New Jersey Scuba Diving

Sandy Hook Pilot Boat

Shipwreck Sandy Hook - Pilot Boat — The Sandy Hook as a private yacht, early in her career.

Type:: shipwreck, pilot boat, converted yacht, USA
Built:: 1902, Bethlehem Elizabethport, Elizabeth NJ USA, as Anstice, later Privateer
Specs:: ( 168 x 24 ft ) 361 gross tons, 26 crew & harbor pilots
Sunk:: Thursday April 27, 1939
collision with tanker Oslofjord ( 16500 tons) - no casualties
GPS:: 40°27.556' -73°49.490' (AWOIS 1986)
Depth:: 100 ft

Shipwreck Sandy Hook - Pilot Boat

The drawing above pretty much sums it up. The bottom is extremely silty, and visibility is usually poor. Many small lobsters, but very few big ones. Lots of skates and ling on the day I went there, but little else in the way of fish otherwise.

Shipwreck Sandy Hook - Pilot Boat — The Sandy Hook as New York Pilot Boat.

Although I am told this is a great dive if you catch it on a rare clear day, I think this wreck is more interesting from a historical perspective than for the diving. In fact, I thought the surface interval was more interesting than the dive. The site is right at the convergence of all three shipping lanes with the main channel, and all day enormous container ships, tankers, cruise liners, and even the odd Navy vessel pass by. The view of New York and the surrounding areas is excellent.

Shipwreck Sandy Hook - Pilot Boat

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Sharks - Offshore

Here is an assortment of large sharks that can be found in New Jersey waters, by no means all of them. These are more likely to be found offshore in oceanic waters. Sharks are seldom a danger to divers, they seem to be put off by the noise and bubbles. Nonetheless, all should be treated with caution.

Realistically, sharks in our waters are not a great concern. In over 350 northeast ocean dives, I have seen sharks on only several occasions ( not counting harmless little Dogfishes ) and only once while in the water. That one was in the Mud Hole, on the Arundo, to be precise. It was a Blue, or possibly a Mako, and wanted nothing to do with me, which was a relief since I had half an hour of deco left to do at the time! That would have left me very bent otherwise.

Basking Shark — Note the difference between the toothless Basking Shark at left
and the very not toothless Great White Shark at right.

Great White Shark — Note the difference between the toothless Basking Shark at left
and the very not toothless Great White Shark at right.

If you think about it, humans must taste terrible to sharks, and scuba divers especially - with rubber suits and big metal tanks. Many shark attacks occur in murky water where the shark is not sure what it is attacking. Some attacks have been the result of the shark being stepped on in shallow water. Most shark attacks on humans are abortive, the shark taking only one exploratory bite, then realizing its mistake and breaking off the attack. Unfortunately, with a large shark, one bite and you're dead. Many predators, from bears to tigers, will prey on humans when sickness, injury, or old age make them unable to catch their normal prey. Sharks are probably no different.

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