Comparison of middle key reefs!

On Monday we visted a total 3 reefs...yes there were three of them and it was awesome! The first reef we went to was called the eleven foot mound due to the fact that it approximated eleven feet and it was shaped like a mound. Anyways, the distribution of corals and fishes in that area were breathtaking at the time and consisted of mainly hard corals and basic reef fishes. The corals included many of the Montastrea corals and gorgonians. The fishes were mainly juvenille wrasse, parrotfish and angelfish. The second reef was even more diverse and had many more types of corals and even more fish. It was called long key ledge. It had a great setting where there were many rock ledges that fish hid under, which required some finess to get to. This area had a lot of larger rocky corals such as huge brain corals. The last place was just as diverse if not more so. It was termed the elbow. This was the deepest reef as well with a max depth of about 30-35 feet. It was an experience for sure. This reef had a lot more schools of fish and larger ones at that. We also had the presence of some of the open water fish such as species in the mackeral family, like the Cero. I think someone may have seen a shark but i was not fortunate enough to see one.
Something that really shocked me was the variation of inhabitants by only a couple miles. The changes between the first and last reef were like they were in a completely different ocean. Thanks to captain Bill and his assistant Cindy, we were all safe and had a great introduction to the world of coral reefs.