Many years ago when I was stationed at Homestead AFB, some buddies and me embarked on a three day camping/canoeing trip near Lake Okeechobee.
We learned the gators we encountered during the day were rather timid and would avoid us as we canoed the canals and creek.
I was much younger then and my decision maker wasn't very developed. One of those evenings after knocking down several beers two of us launched our canoe in hopes of catching a good Peacock or Largemouth. We learned those docile gators we encountered during the day became very curious after the sun went down. After a couple bumped the canoe, we had sense enough to return to camp.