Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Snorkeling in the gulf...


I went snorkeling a few days ago, in a nice sandy-bottom habitat. Unlike the west coast, the gulf sandy-bottoms are very shallow for a long way out... and warm!

I saw some large sand dollars, a ton of snail tracks, and worm castings. All evidence of a thriving infaunal community.


There were even many egg masses, like this, poking up from the sand.


Most of the life was focused in and around patches of sea grass. It was here you had a lot of the megafauna, like this blue crab, hanging out.


I also saw this puffer fish, and a couple of stingrays...


Of course, I did not really see the stingrays until they moved and swam away from me!


There was a lot of crazy interactions happening all around me too. Like these snails... I don't quite know what's going on here, but I think the one snail is being eaten by the other!


And of course, the obligatory battle between fiddler crabs on land...


All and all a good time... and surprising too. While I expected to see the stingrays, sanddollars, worms, and snails. I did not expect to see urchins, tunicates, and mussels which generally prefer harder, rocky substrates. Many of them were nestled in the sea grass. Perhaps the mussels had settled in the root system of the sea grass, and the tunicates settled on them.


I can't wait to see what a rocky-bottom habitat holds in store!

4 comments:

Kate said...

very cool.

Marlan Warren said...

Hi: I found your blog after searching for a good photo of the Big Dismal. Your photo is beautiful and really evokes the terrain perfectly. I haven't seen it in over 40 yrs. & just posted an blog entry on my blog which is a memoir about college days in Tallahassee in the 60s. I'd like permission to use this photo if I credit you. The blog isn't commercial but if it becomes an actual book, of course I'd pay you for it then. My blog is "Rowing on a Corner: Remembering Ed Clark, Jr."

Brine Queen said...

That should be fine...

Marlan Warren said...

Thank you! I'll insert the photo later today on the post "Sink Holes."

http://rowingonacorner.blogspot.com/

I'll need the name you'd like me to post in the photo credit, if you don't mind.

Or I can just post that the name of the photographer isn't posted and that information is reserved + the photo is copyrighted, do not duplicate without permission, etc.?

Thanks again. Best photo of the Big Dismal online.

Happy New Year,
Marlan Warren