The Weirdness Continues!

   With the drought still upon us (16wks with no rain), the salinity in the Bay and Bayou has vastly changed.  With that change, there has been a huge change in the critters, as well.  All of our brackish water creatures have gone farther up into the rivers leaving the saltiness behind.  Now, fish and sea creatures from the Gulf of Mexico are converging into our area.  This makes for some interesting fishing.  The Bay and Bayou are still filled with life...just of a different ilk.

  This morning, Mark and I headed back to the pier in hopes of catching enough fish for lunch.  Today, that was easy.  As I was throwing the net, I caught some nice mullet and a few shrimp.  Seafood is always welcome as a meal!  Then, I had to turn the net over to him simply because I caught something "interesting".  (Son always says that I have a short attention span and get easily distracted.  I say things are interesting.)  Anyway, it was time to do a quick photo shoot of the latest "weird critter caught from the pier"!

  This time, I caught a squid!  Squid are normally NEVER up this far.  These are strictly...very strictly "sea" creatures. They need that saltwater to live.  Well, that just shows how salty our Bay is right now.  This is actually a White Squid or Brief Squid or Loligunclia brevis...according to my expert in the field of sea creatures.  (Yes, Andre is truly an expert so I trust his identifications.)  It really did not matter what the critter was called, it was cute.  I knew it was a squid and did not belong near the pier so that was a good enough reason for me to drop the net and pick up the camera.  I took a few pictures and let my friend go back into the water.  Several folks had to reprimand me for letting it go as it could have been used as bait but I figured I had plenty of menhaden so the wayward critter got a reprieve.  So...the weirdness continues and I shall keep photographing!