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The end of October saw myself and a small group of fellow students headed to Dauphin Island for an over night stay. The island lies just south of Mobile Bay and is a last resting spot for many species as they prepare for their long journey across the Gulf. During our stay, we saw some of the last of the migrating Monarch butterflies where they lingered before making a journey of 600 miles south for the winter, and that was before we even boarded the boat for the excursion that was the focal point of our trip!
Six a.m. came early in the sea lab dorms. Bleary eyed, I bundled up against the cold and ate a quick breakfast. The wind on the water woke me up quickly enough, though. The early hours were quite chilly and the sun was dead ahead, so I spent my time leaning over the side rail watching the water . It wasn't long before we started seeing the bobbing blobs of jellyfish dotting the water. First one, or two, and then suddenly hundreds on all sides. Out in the distance, a family of dolphins was playing. Brown pelicans flew in threes or fours over head without paying us much mind. The gulls would follow us briefly until they found better things to do, and everywhere, everywhere the spray of water. About two hours out the boat dropped a net. While we were counting jellyfish, it was collecting all kinds of things we couldn't see under the surface. When it was pulled from the water, the unlucky captured creatures were placed on a table for us to sort through. The most abundant fish were small croakers. Which, true to their name, croak at you when you pick them up. There was too large an assortment of fish to name them all. Mostly common catfish and some sardines and the like. All slimy I might add. There were also squid, jellyfish, manta rays, and even sharks! Many of the smaller fish died before they could be returned to the water. Very sad for them but akin to Thanksgiving dinner for the gulls who now followed us in a large flock. We had a lot of fun feeding the birds. Gulls are surprisingly good at catch. They were nearly snatching the fish from our hands. My favorite thing to hold was the squid. We caught several, but there was one particularly lively one that I enjoyed the most. I'm afraid I startled him at one point because he inked on me. I think the sharks were definitely a close second simply because they were sharks. There is nothing cooler than holding something like that in your hands. |