- Stone Crab
Stone crabs can only be found in Florida’s waters. Most of their weight is in their claws, with their claw weight increasing more as they age. Stone crabs are a favorite among many people to eat due to their large and meaty claws. Our captain for the dive even said that her family has many traps set up to catch Stone Crabs to eat!
- Slipper Lobster
Slipper lobsters are tropical lobsters found anywhere in warmer water from Florida down to Brazil. These lobsters are flat and lack claws much like their close relative the Key lobster. Slipper lobsters are pretty strange looking, surprising many of the divers that happened to catch a glimpse of one on our dive.
- Hawksbill Sea Turtle
Seeing this turtle in its natural habitat was truly stunning. Gliding through the reef and occasionally coming up for air were some of the things we saw it doing. These turtles search the reef at night for jellyfish and squid, which are some of their favorite things to eat. These turtles are critically endangered, and laws protecting sea turtles prohibit even touching them. Here is a photo of one taken on our night dive!
- Bioluminescent Plankton
Whenever we waved our hands fast or kicked with our flippers rapidly underwater, tiny flickers of greenish light would appear and then disappear. This is from agitating the microscopic animals called zooplankton, resulting in a release of glowing goo. Zooplankton also glow when trying to attract a mate. Sometimes large spaces of water in Florida and the Caribbean glow due to large amounts of bioluminescent plankton inhabiting the waters.
- Parrotfish Sleeping
Alright so the Parrotfish didn’t exactly emerge because we saw them on the reef all day in daylight, but I did happen to see one sleeping! When Parrotfish sleep at night, they surround themselves in a mucus “sleeping bag” in order to protect themselves from other reef animals at night. One of the biggest threats could be bloodsucking parasites. So the Parrotfish’s mucus shield is kind of like a mosquito net for us. Pretty gross, but very cool!
Want to go on a night dive and possibly see these animals? Check out Captain Slate's Scuba Adventures, located in Tavernier, FL at http://www.captainslate.com/
And you can find more information on nocturnal Florida reef species at http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/
I have never heard or seen a slipper lobster before and was very confused when I saw it in the water! It was one of the cooler finds sincwnit was new to me. Also seeing the bioluminescent plankton was neat as well! Everything I saw under there was a new find which makes me excited for more dives... at night !
ReplyDeleteNot going to lie this night dive was amazing. It allowed me to sea just how different the reef was at night, sadly I was unable to see the bioluminescent plankton. Then again it was hard to see in general with fogged up goggles.
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