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mikecat adjuster

Beach Fanatic
Oct 18, 2007
633
293
Seagrove.
www.myspaceherspace.com
This afternoon I went out in the Gulf in my kayak out past the second sand bar. I tried to find a clear path with no jelly fish and exited my kayak. Ouch! There were countless jelly fish and no space between them and I got stung pretty good so back in the kayak I went.

Earlier in the day while in the water I had what I can best describe as a Pilot fish that kept hugging me and running into me and it kinda spooked me, making me leave the water. Well, on this afternoon occasion, I noticed several of those Pilot fish begin to surround my kayak and then a whole swarm of them. I noticed an entire school circling under me until I noticed something else.

It first appeared to be some of the dead, brown June grass that is more in the shallows, but something about it appeared to define itself differently. I looked closer and noticed fins, but the shape was not recognized as anything I understood. Upon closer inpsection it turned out to be three Nurse sharks with their noses meeting and their bodies going out away from the center.

I stayed above them, leaning my head over the side of my kayak and watching them. They appeared to be asleep, resting, whatever. I wanted so badly to get out and get a good look from the water, but the jelly fish were everywhere out there, leaving no clear path to exit my kayak. I was definately more afraid of them than the Nurse sharks.

But then, there was a shark about 10 feet away from me that slammed through the surface attacking something. I did not see it clear enough to guess the type or even get a good enough look for size. But it was pretty neat.

Does anyone have an idea when these jelly fish will get the heck out of here? They have been horrible all summer out there in the deep.

Btw, the reason I decided to go out a second time today was as I was leaving Robert Ellis street, from the stop sign down passed One Seagrove Place into the Gulf I noticed what appeared to be a wave out beyond the 2nd sand bar. I drove down and watched it for a while and never determined what it was. It wasn't like the normal bait fish thing. I read that the Tarpon were running through, which is why I went out the second time to see if it was Tarpon out there creating that commotion. I just don't know. But the shark thing was pretty neat. I love this place.
 

Matt J

SWGB
May 9, 2007
24,861
9,665
Keep up the grayt nature reports and get a waterproof camera!!! I'm sure at this point we'd be willing to take up a collection. ;-)

As to the jellies, they like warm waters. Until we get a significant rain fall (come on Fay) and the Gulf stays warm they'll stick around.
 

Truffle Anne

Beach Fanatic
Jan 29, 2008
510
88
Dune Allen
It first appeared to be some of the dead, brown June grass that is more in the shallows, but something about it appeared to define itself differently. I looked closer and noticed fins, but the shape was not recognized as anything I understood. Upon closer inpsection it turned out to be three Nurse sharks with their noses meeting and their bodies going out away from the center.



They were saying Grace.....
 

liquorqueen

Beach Lover
Feb 25, 2007
160
24
In the news...jellies

Hey Mike...what a neat thing to have observed. Kinda got your blood boiling a bit I would think. Anyway, I saw on the news a few weeks back that there is a worldwide jellyfish epidemic, especially along the Atlantic coast up near NY and even over in Japan. Thought this was very interesting. And yes, this has been a very bad year for jellyfish, the worst in many. Keep up the good work with the camera!
 

ASH

Beach Fanatic
Feb 4, 2008
2,153
443
Roosevelt, MN
My wife and I were out kayaking about a week ago and saw a Tarpon completely launch out of the water. It was 5 - 6 feet long and was awesome to see. We headed out to where it was, but didn't see it again. We too had large schools of fish maybe a foot long gather under our kayak and follow us in the shade of the boat.
Would have gotten spooky if a shark was to suddenly try to attack that school of fish. They were only maybe a foot under our boat.
You can buy polaroid cameras build for underwater use that are disposable. We have one with a few pics left on it.
Great story!
 

bluemtnrunner

Beach Fanatic
Dec 31, 2007
1,486
144
You need to rig up an underwater viewer. Just take a bucket or a cardboard milk carton cut off the top and bottom, cover one end in plastic , make sure you leave enough excess to glue it or rubberband it on really tight and high up. Stick it in the water and you can see straight down as if you were in the water with a mask on. You can buy these things but as kids we always made them.
 

ASH

Beach Fanatic
Feb 4, 2008
2,153
443
Roosevelt, MN
You need to rig up an underwater viewer. Just take a bucket or a cardboard milk carton cut off the top and bottom, cover one end in plastic , make sure you leave enough excess to glue it or rubberband it on really tight and high up. Stick it in the water and you can see straight down as if you were in the water with a mask on. You can buy these things but as kids we always made them.

:lolabove: My wife and I talk about making one of these. I know it would be a big help in seeing what is down there.
 

mikecat adjuster

Beach Fanatic
Oct 18, 2007
633
293
Seagrove.
www.myspaceherspace.com
Today, rather than buying a disposable camera, I purchased an enclosure for my camera from Yellowfin in Seagrove. Today I caught a fish that didn't fare well after the catch. I released it and it soon became apparent that it would not make it. A brown pelican made a meal of it within 10 mimutes of its release though, so the food chain took care of it.

I saw Tarpon today too, and had one boiled under my bait. But while in the water I witnessed a cool thing. There were two crabs in apparent combat. The larger one would pursue the smaller one and try to catch it with a left cross but the smaller one was shifty and swift. I felt bad for the smaller one, until I noticed that after it got away each time it would go in again for more. I wondered what the heck was going on.

Then, it turned its back and went into the bigger one, which subsequently huddled over the smaller one and kind of piched it a little. I assumed I might be witnessing a sexual act (for full disclosure, I was in no way turned on) but I'm not sure (about the act, I mean). If it was intercourse, it ended rather quickly. These crabs were the whitish looking ones, not blue crabs.

I also saw a flounder in shallow water. Just its head and mean ass teeth were on display, and its eye. The water was very calm today and if I had my light with me it would be a perfect time to go gigging.

Oh, and I found a dead scorpion under my kayak seat cushion. I suppose it got under there when I had it stored on the side of my house and I smashed it when I sat down. I will give it to my son along with a neat little Coastal Dune Snake that I found dead months ago.

The beaches are peaceful now aren't they? So peaceful.
 
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