Brave Little Jellyfish!

  I realize that we have not had a terribly cold winter (yet) but some critters have the idea that it is still fall or that spring has already arrived. Birds that should have migrated further south are still here.  Ones that stay here year round are already building "trial" nests.  Mosquitoes won't stop biting.  And then there are the jellyfish.  Yep, for some strange reason, a sea nettle was happily pulsating its way around the pier.  The gooey blob of stinging tentacles did not seem to be bothered one iota that the water temperature is quite cold.  This thing just kept right on doing its thing in the shallows near the marsh.  

  Since it is sort of rare to spot the jellyfish near the pier during winter, I have always assumed that they headed out to deeper water.  There the water would be warmer and it seems that would mean more for the jellyfish to eat.  Perhaps I am wrong.  Maybe sea nettles prefer cooler water but I have just not had the opportunity to spot them during the winter months.  I do know that they are out in full force during the fall months.  It is then that I catch dozens in my net while shrimping at night. I would be hard pressed to say I relish finding one in the part of the net that I hold in my mouth.  Those stinging tentacles are not picky about where they literally shoot those venom-filled filaments.  I have had more than my share of stings!

  Still, I have to wonder if this fellow was lost or perhaps just took a stroll (float?) on the wild side.  It seems far out of character for it to be bobbing along  under the pier in mid-January!  I have to admit that after seeing the thing up close and personal, it looked a bit worse for wear.  Its tentacles were starting to look a bit ragged.

It is that time of year again!

    I should know better by now.  If there is anything that should not take me by surprise, it should be anything to do with the Bayou.  Nope.  I was caught unawares once again.  Mark headed out fishing this afternoon and I stayed behind on the pier.  Seagulls were in a feeding frenzy which made me think that perhaps a school of shrimp was meandering about the Bay.  I watched until the birds were close and then decided to throw the net a bit.  Obviously, these were not shrimp. I caught an entire net full of baby white trout, one fat mullet and one menhaden.  Oh, did I forget to mention that I caught a whole mess of jellyfish and one huge sea nettle?  It was that sea nettle that was my undoing.  Yep, with the next cast of the net, I was hurting!  

  I am one of the folks that throw the net in the "old school" way.  I still put the leadline in my mouth.  Yeah, I know that this is probably not the best idea but old habits die hard.  This time when I popped the cording in my mouth, I also popped a few strands of the sea nettle's stinging tentacles in along with it.  Not fun!  My mouth began to feel like it was on fire!  For those who do not know, even the severed tentacles can still cause severe pain. Well, I figured that no matter what I did, the burning was not going to cease so I kept fishing.  

  The sea nettles make their way into the Bay and on up into the Bayou each fall.   Some stay year round but we do seem to see more during this time of year.  This presents a problem since this is also the time of year that the shrimp to come into the bays and bayous.  There is nothing more aggravating than to get a netful of sea nettles when you are expecting a netful of shrimp! 

Beast of the Bay

  Occasionally (but not often), I come across a critter that I find a tad distasteful.  I really cannot say that I "hate" them as I find that term a bit strong but I have no fond feelings for some critters.  Tonight, I was on the pier catching shrimp when I found just such a critter.  I was shaking shrimp out of the net when I felt a familiar "sting" on my hand.  Uh, oh! That sting was just the beginning. Soon my entire arm started burning.  Oh, geez!  A Sea Nettle had made its way into the path of my net and was hauled onto the pier with the mess of shrimp.  Since I use no lights while shrimping, it is difficult to tell just what I am grabbing and anyone who has ever been stung by a Sea Nettle will tell you not to grab one!  I did.  I paid.  It hurt.  Still the shrimp were "in" and I was not about to leave just because of a bit of pain.  I started to throw the net once again and realized too late the folly in my ways.  I am one who puts a part of the lead line between my teeth to help in tossing the net.  As soon as I did this, my entire mouth felt on fire!  Obviously, a single tentacle of the Sea Nettle was still wrapped in the net. 

  Sea Nettles migrate into the Bay every so often.  They float gracefully around in the water trying to catch some unsuspecting meal.  They eat other jellies, small fish and shrimp!  Well, that fully explains why these rascals were intermingled in my school of shrimp!  After my tangle with the Sea Nettle, I decided to see just how many Sea Nettles were floating in range of my net.  Goodness, there was one about every ten feet!  It was going to be impossible to avoid catching them.  This was when I noticed my brother "fishing" the things out of the water and tossing them up on the side of his pier.  Ahh, smart move! If the critters were sitting on the pier, they could not possibly be caught in the net. Perhaps I should follow his idea. I looked around for something to scoop the jellies out of the water but could find nothing but two fishing rods, a bucket and my net. Well, there was no use in trying any of those so I decided to ignore the Sea Nettles and just go back to my shrimping.  

  Thank goodness I did not get up close and personal with any more Sea Nettles tonight.  Once is quite enough, thank you!  

By the Light of the....Sea Nettle?

Ms. Ez and I headed to the pier late this evening to watch the sunset.  We had watched it rise this morning and thought it was the thing to do to watch it set again.  We had to make sure the sun went to bed..no staying up late for it!  Anyway, all joking aside, while we were on the pier, we watched all sorts of activity going on around us.  The pelicans were diving for mullet.  Their loud splats could be heard from all directions.  They were obviously feeding heavy to pull them through another cold night.  There were masses of ducks on the Bay having migrated in from the North.  I counted six different types just among those that were near enough to identify.  Most stayed a good distance out from the pier as they were not sure of our presence.  Ms. Ez being a Labrador Retriever might have sent red flags up to the duck population.  Perhaps the ducks thought that we were hunters waiting to shoot at them.  Not so..the only shooting I planned on doing was with my camera...and Ms. Ez?  She would have argued that the water was too cold for a swim!  This is no hunting dog for sure!

After the sun had set and the night sky was growing quite dark, I noticed something with a faint glow in the water near the pier.  Investigating, I soon came to recognize a familiar shape.  Jellyfish!  Sea Nettle!  Stinging Nettle!  All one and the same, a bright, rosy-red blob undulated in the water.  The tide was falling so the critter was going along for the ride.  Any tiny ripple in the water caused to Jellyfish to glow a bit.  Last night I talked about the not-really-glowing eyes of animals but tonight was different.  Jellyfish do give off light..they do not just reflect.  This blob of stinging tentacles actually glowed enough for me to take pictures in the waning light!  I was able to photograph the Sea Nettle as it floated in the water!

I watched for a bit while the Sea Nettle drifted by the pier.  Once it disappeared under the planking, I decided that it was high time for me to make my way back up the board path to the Little Bayou House.  I needed to gather a small handful of kindling on the way as I knew that by now, the house was growing cold. Ms. Ez and I hurried up the hill snatching twigs as we hustled!  Well, I did...she chased a rabbit.  If only I could train her to get the firewood.....hmmmmm?  Idea...ponder..ponder....

The Dance of the Jellies!

It is that time of year again!  Watch out, all you boaters, swimmers and fishermen!  The Jellies are back!  This morning when I was on the pier, I noticed one lone Sea Nettle bobbing along in no big hurry to be anywhere.  The pulsating blob just squished its way around the pier posts with such graceful ease that it was like some underwater ballet!  I laid down on the pier and watched!  Before long, I could see the eerie presence of others in the murky water.  Most were staying deep with only the one visible.  Being as the water was a bit rough, I figured that most had sense enough to stay several feet underwater so they would not be battered to pieces.  After watching for a while, I grew tired of this of synchronized swimming for one and started fishing.

I would occasionally scan the waters looking for the lone Sea Nettle.  Usually within minutes, it would bob to the surface like some gelatinous fishing bobber!  I pondered why this one was brave enough to challenge the waves...perhaps it was a rogue Jelly!  Soon the waters calmed and the sun warmed the surface.  This seemed to entice the other Jellies to come out of hiding for now I could see a dozen or so!  There were the brilliant white ones and the striped pink ones!

Again, I laid down on the pier to watch the dance of the Jellies.  This was almost mesmerizing!  It was like some huge Lava Lamp with living beings instead of blobs of wax!  The Jellies were most beautiful and I was tempted at times to reach down into the water and touch the bell of a particularly large, pink one!  Aacckk!  What in the world was I thinking??  I knew better than to ever touch a Sea Nettle!  Those things can inflict the most painful sting and I should know..I was stung quite severely last summer!  So, I used my better judgement and kept my hands up out of the water.

Do you know????  A group of Jellies is called a Bloom!  I can see why..these looked a lot like flowers of the  sea with their bright colors!  (Actually, the name comes from their habit of  "blooming" in large numbers in certain areas.)  Did you know?  Even though these are living beings, they have no brain?  I guess a brain is not necessary when all you do is float, eat and reproduce.  Did you know?  In some parts of the world, certain Jellies are dried and eaten!  Not me!  I can think of much tastier things to eat than something that is blobby and squishy!

I found the Sea Nettles highly entertaining today.  I was intrigued by their graceful movements with the tide.  I was, also, impressed that something obviously dumb as a brick can survive, hunt for food and protect itself with sometimes deadly stings.  Pretty smart for something with no brain!

The Jellies fight back!

Last night's post was sort of a "tongue in cheek" spoof of the crazy names of things in the Bay. I twisted and turned the names so that they seemed ridiculous. I poked fun at the Ground Mullet, the Gaff Topsail and the Jellyfish. I teased and taunted the poor defenseless critters. Did they get offended? Did they get mad and retaliate? Well..in a word..umm..YES! Tonight was another night of shrimping and all was going extremely well. The five gallon bucket was rapidly filling with the beautiful crustaceans! Each throw of the net yielded thirty or forty large shrimp and then..it happened. One of the Jellies that I taunted last night did take revenge upon me! As I reached down to pick up a large shrimp, I felt a telltale burn on my right hand. Not wanting to part with my prize, I endured this pain thinking that I merely brushed a Sea Nettle. Not so..the tentacles of the Sea Nettle wrapped around my hand. As I tossed the shrimp into the bucket, the tentacles slid around my hand and flopped onto the pier causing splatters to bounce back up to my face. By this time, my hand seemed as if it was on fire and I could tell it was starting to swell

a bit. Time to head to the house for a remedy. I grabbed the camera and bucket of shrimp and headed up the hill. I pondered just what should be done in case of a severe tangle with a Sea Nettle. No clue came to mind. I have been stung many times before but never to this extent. Once inside, I tried to think..old folktale remedies started popping into the head. Rub sand from the beach onto the sting..Hey..I live on the Bayou..we have mud! Pour human urine onto the sting..uhhhh..how about...NO!!!! Coat it with meat tenderizer..wait..no, that is for bee stings. I grabbed the salt shaker and poured a healthy mound of salt onto the hand that was now a lovely shade of vermilion and and was beginning to be as puffy as a pin cushion. I am not sure what possessed me to do this but at the moment it seemed to be a good idea. The salt proved to be a futile effort. Son walks in and tells me that it should be sugar..ahhh..he was on the computer

looking up remedies! Good Son!! Sugar..who would have thought..I reached for the sugar shaker. A mound of sugar now coated the sting. Ok, when is this supposed to work?? All the sugar did was melt into a sticky candy coating on my hand. Vinegar was the next suggestion that came from the Boy Wonder's mouth. Vinegar? You are going to pickle my hand?? Splash..the sugar oozes off of the hand into a puddle as the vinegar burns the stew out of every tiny scratch on my hand. Ok now..this is enough! No more ideas from him! I was just about to think the Jelly had won when the pain stopped and the redness started fading. Within ten minutes, the swelling was gone. Was it the salt? The sugar?? Or the vinegar??? Maybe the combination of all three??? Who knows? But something worked! The Jelly had its revenge but not for long!

Ground mullet, Gaff Topsails and Jelly Fish?

Some how or another, things can sometimes have weird names. It seems that a lot of things tied to the sea fall into this category..Weird Named Stuff in the Water. Tonight as we were casting for shrimp, I started to think about some of the unusual names that are attached to local fish and critters of the Bay. Just about that time, I caught a "Ground Mullet" in my net. At least that is what Hubby identified it as..a Ground Mullet. So we are going with that! Now the ground mullet is not to be confused with the "Popeye Mullet".. completely different fish and for that matter I am not even sure if they are kin! They sure do not look alike! Actually, ground mullet is a local name for the Southern Kingfish. One might ask, "Why is it called "ground mullet?" I questioned that myself..why ground mullet. That conjures up the thought that this mullet (which is not a mullet) does not live in the water but on land (ground)..and that is just ridiculous! Or perhaps someone took to grinding it into tiny bits sort of like ground beef..nope..it is still intact. Actually, according to all I can find, the ground mullet gets its name from its color. It has some stripes? umm.. blotches?? that run along the sides at sort of random pattern. (There is an oxymoron for you..random pattern (?) hehe!) These markings are mostly a brown color with maybe some grey thrown in for good measure. The ground mullet is supposed to be very "good eatin'" even though they are a small fish..usually around one pound. When I caught mine tonight, I decided he was too small and "accidently" flipped him over into the water.

Then we have the Gaff Topsails. These are a strange named fish..but then again, they are a strange looking fish! As the name implies, it has a topsail. Its dorsal fin is very elongated and sits high on the fish's back not unlike the gaff topsail on a schooner. Now the gaff part could also be referring to the "horns" or barbs that are on the fins..after all this is a catfish! The name is funny enough as it is but some of the locals actually call them by other names..gas tossils or gap topsuls. Great names, both, but they do make me giggle! I suppose these come from a misunderstanding of the pronunciation of the name. They are very fun to catch, they are very slimy, and are a tad "dangerous" if you are not careful of those horns! Although some folks do eat them, I do not. I would have to be mighty hungry to eat something this slimy!

Now on to Jelly fish. What a misnomer that is! Jelly Fish are not fish at all, they are an invertebrate species of a sea animal. They get their name from their gelatin-like bodies so at least that part is understandable. This is a whole slew of different things all thrown in one group which we could call..The Gooey Body Things That Live In The Bay. The ones that I was catching tonight were harmless little blobs of jelly that have a very unique characteristic..they glow! I am not even positive that they are actually Jellyfish but they are pretty much like a tablespoon of clear jelly that lives in the water so in my book that makes them a Jellyfish along with all the others. These little blobs glow bright green when they are touched! There are times that they are so thick in the waters of the Bay, that a paddle dipped into the water will create the most

fantastical display of green swirls! Ever since I was a kid fishing with my dad, I loved poking these little fellows just to see the flashing glow. While we are on this subject..we call our Jellyfish..Sea Nettles! Now these are the Jellyfish that most people will recognize..the ones with the stinging tentacles. What better name than Sea Nettles is there for something that lives in salt water and stings! If you look in the dictionary for nettle you will see it is a plant that is covered with near invisible "hairs" that can deliver an intense "sting". Hence..salt water dwelling + stinging = Sea Nettle!

So now you can see why I made the statement that we have weird names for things connected to our Bay and Bayou. The list is endless and periodically I will try to explain the logic or lack of behind a few more. I think this jargon of the locals adds to the charm of living on the Gulf Coast, it just needs a bit of explaining to those that do not understand it!