Bhb Article Sfdj2

8/6/2019 Bhb Article Sfdj2

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Blue Heron Bridge Marine ParkRare Marine Life and , (38 pages in this, Part 1)


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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


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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


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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.


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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


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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.


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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.


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The Blue Heron Bridge Marine

sion, and one that welcomes

like to get more plugged in to

interest on the weekly Nudibra


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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.


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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


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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.


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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.


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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


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Bottom dwelling Blennies employ many

different strategies to escape predators

and to disappear as needed.

S H


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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.


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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.


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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 :-)


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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.


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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.


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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


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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


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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


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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


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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 :-)


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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


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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.


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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/sioufn


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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


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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


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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


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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%20


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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.


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When a Mantis is on the prowl ina target rich environment within

the BHB, this is what you see.


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This ________ shrimprelies on blending in with

his surroundings, rather

than on attack skills.


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The structure in the

background here arethe arms of a sea

urchin...each being

about an inch long.


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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.


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The shrimp is so smallit is barely visible to

human sight, without

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