The dive on C-58 Anaya

We dived the Anaya only two months after she was sunk. The wreck is positioned near Cancun beach at a depth of 83 feet/25 meters, in navigation position and moderate current. We knew that after only two months, the wreck would not be completely covered by hard and soft corals, filtering organisms, sponges or other invertebrates. What we were interested in seeing was a newly sunken wreck in the early stages of its underwater life; we wanted to see the first colonizers.
Only dark seaweed covered the vessel’s structures; other benthic organisms had not yet had time to settle. However, a number of fish species had already begun the colonization process.
Barracuda, generally the first species to colonize and to define their own territory, were present, as were large schools of different kinds of “snapper”, e.g., gray and yellowtail, fish typical of tropical areas, characterized by obvious schooling behavior. We also observed grunts, surgeonfish, damselfish, jacks, grouper, wrasse, bluehead, goby, and parrotfish and, in the wreck fissures, many very small lobsters and morays.
It’s enchanting to see a military vessel, which served in the Navy for more than fifty years, becoming the promising foundation for a new, vital, marine ecosystem.