is located. August is our hottest month of the year and we hoped that going for a swim would be a refreshing activity. With the water temperature in excess of 85 degrees though it was more like swimming in a warm bath. It is water temperatures like this that create the monster storms when they get into the Caribbean and one reason why everyone here breathed a sigh of relief when Hurricane Bill turned north
and headed into the Atlantic. The Gamma is a ship that is beached in about 8-10 feet of water so a part of its structure is above the surface. It is just a few feet from shore so it is an easy swim to get to. You can actually swim into the structure of the boat and around its gutted open insides. The Sergeant major fish love to use the Gamma for laying eggs and it is not unusual at all to see the bright blue colored males swimming around a specific area 
protecting their eggs. Normally the Sergeant majors are yellow and black but when the males are protecting eggs they take on a blue hue. In the past we have seen several varieties of unusual fish at this location but yesterday it was mostly grunts, chubs and of course the Sergeant majors. We did see a southern ray swim past on his way into George Town but he never slowed to visit the wreck. The two pictures of the wreck are views of the front and rear of the boat. At left is one of the males protecting his eggs.
