8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
1/38
Blue Heron Bridge Marine ParkRare Marine Life and , (38 pages in this, Part 1)
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
2/38
Nudibranchsat the Bridge
Each of these nudibranchs had to be tracked, and
are often found
the discomfort of
own defense!
nudribrach in its natural element?
and substrate to hide in, and there will be
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
3/38
Even with a professional Nudibranch hunter helping you,awareness of what you need to be looking at is critical. If
you were searching for lobsters, it would help to know they
tend to hide in ledges with their antennae often visible....
but you need to know what the structure looks like they
would be found in. This is far more critical still with the
Nudibranchs. While looking at the Nudibranchs in this
article, go back to the beginning, and look at the structure
and texture of the background each Nudibranch sits on.
Hydroids...
In the 2 shots at left, the more distant shot shows thetexture of the bottom. Tiny little shells and pebble-like
mini-boulders litter the trail this creature wanders along.
As you begin to look for the small shells and algaes that
easier to actually see the nudibranch when it is pointed
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
4/38
Finding food for Nudibranchs is more a matter of smell, taste and chemical reception, than visual. ei
eyes are primitive, and functional for dierentiating light and dark, but not much beyond that. e eyesare tiny, maybe .25 mm across, and set into the body.ey are made up of a handful of photoreceptorsand a lens to focus the light rays into the receptors. e more powerful hunting equipment wouldseem to be the cephalic (head) tentacles. ese are used to sense touch, taste, and smell. Rhinophores(somewhat club shaped) detect the chemical trails we may think of as smells or odors.
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
5/38
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
6/38
These shots are to show the hunting and eating behaviors of the nudibranch.
These guys are like Great White Sharks -- they are perfect eating machines.
They
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
7/38
While most cool shots of the nudibranchs are extreme close-ups and
-
posed to actually eating it, you can still see the background much ofthe time--the texture of the bottom environment they are found in.
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
8/38
Another master o
disguise found a
BHB Marine Park
___________
Like a Sniper in
TV movie, the Plu
with branches an
leaves---ok, with
, sea grasses and
hydroids :-)
The nudibranch
left, has found a
place to stop and
The nudibranc
hydriods. The nbottom right is
area, where be
dine on.
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
9/38
The Blue Heron Bridge Marine
sion, and one that welcomes
like to get more plugged in to
interest on the weekly Nudibra
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
10/38
Can you see an Octopus at the BHB Marine Park ?Many divers could go over 1000 dives and NEVER see an octopus. We get to see them in movies and
zines, but when it comes down to the actual experience, most divers just wont get it. One of the cool t
about the BHB Marine Park, is that the octopus is so plentiful here, you can swim over and miss 20 of
bottle will remain hidden to the aver-
age diver. When you know where
they hide, it gets a little easier. They
can also be quite curious, and you
can get them to pose.
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
11/38
Not surprisingly, there is an octopus garden kind of place to look
for. They tend to have a great little hole or tunnel, with shells lit-
tered all over their front yard...
Look for the piles of shells that just couldnt have gotten their on
their own. Look for the possible tunnels/homes that an octopus
might enjoy within this cluster of shells. You wont always spot
them, but if you look thouroughly each time you see the shells gar-
At the BHB, octopus are often found in
places visiting divers would never imagine
looking. One hot spot area for them is the
sandy area with some small rubble in about
5 feet of water just off of the beach at the
Western end of the beach where most div-
ers enter the water. Many sandy expanses
with some rubble appear far more attractive
to the octopus than the big structure where
When you visit the BHB, there are distinctzones of sand expanse, of shell covered
sand, of grasses and shells over sand, and
of actual large structure from bridge pilings
and other large reef building material. Each
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
12/38
Blennies
hang out in, but they like to watch what is going on around them, all the
time. This nosey behavior makes them easy enough to spot.
There are many different species of Blennies, and they have many different
zones or types of
environment, that
Bottles are good
homes,as arebarnacles for
some species.
The diversechoices they make
for their homes are
remarkable.
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
13/38
Some seem amazingly sociable, easy to anthropomorphize. Others seem to be cons
trespassers, with a ferocity and tenacity that seems comical given their tiny stature.
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
14/38
Some Blen
have uniqu
behaviors t
have them
much of th
fully exposthe Dragon
left.
The Blenny
right is a sp
that stays i
home as m
as possible
particular o
on duty gu
the eggs a
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
15/38
Bottom dwelling Blennies employ many
different strategies to escape predators
and to disappear as needed.
S H
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
16/38
Sea Horsesand Safaris
Seahorses typically prefer living in
calmer, protected areas, such as in
Mangrove or Sea Grass beds...Fortu-
nately, the Blue Heron Bridge Marine
Park has very sizable sea grass areas
within it, and mangroves are not far
away either.
know they are attempting to be invis-
ible to predators....when you look in
the sea grasses, they are not going to
just pop out--you have to really focusin and look closely.
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
17/38
Sea Horses are
territorial.
he will usually stay
in an area of about
11 square feet ( soyou should have a
good idea where to
look for him on the
next dive).
Females range
much further, often
found anywhere in
an area up to 100
square feet in size.
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
18/38
Sea horses are weak swim
so they spend most of thei
holding on to the sea grass
mangroves rather than hav
crustaceans and plankton w
their long snouts.
The female Seahorse depoher eggs into the brood po
the male, where he fertilize
and holds them till they hat
While most people have he
this before, one interesting
factoid about the seahorse
is that in the 2 to 4 week lo
and swims up to the male a
greets him every morning f
about 6 minutes, kind of lik
courtship or dating ritual :-)
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
19/38
Sea Horses are going
to be found by looking
diligently in grasses. One
area at the bridge which
is particularly good for
this, is out near the main
navigation channel atthe Westernmost side of
the Park, but east of this
along the wall that faces
the inner boundaries of
the dive area east of the
channel. The wall has
growth on it you can seein this photo at right...this
was on the wall.
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
20/38
found at the BHB. Normally the prey of Sea Turtles, Tuna, Sharks and
photos by mentalblock
pretty certain that
they have made i
to a sanctuary of
sorts. However,
the bottom right
depicts, bristle
worms are happy
to dine on jellies
that end up at the
wrong place, at
the wrong time.
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
21/38
Suzanne
medusae) are not actually Fish,
but a simpler form of life known
as a cnidarian, a spineless, soft-
bodied animal-- much like many
politicians :-) .
forms that occur during its cycleof life ; one being the medusa
stage, the other is the polyp
stage.
capture food with its tentacles.
Nematocysts in the tentacles (
like little venomous barbs) rapidly
sting causing swift paralysis ofmost prey. The mouth is under
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
22/38
Suzanne
-
plankton, tiny shrimp etc. are the usual food.
Oral arms pull food into the mouth while they
swim.
While current to most of the work in moving
jellies from one place to another, swimming
takes place by opening and closing the bell
of the jelly, kind of like opening and closing
an umbrella. They do not hunt like most
predators, but swim along and take food in
as they move through the water.
If you are photographing a jelly and manage
to get so close that you get stung, vinegar is
one typical remedy, and most people learn
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
23/38
would usually be near a series of while sponges or other
bottom related structures that they can blend perfectly into.
or Portugese Man of War, but the important thing is what it
you blink, you missed it. Watch video at http://youtu.be/
txvb18B130c
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
24/38
the 60 foot deep Boynton Beach reefs ( next to orange sponges)...
immediate area.*** All other marine life included in this BHB section
impossible to see where the grasses end
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
25/38
showing us one of the unique
features of this species....the
enormous expansion ability of
the mouth and jaws. These
Also related to this, the female
to swallow her male partner
whole after sex..One reason the
and disappear after sex :-)
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
26/38
this photo.
What makes it easy includes :
It just moved, and is not partially covered
in bottom sediment or sand yet.
The photo has you looking where you can
the bottom, but not recognize the shape,
or really look in the right place to see this
Floundering may be harder than you think
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
27/38
This view is closer to what you
have to look for when searching
for Flounder.
gone, the eyes could be shells,
and the when your guide
well respond by confusion that
you see only sand and shells.
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
28/38
This Flounder is a little easier to see, but
could easily be overlooked. For now,
remember the pattern and how they
arrange themselves on the bottom. They
actually do look for terrain they are aware
To see this amazing awareness of bottomstructure and where they should stop to
dissappear, click on this 20 second video
swimming near the small shipwreck at
BHB.
http://youtu.be/CfyY0cT_GDw
Wh d t Fl d th ill
http://youtube.com/sioufnhttp://youtu.be/CfyY0cT_GDw%20http://youtu.be/CfyY0cT_GDw%20http://youtube.com/sioufn8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
29/38
When you do spot a Flounder, they will
usually stay put as long as you approach
slowly and dont appear threatening or
too interested in them.
interested potential predators are in
them.
To put this in perspective,
they are looking elsewhere, and their
spearguns must be pointed away from
pointed gun indicates ( interest in what it
is pointing at) and they know what your
eyes on then means--interest that they
may not be comfortable with.
Sh i th BH B
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
30/38
Shrimp on the BHrB
like the one at right will be one of the
or overhangs all over the BHB Park
area. A primary function of these shrimp
on a reef, or here at BHB, is to clean
hang out here, for the ease of cleaning..
cleaning referring to removal of isopods
and other insect or worm like parasites
healthy. The little claws of this shrimp
are like precision instruments wielded
by a skilled surgeon. You can often
see them even inside the mouths of big
Mantis Shrimp
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
31/38
Mantis Shrimp
This guy at right is NOT like other
shrimp. He is the Bad Ass of
the crustacean family, and has a
disposition to match.
For years we would hear about
how a diver poking around rubble
zones off a 80 foot reef, stuck
These mantis have a power claw
that makes them a force to berekoned with, even at their 2 to 4
inch long size.
H i id li k t b h i
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
32/38
Here is a video link on youtube showing
the way a Mantis moves around and
earns its reputation as a shrimp
to be rekoned with: http://youtu.
be/5WWvulAC_zU
In looking for the Mantis at Blue Heron,you just need to look around where
there is plenty of action going on, or
you can peer into holes in the bottom
that could be Mantis Shrimp homes...
but whatever you do, do not stick your
to a Mantis.
http://youtu.be/5WWvulAC_zU%20http://youtu.be/5WWvulAC_zU%20http://youtu.be/5WWvulAC_zU%20http://youtu.be/5WWvulAC_zU%208/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
33/38
If you are looking for
the holes they live in,
this is what you would
see.The two large eyes like
radar towers, peering
out, watching for both
potential predator and
prey.
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
34/38
When a Mantis is on the prowl ina target rich environment within
the BHB, this is what you see.
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
35/38
This ________ shrimprelies on blending in with
his surroundings, rather
than on attack skills.
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
36/38
The structure in the
background here arethe arms of a sea
urchin...each being
about an inch long.
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
37/38
The tiny bumble bee shrimp
inside the arms of the sea urchin,
enjoys the potential food kickedup by the hydraulic legs moving
along the bottom, as well as the
protection of being able to hide
between them.
8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2
38/38
The shrimp is so smallit is barely visible to
human sight, without
Top Related