Anthony Bell Wreck

The Anthony Bell is an old 90′ Bahamian tugboat. She was scuttled by Stuart Cove’s to create an artificial reef. Prior to sinking, Anthony Bell was meticulously stripped to make the wreck safer for divers.

Rusting metal still poses a hazard, however, as do some of the inhabitants of the artificial reef, such as the long-spined sea urchin…

… And the lionfish.

Willaurie Wreck

The Willaurie is a 140′ barge also resting in about 50′ of water. She was built in Denmark in 1907, and sank during a storm only a few weeks after the Anthony Bell was scuttled. Willaurie is the only wreck in the region that sank naturally.

The wreck features this interesting scaffold structure covered in soft corals.

Divers were asked not to swim within the scaffolding, because exhaled bubbles could dislodge the soft corals.

To the port side of the Willaurie lies some wooden wreckage.

While swimming between the wrecks, we spotted this little pufferfish hiding beneath some coral:

… who came out to investigate what we were doing around its hiding spot.

Check out my entire Nassau underwater photo gallery here.