Steve found an Atlantic Pygmy Octopus (Octopus joubini) in this shell. Photo by Theresa Weileman

I’m a bit delinquent in writing this entry but I’ve been busy playing catch up with the day job. Theresa and I returned last week from a visit with my parents at their cottage on The Emerald Coast. It turned out to be a dream vacation with the water near 80º F and crystal clear. We lucked out in that the recent hurricanes had steered clear of the panhandle. Also, we enjoyed the added benefit of light crowds as this is considered the ‘off season’.

I had a small list of things I had been hoping to do, but with such pristine weather and water, as well as enjoying the company of Mom and Dad, we ended up spending the majority of our time at the waters edge doing absolutely nothing but relaxing! It was blissful.

One morning, despite the slight time change, Theresa and I awoke before sunrise and decided to head to the beach watch the suns appearance. Just as the eastern sky was starting to lighten we noticed that the Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) where moving in close to shore chasing bait fish. We must have seen 3 or 4 dozen by the time we headed back to the cottage including some launching completely out of the water by 3 body lengths. Try as we might, we just couldn’t quite catch them on film other then some rather weak shots of the dorsal fins.

Theresa in Sunnyside enjoying the tranquility. Photo by Steve Weileman

Another pleasure was to see the number of Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) patrolling the beach. As a boy we never saw them on the beach, just at their nesting sites in the back bays. With all the concern of globing warming, melting glaciers and such, it’s refreshing to see a species making a come-back.

Since last year, Dad sold the family Hobie 16′ and replaced it with a Hobie Mirage. Although the Mirage doesn’t have the speed of the catamaran, it was great to snorkel on the second sandbar with it in tow as a dive platform. My peers might scoff at this as a real ‘kayak’ but it certainly pegs the fun factor!

Sunrise over the dunes of Sunnyside, Florida. Photo by Steve Weileman

One of the highlights, ranking somewhere behind eating Mom’s wonderful cooking, was snorkeling for shells and discovering an Atlantic Pygmy Octopus (Octopus joubini) hiding in a discarded Giant Atlantic Cockle (Dinocardium robustum) shell. It turns out this is normal behavior for these little guys, but it was the first time I’ve never found one right off the beach. After we grabbed a photo for posterity I placed him back among the other shells.

Sitting here in the cold dreary Pacific Northwest rain, we’re already looking forward to next year’s trip!

Tags: Florida

This entry was posted on Monday, October 6th, 2008 at 1:49 pm and is filed under Journal Entry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.