Diving with the Pelagic Marine Life in Jupiter Florida
Big, Bold, and Sharing the Same Ocean!
Broadly speaking, pelagic marine animals are those that live in the open water column of the ocean. To a diver, that means the often fast moving, large animals, such as sharks, rays, goliath groupers and sea turtle, that can turn any dive into something spectacular!
And the waters off Jupiter offer even more opportunities to experience bucket-list dives due to migratory routes, nesting beaches, and spawning aggregations. The best part? Jupiter Dive Center has been operating for more than twenty years. We know the best reefs and wrecks to make every dive an adventure to remember!
Sharks!
“Did you see any sharks?” It’s one of the most common questions that divers ask each other after a dive. Fortunately, if you dive with Jupiter Dive Center, the answer is often a resounding Yes!
Sharks have been in the water far longer than humans have been on land. They can be found in every marine environment. The waters off our coast are frequented by a variety of species that include nurse, tiger, bull, sand, hammerhead sharks, and more.
Some visit at specific times of year like lemon sharks, others like the blacktip reef sharks migrate through, and on occasion, even whale sharks and great whites wander into our waters!
Does the idea of encountering a shark make you uneasy? Fear of sharks is often due to a lack of education and one of the easiest ways to learn to appreciate these incredible animals is to know what is myth (we’re looking at you, Jaws), and what is the reality of diving with sharks. Take a Shark Awareness Specialty Course and you’ll not only be excited about seeing sharks, you’ll know how to identify the different species as well!
Big, Small, and Baby Rays
Rays are cartilaginous fishes and it’s that lack of a skeletal structure that allows them the flexibility that makes them appear as if they can fly underwater. Unlike their close cousins, the sharks, rays have flatter bodies and large pectoral fins on their sides that give them a disc-like shape.
Rays use their pectoral fins to propel themselves through the water like birds use their wings.
They tend to tolerate curious divers, but many rays have venomous spines in their tails that can pack a wallop if they feel threatened.
Broadly speaking, rays can be divided into two distinct categories: bottom-dwellers or fliers. Let’s start with the fliers.
The largest of the rays, manta rays’ triangular pectoral fins can reach an amazing 29 feet from tip to tip. Mantas are darkly colored when viewed from above, and lighter on its underside. Its long tapering tail is not barbed. Unlike other rays, the manta ray’s mouth is located at the front of its head, rather than on the underside. Two distinctive horn-shaped lobes (called cephalic horns) extend from either side of the mouth—which explains its nickname “devil ray” or “devil fish,” but not to worry! They’re not the slightest bit devilish.
Adult males travel huge distances in search of the best feeding grounds, and in 2020, scientists identified a manta ray nursery in South Florida. That nursery, along with research conducted in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, led to the 2025 official identification of a new Atlantic Ocean manta ray species—the Mobula yarae!
Relative to its body size, manta rays possess the largest brain of any fish and studies have determined that some of that brain power is dedicated to learning, problem solving and communication. They are incredibly inquisitive and have been known to interact with divers!
Fliers spend most of their time swimming. Typically, they are solitary, but occasionally, they’ll school and watching a dozen or more eagle rays gliding past is truly magical. In our area, the spotted eagle ray is the most abundant member of the eagle ray family.
As their name suggests, the black skin of their upper body is heavily dotted with white spots and their belly is white. Their head is more pronounced and tapers to the snout.
Flying rays are measured from wingtip to wingtip (not diameter of the body like the stingrays) and Spotted Eagle Rays have a wingspan of up to eight feet.
Most of the local rays are considered bottom-dwellers which for the record are not pelagic, but are still really cool and are distinguished by having mouths on the underside of their bodies.
Stingrays are the most common bottom-dweller and are frequently spotted by divers in the flats next to reefs where they use their pectoral fins to cover themselves with sand. Yellow stingrays are nearly round, covered by small yellow spots and can change color to blend with their surroundings.
They can reach fifteen inches (this measurement is the diameter of the body and doesn’t count the tail which is often as long as the body).
Southern stingrays have a more pointed snout and wings. They commonly reach three to four feet in diameter, but can reach five and a half feet and vary in color from brown to gray to black.
Atlantic stingrays have a pointed snout, but rounded wings, max out at two feet, and are tan to brown.
The bottom dweller category also includes two rays most divers think of as sharks: sawfishes and guitarfishes.
Even if you’ve never encountered a sawfish before, it is an easy species to identify unsurprisingly their elongated snout (rostrum) looks like a saw with sharp transverse teeth lining the edges and can be as much as one-third the entire length of the fish.
Guitarfishes prefer shallows, so diving encounters are infrequent although sign up for a Blue Heron Bridge dive and you might join the lucky divers who’ve encountered the freckled guitarfish (and an amazing *ahem* array, of other rarely spotted marine creatures).
Goliath Groupers - the Gentle Giants
The offshore reefs of Jupiter host a year-round population of goliath groupers. In late summer, however, their numbers surge as this protected species gathers to spawn. Depending on the dive site, divers can expect to see sixty or more of these behemoths!
Groupers spend the first five years of their lives in the mangroves while they mature, but even as juveniles, they can reach nearly four feet in length.
As adults, they move offshore to the reefs and wrecks. Don’t be surprised if you hear them first—their distinctive bark booms through the water. But prepare yourself! These gentle giants stretch up to eight feet and weigh in at a svelte 500 pounds! During aggregation, Jupiter Dive Center routinely visits the Wreck Trek, a series of three wrecks the Zion Train, Miss Jenny, and The Esso Bonaire that in addition to groupers, draws in other large marine animals.
Sea Turtles and Their Natal Beaches
It’s always turtle time along the Jupiter Coast!
Sea turtles return to the beach where they were born to nest, and the beaches along Jupiter host one of the densest sea turtle nesting populations in the nation.
That means chances are good that divers will encounter sea turtles whenever they dive, but between March and October, the likelihood of seeing one or more of these fabulous marine creatures skyrockets.
Five species of sea turtles can be found in our area and all are considered endangered. The three most abundant species are the loggerhead, green, and hawksbill. Less abundant are the leatherbacks and the Kemps’ Ridley sea turtles. Marine turtles have charmed many a diver.
If you’d like to learn more about them, consider taking the Sea Turtle Awareness Specialty Course. You’ll learn about the role they play in the marine environment, the challenges they face, and the steps you can take to help protect them!
A small note...
Now that we’ve talked about how some of the big sights, maybe it’s time for a reminder that good things also come in small packages.
Case in point? Nudibranchs. Which means that no matter what you’re looking for, Jupiter Dive Center can help you find it! Call us at 561-745-7807 for more information about service or book your dive online today!
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