A dive briefing · Dominica

Shark's Mouth

Dive site off Dominica’s west coast. Here's what has been recorded at this site month by month, how the region’s reefs have weathered ocean heat, and how to prepare.

Dominicareef

At this site Man with hands on a shark's mouth (AM 84602-2) · Collins, Tudor Washington, 1898-1970, photographer · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Man holding open a shark's mouth (AM 84601-1)

Chapter I · Arrival

Shark's Mouth: dive site off Dominica’s west coast.

~15.582° N~61.477° W · OpenStreetMap · node/4758409823

1,876open records · GBIF

74species recorded

At this site Man holding open a shark's mouth (AM 84601-1) · Collins, Tudor Washington, 1898-1970, photographer · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Entry

Entry points, depths, currents and any local rules will be added once we can verify them from official sources.

Approximate positionThese coordinates come from a crowd-sourced map or Wikidata item, not an official mooring list. Use them for orientation only.

To verifyDepth range, entry points and current notes. We publish them only with a citation. The coordinates mark the site in general, not a mooring or entry point.

At this site Man holding open a shark's mouth (AM 84601-1) · Collins, Tudor Washington, 1898-1970, photographer · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

**Open media** · At this site Man with hands on a shark's mouth (AM 84602-2) · Collins, Tudor Washington, 1898-1970, photographer · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The surface noise falls away.

Reds go first. The world turns blue-green.

Then Shark's Mouth rises to meet you.

Man with hands on a shark's mouth (AM 84602-2)

What lives here, by month

Pick a month. These are the species most often recorded within about a kilometre in that month, from open survey records.

Oct

October · 8 qualifying records

Life calendar · records per month for this site's most-recorded species (blank means not in that month's top list)

Species	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Caribbean hermit crab
Rusty Goby
Sunshinefish
Elatopathes abietina
Spotted Soapfish
Pallid goby
Masked Goby
Bicolor Basslet
Cardinal Snapper
Collared Eel
Sperm whale
Tusked Goby

Most-recorded species, all months

GBIF.org (2026-10-15), occurrence records within ~1 km, licensed CC0 or CC BY 4.0 only. Birds and land animals are excluded. Counts reflect survey effort, not abundance. 1,876 qualifying records. See them on GBIF. Common names: Wikidata (CC0) / GBIF. Species photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited with each species.

Forty-one summers of heat

Each stripe is one year since 1985, colored by its peak heat stress across NOAA's “Leeward Caribbean Islands” region. These are NOAA Coral Reef Watch satellite figures for the whole region, not for this one site.

19852026

Reef health report · Leeward Caribbean Islands

Heat stress, measured from orbit.

Degree Heating Weeks · 2026-10-1310.1°C-weeks · NOAA status: Alert Level 2

NOAA CRW virtual station “Leeward Caribbean Islands”. NOAA's alert thresholds are 4 °C-weeks (Alert Level 1) and 8 °C-weeks (Alert Level 2). Station page · Method. Credit: NOAA Coral Reef Watch.

Peak per year · dashed lines at 4, 8 and 16 °C-weeks

The past twelve months

Conditions

Average sea temperature through the year. Check the live readings before you go.

Average sea surface temperature by month: NOAA CRW “Leeward Caribbean Islands” station climatology (monthly means).

Dominica Meteorological Service · forecasts →

Buoy readings are measurements; forecasts are models. Use them for planning only, and assess conditions on site. Depth and visibility data aren't listed until we can cite a source.

VII

Plan & prepare

Read the official marine forecast the night before.Offshore, wind and sea state decide the day.
Confirm access, hours and any fees with the site.[Placeholder: verified operator list to come]
Study this month's species above.You'll recognise more when you know the names.
Hands off, fins up, buoyancy dialled. Log what you see.Your sightings can become tomorrow's open data.

◎

Photographs from Shark's Mouth

Openly licensed photos, each checked for location against its title, description, category or geotag. Labels show how close each one is to the site.

**Man holding open a shark's mouth (AM 84601-2)**At this site Collins, Tudor Washington, 1898-1970, photographer · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

**Man with hands on a shark's mouth (AM 84602-1)**At this site Collins, Tudor Washington, 1898-1970, photographer · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

**Men with hands on a shark's mouth (AM 84605-2)**At this site Collins, Tudor Washington, 1898-1970, photographer · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

**Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus) with open mouth in La Paz, Mexico**At this site Matthew T Rader · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

**Yellow Mig-23 painted shark's mouth MW**At this site BrokenSphere · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

**Gorgoniidae-Reproduction**At this sitegeotagged 209 m from the site coordinates Ebuxbaum · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

**Elephant ear sponge (Agelas clathrodes)**At this sitegeotagged 664 m from the site coordinates Alexis Garretson · CC0 · iNaturalist

Credits

Coordinates: OpenStreetMap node/4758409823 · source · ODbL. OpenStreetMap (ODbL) dive-site nodes on the northwest coast; the Soufrière–Scotts Head sites use Wikidata (CC0) positions of the nearby beach or headland, so they are approximate. Approximate position.
Species records: GBIF.org, CC0 & CC BY 4.0 records. By license: CC_BY_4_0: 1,600, CC0_1_0: 276
Dataset: EOD – eBird Observation Dataset · doi:10.15468/aomfnb (1,561 records) · GBIF
Dataset: NMNH Extant Specimen Records (USNM, US) · doi:10.15468/hnhrg3 (168 records) · GBIF
Dataset: NMNH Material Samples (USNM) · doi:10.15468/jb9tdf (76 records) · GBIF
Dataset: iNaturalist Research-grade Observations · doi:10.15468/ab3s5x (44 records) · GBIF
Dataset: Field Museum of Natural History (Zoology) Invertebrate Collection · doi:10.15468/6q5vuc (8 records) · GBIF
Dataset: Happywhale - Sperm whale in North Atlantic Ocean · doi:10.82144/7629ad4a (5 records) · GBIF
Dataset: INSDC Sequences · doi:10.15468/sbmztx (5 records) · GBIF
Dataset: NOAA, Deep-Sea Coral Research and Technology Program · doi:10.15468/aqbftj (4 records) · GBIF
Query: https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/search?decimalLatitude=15.57161,15.59161&decimalLongitude=-61.48658,-61.46658&license=CC0_1_0&license=CC_BY_4_0&taxonKey=44&taxonKey=206&taxonKey=229&taxonKey=136&taxonKey=225&occurrenceStatus=PRESENT&limit=0
Heat stress & SST: NOAA Coral Reef Watch, 5 km Regional Virtual Station “Leeward Caribbean Islands”
Hero photo: At this site Man with hands on a shark's mouth (AM 84602-2) · Collins, Tudor Washington, 1898-1970, photographer · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Arrival photo: At this site Man holding open a shark's mouth (AM 84601-1) · Collins, Tudor Washington, 1898-1970, photographer · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Gallery: 7 photos, credited under each image
Species photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited with each species. Full list: Data & sources