sea critters we have seen

Marg and AK treated themselves to 'Grants guide to fishes' for their birthdays. It is a fabulous book that was originally written by Ern Grant when he worked for Qld Fisheries. Ern, along with his wife and son spent their time "getting their feet wet" and photographing every form of sea life they came upon. Many editions later, this book is a great resource.

So.... here are some of the amazingly beautiful critters we have seen....

What AK thought were sea snakes, then sea horses, then longtoms were actually dragonfish. Also known as sea moths.

dragonfish

'This amazing little fish grows only to 3". The sandy body is covered with a fine network of dark brown lines. The large wing-like pectoral fins are white margined. It is attracted to ships' lights at night, swimming quite rapidly in the pool of illumination at the surface- and showing how it takes the name of sea moth from its broad expanded pectoral fins."

The flying fish that flew into our wheelhouse had "pectoral fins that have become lengthened to form transparent wings that can become extended...the ventral fins,too,are expanded and lengthened to form a second and shorter pair of wings; and the lower lobe of the tail is broadened into a great paddle. When startled, it makes a low leap that carries it clear of the surface. It extends its wings and makes a rapid side-to-side sculling motion which propels it into a glide."

flying fish

The sound it made was quite extraordinary, Grant likens it to "an outboard motor".

The mahi mahi is also known as a dolphin fish or a dorado. The pic doesn't really do it justice, it was an amazing greenish-blue with gold speckles. AK has read some 'lost at sea' type books, most notably 'survive the savage sea', the story of a family of 5, along with 1 crew member who spent weeks adrift in a life raft and then their dinghy after their yacht was hit by a whale and sunk near Galapados Islands. Also 'adrift', one guy at sea for 76 days in his rapidly disintegrating life raft. Both writers refer to dorados which were the staple diet in both stories. Grant says " mahi mahi will congregate beneath seemingly insignificant pieces of flotsam: small rafts of seaweed, short lengths of rope, even a ladder". Ahh, that explains it, they hang under life rafts too! Steve Callahan, the writer of 'adrift', called the dorados "his doggies" as they hung with him for the entire time and gave him succour, both physically and emotionally.

mahi mahi