Sea pork
Capt Mike
What a way to end the month of February! Awesome fishing, highs in the low to mid 80s, and SUNSHINE! We have been finding all kinds of cool sealife on our morning run. The other day some of our passengers brought me “weird rubbery stuff” that they had found while on our Coastal sealife dolphin and shelling cruise. What they found were colonial tunicates! These animals are so neat to me, but I find all marine invertebrates fascinating. The zooids all live together within this clear plasma-looking rubbery stuff called the tunic. They are filter feeders and I have seen some about a foot in diameter. Similar in function maybe to a sponge but fancier, as they have gill slits, and nerve cords. I have seen them in a variety of fashionable colors and my favorite of their colors is orange, but I have seen them in charcoal gray, black, and purple. When they die and bleach out they turn a creamy color, kind of looks like fatback, hence their nickname “Sea Pork”. We have them wash in around our shorelines, and they live all around Florida on up to Maine.
Capt Mike has had a banner week of fishing. Catching sheepshead, mackeral, and snapper. He had a cute kid on his charter the other day that came on the boat and told Capt Mike he wanted to catch a shark. Now, anyone that knows all of us here at Good Time Charters, knows that we do not like to disappoint. But sharks are usually biting here in the summer, and while they are around right now, chances are not as good that you would get one. It is similar to someone wanting to see a manatee on our dolphin cruise in early February, while it is not impossible, it is just not likely with the cooler water temps. Anyway, wouldn’t you know that kid caught a bonnethead shark?! Wow, I am not sure who was happier, the kid with his prize, or Mike knowing that he just made this kid’s day! Well, I guess they both win. Well folks, thanks again for joining us on our trips and letting us enhance your experience out here on our beautiful waters. Cheers- Cristina and the rest of us here at Good Time Charters.
