Christian Gerzner wrote:

> 1) The box jellyfish and most of its kin prefers muddy estuarine water
> and is seasonal. You won't find them on the GBR or anywhere else out to
> sea. You _might_, but gee you'd have to be seriously unlucky, find a
> particularly hungry salt water crocodile in the northern areas of the GBR
however. Even then
> it'd probably pay you little attention.

Actually, jellyfish are not something I worry about much.  I wear a skin to
keep them separate from my body parts.  Best of all, however, is the fact
that biological toxins don't effect me much.  While our box jellyfish is not
normally considered lethal, I've never even been stung by one and our
Portuguese Man-O-War, like if not identical to your Blue Bottle Jellyfish
gives me a mild itch if, and only if, it catches me in a tender area such as
my underarms, lips, etc.

Regarding the crocs, you bring up an interesting geographical issue.  We
have salt water crocs here as well, but they are very rare and quite shy.
We occasionally see one in the canals with ocean access in the Keys, but
only rarely.  The last one I saw was caught and killed by a resident of the
canal.  He was reported and prosecuted for killing an endangered species.
What we have more of is alligators.  They prefer fresh water and, while not
as shy as our crocs, are still unlikely to be a problem except, of course,
for those who go out of their way to encounter them or who are unfortunate
or foolish enough to annoy them during mating season or while they are
guarding a nest.  They are so common and so little a hazard, that we don't
even think of them.

Probably the largest risk in S. Florida is snakes and they're only a hazard
in fresh water.  Our water moccosin, a more than slightly poisonous snake,
tends to be agressive if encountered.  Fortunately, they tend to hang out in
areas where divers have little interest in visiting.

Over the last couple of years, there have been three or four Great White
sharks caught off of Florida.  While they normally prefer colder water,
clearly there are a few around.

Lee