We caught his interest, but not sure why.

You can see his tail movement as he swam over to me. Not very fast for an Alligator, and I was a few feet up the marsh bank.
Like always he stopped before landing.
Something gets their attention at times and curiosity takes over.

That always helps with photographs.
ACE Basin, South Carolina.
Perhaps he’s been fed by other visitors? That can lead to dangerous situations when gators become habituated to approaching people for handouts. It often leads to the removal and death of the Gator by DNR. Hope that isn’t what’s going on with this fellow! William
No not here. Feeding in general usually only happens around golf courses and housing community’s. Most of these are in the ACE Basin WMA’s. Miles from roads and all very wild.
Yikes! Are they hunted at all? Just curious.
Yes, once a year there is an Alligator hunt. Most of the places we go are areas where they are protected, but the lakes and rivers do have hunts.
I was wondering how they manage to keep the population controlled. Interesting!
Small Alligators are not any safer than any other critter out there. Until they reach a decent size they are food for someone.