Camellia Staab Visual Blog : fish

Sunday, April 3, 2022

Battle of the Swiftest

April 03, 2022 birds, fish, nature, pelicans, stuart, wildlife 10 comments

Launch your boat from Sandsprit Park into the Manatee Pocket and you find yourself in the stunning waterways of Port Salerno.
This small community was originally the hub for the South Florida commercial fishing industry. Now a working waterfront and fishing fleet provides fresh seafood to local restaurants and markets.
Port Salerno also welcomes “captains of industry” from around the world, who come to the area every year for world-class sport fishing tournaments that are based out of marinas and parks located on the Manatee Pocket.
With all this fishing going on, year long, Port Salerno has an abudance of pelicans hanging around.
After all, which pelican doesn't want the fresh catch of the day thrown at them for free?
At the sign of the first boat returning to land with their catch, the pelicans fly in, taking their position in front of the cleaning stations.

And then the show begins.

As the fishermen clean and filet the fish.......

They throw the waste into the water.

That's when the battle of the swiftest commences.

There's always one pelican that after several attempts to "catch a fish" decides the activity to be too difficult, hence leaves the "playground".

(source)

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

The Fish That Got Away

February 22, 2022 fish, jupiter, pelicans, travel, vacation 4 comments

Have you ever had one of those days, where you think life can't get any better and then...
WHAM!!!
All hell breaks loose?
Well, that was my kind of day, yesterday.

Here I was minding my own business.
Taking in the heat from the beautiful hot sun.
Thinking of how good this catch would taste.

Enjoying the peace around me.

Life couldn't get any better!

I don't know if you know this about me, but my pouch, in addition to me using it as a dip net, can hold up to three gallons of water after I have caught a fish.

But before I can savour the fish, fully, I have to squeeze out the excess water.

Therefor, sitting on something more solid than water, makes it easier for me to get rid of the excess water.

That is exatcly what I was doing, when this photographer lady came by and decided to click away.

I being a ham, showed her my different poses.

By the way, in case you are wondering, my name is Dame Castille, but my friends call me Casty.

Incidently, that pouch you see sticking out the side of my neck, can hold up to three times more than my stomach.

And you thought camels were special.

I continued my routine of moving the fish around and squeezing the excess water, minding my own business, when in the distance I saw Charlie, sitting on the post.

He had that look about him. The look that tells us all to watch out.
Let me tell you a little about Charlie.

You know how in every crowd there is one person who is a know it all?

The one person who bullies everyone?

The one person who is as lazy as can be but manages to fight like the devil?

Well that's Charlie.

Hence, I knew I was in deep trouble, seeing him sitting, up there all puffed up.

But I tried to keep my cool and go about my business.

Next thing I know, Charlie's jumping on the same platform as me and wants to fight.

All along as I am batting my wings and trying to get away from Charlie, I am also hoping that the photographer, up on top, clicking away, would stop her clicking and come to my rescue.
No such luck!
Hence, I decide to jump into the water, hoping to get away from this bully.

And that, my friends, was the worst move, on my part, ever!!

Suddenly, it wasn't just Charlie I was fighting with, but his entire gang.

And in one of my swift moves, or what I thought would be a a good move, the fish fell out of my pouch and Charlie, pounced on it, grabbing it tight with his bill.