Key Largo Dry Rocks
This site is also simply called The Statue, since the bronze statue known as Christ of the Deep stands here, but the reef was originally named Grecian Rocks. On an early chart its name was transposed with that of a nearby reef, and both have had the other’s name since then. Both reefs are so shallow that parts of them break the surface at low tide, although it’s actually fossil and living coral that you see, not rocks as the names imply.
Key Largo Dry Rocks is a transition reef, exhibiting characteristics of both patch reefs and outer bank reefs. Like most patch reefs, it’s oval in shape with sides that slope to sand. However, the seaward portion of the reef has coral spurs and sandy grooves like the outer reefs. Maximum depth on this side is about 30ft. The back reef features large boulder corals in about 20ft of water. This side of the reef is marked by a diamond-shaped day marker, which warns of shallow water.
You might see any of the fish or invertebrates common to the Keys at this site, merely by swimming slowly along the reef. Many divers ignore the seagrass patches on the sand surrounding the reef, but these are fertile areas too. Majestic helmet conchs and elegantly shaped lightning whelks sometimes cross the flats, along with southern stingrays and a variety of reef fish.
The 9ft statue of Christ is on the seaward side, near a floating spar buoy. The statue is one of at least three cast from a mold by Italian sculptor Guido Galletti. The first, called Christ of the Abyss, was placed in 50ft of water off Genoa. A second casting was made in 1961 and presented to the people of Grenada for their assistance in rescuing passengers from a fire aboard the Italian liner Bianca C. That statue is on display in St. George’s Harbour in Grenada.
This statue, the third casting, was originally made for Egidi Cressi, whose company manufactures dive equipment. Cressi eventually donated the statue to the Underwater Society of America, who in turn passed it to the Florida Board of Parks & Historic Memorials for display. In 1966 Ellison Hardee, the first superintendent of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, organized the effort to install the statue on its massive concrete pedestal at Key Largo Dry Rocks
Reproduced with permission from Diving & Snorkeling Florida Keys 2001 Lonely Plant Publications www.lonelyplanet.com
