Pickles Reef

Pickles Reef is a small coral reef located within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It lies to the southeast of Key Largo, to the south the Key Largo Existing Management Area and John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Unlike many reefs within the Sanctuary, this reef is not within a Sanctuary Preservation Area (SPA).

The reef gets its name from the Pickle Barrel wreck.

Another small reef called Snapper Ledge is nearby.

Approximate coordinates: 24°59′15″N 80°24′52″W

More Information

The name comes from cement-filled pickle barrels sunk here during the Civil War, roughly throughout the 1860's. These barrels came from all sorts of things back then, such as shipwrecks. These barrels are now covered with the largest pillar corals in the Keys. Numerous ledges and crevasses attract juvenile and tropical fish of many species. Visiting these locations is extraordinary in the sense that it has lots of history laid away on the bottom of the reef.

Gallery

• 
  Spotted trunkfish (Lactophrys sp.) at Pickles Reef, March 2008
• 
  A Stoplight parrotfish (Sparisoma viride) at Pickles Reef, March 2008

References

• NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Maps, Florida Keys East
• NOAA Map of Bouys at Snapper Ledge and Pickles Reef
• NOAA Navigational Chart 11464