We Got’em
Wayward Gator Surprises Bradford Marine Divers

Divers in the water were working in the paint sheds when an unwelcome visitor appeared. “There were a few guys on the dock, and they started yelling for me to get out of the water,” explained Stevan Mercado, Bradford Marine’s Diver. “I looked around and saw a pair of gator’s eyes cutting through the water, headed right for me. I swam over to the nearest boat’s ladder, and for a few tense moments, I couldn’t get up the ladder because of my flippers. I was able to pull them off and climb onto the boat in time, but my heart was racing the whole time.”

With the brackish freshwater
found in Bradford’s shipyard, gators are not uncommon. While the reptiles mainly stay in the Everglades, they congregate by the floodgates just down the canal from Bradford Marine and sometimes venture out even further.

Tow boat captain, Shaun Mehaffey, immediately phoned Pesky Critters. The animal wrangler arrived and asked Captain Shaun to use “Hero,” Bradford’s towboat, to help with the capture. Captain Shaun even assisted the wrangler!