It's Education Time Everyone...Let's Learn About Animals
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Published: December 13th 2016
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Flying Fish
Borrowed from flickr.com I have been inspired by many animal encounters recently, so I thought I would dedicate this post to them.
Pistol Shrimp This past weekend was supposed to blow…hard. In the end, the weather was not nearly as rough as predicted; guess weather guys down here are about as accurate as at home! However, in anticipation of the upcoming rough seas forecasted, we decided last week to push ourselves to get across the last stretch of the Gulf to the Florida Keys.
Staging our departure from Fort Myers area, we left our downtown centered anchorage and moved closer to the opening into the Gulf. This cut off a few hours from our next two days of travel, which would be close to a 130-mile journey along the coast to Marco Island and then straight south to Marathon in the Keys.
As we dropped anchor and shut down the boat, we heard a strange crackling and popping noise from the hull of our boat. Honestly, it sounded like we were sitting in a giant bowl of Rice Krispies and milk. At first, we were concerned that maybe something bad was happening to the boat, i.e. electrical current reacting with
the steel. But a quick inspection assured us that everything seemed to be in tact and "ship shape".
We sat and listened as the noises continued, and we played a game of “what do you think it is?”. In the end, my curiosity won out and I had to Google it. The online consensus is (although you never really know on these forums what to believe for sure) that the noise is caused by krill and/or small shrimp called “pistol shrimp” (
">Click here to watch a cool YouTube video of these shrimp - or if the link doesn't work, which seems to be the case, here is the address:
).
Ever more curious, as dark descended, I took a flashlight and shone it down into the water. Sure enough I could see thousands of little insect like creatures bouncing haphazardly off the hull (looked like a miniature mosh pit). Whether these were shrimp or not, it was pretty cool to learn about these amazing creatures.
Since then we have heard the sound often, but seeing as many other boaters, including those in fiberglass boats, have had the same experience, I am not too concerned that our hull is cracking apart :D
Dolphins We have also continued to have daily dolphin sighting, often many within a day. Sometimes as we travel, they will swim up and coast along in front of the boat, giving us a few leaps and twists thrown in. In fact, one almost gave me a heart attack the other day when I was standing on the back deck leaning on the rail and it jumped up just feet from my hand (imagine the headlines, “scared to death by dolphin”.. ha ha)
We will often see dolphins as well when we are anchored in more shallow, protected bays. The other day, they swam up to as close as 50 feet from the boat, splashing and flipping around. I finally got curious enough to pull up google again (yes, I am actually looking things up so I can provide more accurate information; although I still like to make up my own theories first – just for fun).
I had wondered how dolphins sleep, since they need to breath air, eliminating their ability to just lay on the bottom like some fish, and if the floated on the surface, it would seem they would be very vulnerable. Well, apparently, they never fully sleep. They allow one half of their brain to sleep while the other side stays alert. They will then switch, swimming around using only half a brain (sounds like me sometimes, but I don’t have such a good excuse).
I have also learned that, despite common belief, dolphins are not always sweet, friendly and fun-loving. While they can appear that way, they also have a very aggressive side, especially the males when it comes to mating. There are even stories of male dolphins assaulting female divers and snorkelers. Makes me a little less eager to jump in and swim with them, but I still am completely entertained by watching them!
Flying Fish As we crossed the Gulf from Marco Island to the Keys, we also encountered flying fish for the first time. I have watched, enthralled, whenever fish jump, but this is another level of excitement. It is amazing to watch their silver and black bodies glitter in the sun as they flap their “wings” and bounce across the water’s surface like a skipping stone. These little fish can glide through the air for 100’s of feet and reach speeds of 40 mph (that is WAY faster than we move!!). While they were too quick for my photographic reflexes (I have posted a "borrowed" photo),
here is a link to more info and pictures – the are pretty odd looking fish!
Pelicans Pelicans sightings are even more abundant down here than dolphin sightings. I still enjoy watching them divebomb for their food. But we were particularly entertained the other day as we watch a comical trio. We were dining in a fabulous, eclectic place called the Castaway here in Marathon and outside the window two pelican were perched precariously on a electric wire. It is actually amazing how these big, awkward birds can balance on such thin surfaces. Suddenly, a third pelican decided to perch alongside the two.
The shift in weight sent all three into a teetering act as they tried to gain their balance. They looked like 3 inebriated doo doo’s lurching and bobbing all at different paces. Wish I would have caught it on video...priceless!
There seems to never be an end to the interesting and entertaining animal encounters (not counting the antics on our boat..lol). At least none of them have included razor sharp teeth!
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