Voyage of the Sea Bear

It’s becoming a bit of a tradition to be on deck for sunset to watch the sun go down. Usually we have a drink and enjoy the show. Tonight was no different except that one of the usual bit-players did some grandstanding.

Ever since I scrubbed the critters off of the bottom of Sea Bear’s hull, several schools of fish have been hanging around. A couple of times a day they come up to the surface en-mass and they seem to be eating bubbles. I guess there is more there than what we see, but it LOOKS like they break the surface of the water, creating the  bubbles, then  go nuts eating them. Some sort  of low calorie fish diet, I guess.

Anyway, when school is in session, they attract attention. Bigger fish swim by, and birds dive out of the sky. It’s like a big rock hitting the water when those birds dive in. The birds are mostly Boobies, with some white long tailed hawk-like birds as well.

Tonight’s show started with the regular bubble-fest. The little guys were really going to town, and both the grey surface feeders, and the silvery flashers were playing right off the side of the boat. Two Frigates were circling high up, and a couple of the white hunters were diving in, and scoring about a third of the time. A single Pelican was also touring this end of the bay, but I didn’t see him dive in. About a hundred feet away, this little dark fish jumps out of the water. Straight up he comes, and it’s not an exaggeration that he cleared 8 to 10 feet of air. Right behind him was a 24 to 30 inch silvery fish, and the big guy also cleared 8 feet at least. JC and I both shouted, it was amazing. A few seconds later they both jumped again, and repeated the stunt. Dolphins jump like that, but I’ve never seen little fish get so far above the water.

Anyway, it made for a spectacular sight. Sunset was like a postcard. We keep hoping that one of these evening we’ll see the fabled “green flash”, but in all honesty, I’m happy with the sunsets just the way they’ve been. Birds diving into the water, and fish diving out. Who knows what we shall see tomorrow.

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