Robert Edmister

The Robert Edmister is an artificial reef wreck in the South Broward County dive zone — a deliberately sunk vessel resting at approximately 21 meters (about 70 feet) in the warm, blue Atlantic waters off Fort Lauderdale, forming part of the densely packed cluster of artificial reef structures that together create one of Southeast Florida's most productive offshore diving destinations. Named — as several Florida artificial reef wrecks are — in honor of an individual significant to the local diving community, the Robert Edmister has matured over the years since its sinking into a well-established reef environment with the full complement of encrusting life and resident fish species typical of South Florida's artificial reef program. The hull and superstructure support sponge growth — orange and yellow tube sponges adding color to the steel surfaces — alongside encrusting corals, wire corals, and gorgonians that occupy every available surface and crevice. The interior structural spaces concentrate fish with predictable efficiency: schools of French grunt and bluestriped grunt pack the holds in dense, synchronized formations. Snapper of multiple species — yellowtail, mutton, and mangrove — occupy the mid-water above and around the wreck. The South Broward wreck zone's signature encounter — goliath grouper — is reliably present at the Robert Edmister, the enormous fish claiming structural features with characteristic confidence and approaching divers in the bold, close-range manner that makes them among South Florida's most compelling marine life subjects. Nurse sharks rest beneath hull sections on the sandy bottom. Moray eels are abundant in the structural crevices. Loggerhead and green sea turtles pass through the reef zone regularly. Diving the Robert Edmister in combination with the neighboring Jay Scutti and Tracy/Ken Vitale provides a comprehensive introduction to the character and marine life of South Broward's productive artificial reef ecosystem.