Fish and Wildlife Service.) Publishing the results in “Florida Field Naturalist,” Jacobsen found 133 living alligators; more than 50 of these were hatchlings or juveniles, thus demonstrating that the adults were reproducing in the area. What happens when you drop a dead alligator in the darkest depths of the Gulf of Mexico? (Photo courtesy of the U.S. An American alligator eats a nurse shark in a mangrove swamp along the Gulf of Mexico Florida. Seeing alligators in the wild is one of the thrilling sights you can experience along the Florida Gulf Coast. Scientists have discovered a new bone-eating worm under the Gulf of Mexico, during research that involved dropping alligator corpses into the … The goal was to see what would turn up to eat them. You can view them safely if you follow simple guidelines. Fish and Wildlife Service.) McClain said alligator carcasses in the deep ocean are “not nearly as impossible as you might think.” Dead alligators have washed ashore on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. Florida Alligators in the Wild. Alligators of the Florida … Early last year, a team of researchers dropped three alligator carcasses over a mile deep into the Gulf of Mexico. 1. While you might just see them on drive down the highway, sitting on bank or swimming across a waterway, it’s more fun to see one from much closer up. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. There are 3 species of Crocodilians from 2 families. Spectacled caimans northernmost range extends into southern Mexico. It's believed a shark may have made off with another one of the animals. In 1983, Terri Jacobsen authored a multi-year study of Alligators living in the Keys. LUMCON: Alligators were dropped to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico in February 2019 for the first-ever experiment on what eats reptiles in the world’s deep oceans. There are no alligators in Mexico. An American alligator eats a nurse shark in a mangrove swamp along the Gulf of Mexico Florida. In addition to the worms, the scientists found giant isopods eating the flesh of one of the alligators. Dr. Craig McClain dropped three dead alligators in the Gulf of Mexico to see what kinds of animals come to feed on them. Don’t worry. Gulf Coast Local Secret # 7. American alligators have lived in the Florida Keys since the first Europeans explored the islands.