Large fish that can be found hunting reefs in many places throughout the world, Tarpon are stealthy hunters which are incredible to watch. Often preying upon schooling baitfish, such as glassy sweepers, sardines, herring, and others, these are amazing fish. Don’t be afraid to come close; despite their somewhat menacing appearance, they are not known to attack divers. Let’s take a closer look.
Tarpon - Big and Beautiful
Tarpon grow to incredible lengths, with some of the largest reaching eight feet and weighing in at over 250 pounds. Preferring to inhabit warm water with temperatures between 72 and 82 degrees Fahrenheit, they become sluggish and inactive at cooler temperatures and will die at temperatures below forty degrees. Prized as gamefish because of their size and tendency to fight, they are usually released after capture as their flavor is not the best and as they are extremely bony. Their only natural predators are sharks, dolphins and porpoises, and alligators, and birds sometimes prey on juveniles.
There are two distinct tarpon species, one which inhabits the western Atlantic from Virginia all the way south to Brazil. This fish can also be found throughout the Caribbean and in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as along the eastern Atlantic Coast from South Angola north to Senegal. The second species inhabits the Indo-Pacific region, and can be found throughout Australia, Tahiti, Japan, and southeast Asia, as well as along the eastern coast of Africa. Both species are suited to life in brackish and fresh water as well as to life on the reef, and they are also well-suited to survival in less than ideal conditions, being much less susceptible to pH related problems caused by pollution and global warming than are most other fish.
Tarpons tend to hunt during the night and prefer shady, dark conditions; at some dive sites, you can see them stalking their prey during the day, once the sun causes the reef to cast its shadow into deeper water. Even though they are capable of surviving in open ocean environments, they tend to prefer the shelter reefs and beds of seagrass provide. If you spend some time watching, you’ll see the fish surface to breathe; their swim bladders double as accessory respiratory organs, and they must occasionally access the surface or they will perish.
Now that you know a bit more about Tarpon, watch for them at dive sites which are in some cases named after the fish themselves! There are a few different dive sites called Tarpon Hole; one is located off Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula at Chinchorro Reef. Besides schools of huge tarpon, it features enormous groupers and other fish. There is a Tarpon Hole in Bermuda, and another in Belize. At Grand Cayman, a fantastic site called Tarpon Alley is home to hundreds of the massive fish, and another, called Tarpon Tap Room, is a great site to encounter them as well. Most of these sites are accessible to all divers, with depths of less than thirty meters, and most offer great visibility, as well. Remember your camera – and don’t be surprised if you turn to see that the Tarpon are watching you just as you’re watching them.