Gator in the Bay: The World’s Largest Alligator
Gator in the Bay grew out of an earlier project to advocate for the protection of clean water resources. Florida is blessed with unparalleled water resources both surrounding and making up large areas of its interior. It is a painful irony that while Florida fresh and saltwater reserves are uniquely abundant, they are also uniquely threatened from many sources. Pollution, over use, commercial development, and a poorly protected aquifer all work against these irreplaceable gifts.
Living less than an hour from the Everglades, in 1980 I began to take weekend hikes into the Park to experience this River of Grass first hand. Like many first-time visitors I was captivated by its expanse and beauty. Most striking for me was the incredible biodiversity. Instead of a few alligators and wading birds lounging in the long grass, I found over 10,000 individual species of flora and fauna thriving in their own unique water world!
What began as a simple project soon transformed into a mission to document wildlife and advocate for clean water protection. I hiked trails from every direction, immersing myself in the Everglades’ watery beauty. Despite countless visits, I never lost the sense that just a little farther in, I might stumble upon a hidden paradise.
Airboats quickly became my favorite mode of transportation. They allowed me to navigate this dangerous swamp and observe the Florida alligator in its natural environment. The vessel, a thin aluminum dinghy, glides effortlessly over the sawgrass, skimming inches of water. Those airboat rides are among my fondest memories of this extraordinary place.
Skimming along at 50 mph over the sawgrass, I had the unique opportunity to capture these creatures in their natural habitat. Looking back through my images, the alligators dominate my photos as they do the landscape itself.
As I gathered this photographic catalog of Everglades residents, I began thinking about how to raise awareness and inspire action to protect this vital habitat. The project would need to be bold enough to convey the urgency of the issue and comprehensive enough to highlight every creature-big and small-that deserves protection. And so, Gator in the Bay was born to meet this challenge.
The Gator in the Bay illuminates in the Miami Beach sky.
The plan was to build a football field sized alligator out of floating panels containing pictures of all the flora and fauna of the Everglades. The head of the alligator is built on a self-propelled barge constructed with the assistance of V&M Erectors and is accompanied by 102 floating art tiles. Together, these tiles create a photo mosaic image of an alligator 230 feet long. Including the head, the entire installation is the world’s largest artificial alligator at 288 feet long and took four years and $1 million to complete.
Gator in the Bay appears differently throughout the day and night. During the daylight hours, the installation appears like a giant alligator floating in the bay. In darkness, the floating art tiles become dark alligator scales with underwater lighting that outlines the Gator. Gator in the Bay was launched in Miami’s Biscayne Bay in 2015 and received headlines around the world. The Gator’s head was entered in the Fort Lauderdale Winterfest Boat Parade. It won first place in many categories including the Peoples Choice Award.
The mouth of the Gator is designed to open & close and has 88 teeth like a real alligator.
Over 3,300 original different images of the Florida Everglades captured by the Artist are assembled to create each floating art tile.
Each collage is created individually and without automated programs. This collage can be interpreted to be a gorilla head or the figure of a body builder.
The World’s Largest Gator is 288 feet and moves like an alligator using the power of the barge
Special marine lighting at night was used to silhouette the floating art tiles that creates the illusion of dark alligator scales of the Gator body.
This image was captured on a busy December morning, and took 4 years to plan. Consideration to prevent other boats from entering the exhibit area because the boats would create a distracting wake were not allowed in the area while the image was captured overhead from the helicopter.