Six months ago, they were predicting a colder than normal winter. In January that seemed to be the case. We had multiple fronts with high winds and temperatures dropping into the 20s. But February has been different. As I type this, it is 62°F and we have had some of the nicest days we have had in a while. Sunny, low humidity, really nice. AND THE GROUNDHOG SAW HIS SHADOW!!! So… maybe an early spring?
With the warmer temperatures I thought we might encounter some of our ectothermic friends (amphibians and reptiles). On days like we have seen, snakes and turtles will come out from their winter hiding spots to bask in the sun. Since our early winter article, two cottonmouths have been seen on Santa Rosa Island. They were both reported as being very sluggish – but that is to be expected – it is still winter, and the temperatures are still low in the mornings. With that thought in mind we did our February mid-winter hike at Ft. Pickens.
A cottonmouth found on the trail near Ft. Pickens. Photo: Ricky Stackhouse
The hike was on February 6. It was a beautiful sunny day, the temperature was 49°F, light wind from the north. I will say, in the wind it was a bit chilly, but behind the dunes it was very pleasant.
Along the trail I noticed a lot of green plants, but nothing was in bloom. Often the change in temperature can fool flowering plants into blooming early. However, the pine trees were full of male and female cones. They were definitely getting ready for pollen season.
The female cone of a pine tree.
Photo: Rick O’ConnorThe male cones of this pine tree are releasing the all too familiar yellow dust pollen.
Photo: Rick O’Connor
I began in the middle of the island in the hardwoods, moving slowly hoping to find a basking snake. I did not, but I did see numerous woodland songbirds. I am not a good birder, but I believe there were varieties of warblers, titmice, wrens, and the always present mockingbird. I did spot a great blue heron on a nest. Birds are endothermic – and this is their time – a great time to do some birding if you like that.
Blue herons often use the tops of pine trees for nesting.
Photo: Rick O’Connor
I took another trail heading towards the beach. This crossed through more woodlands before reaching the dunes and the shore. It was in the woodland area I came across a bald eagle nest. Many of us remember a time when we never saw bald eagles around here. Now they are becoming more common and nesting all around the bay area. These awesome birds are similar to dolphins, sea turtles, manatees, and the Blue Angels – you never get tired of seeing them. It is always an exciting moment when one flies over.
The American bald eagle.
Photo: Rick O’Connor
There was no wildlife on the beach that day but there were plenty of tracks. Mammals, even in the winter, still prefer to move around under the cover of darkness. I found the tracks of armadillo and raccoon, common mammals on our island, but there was another set that was harder to identify. The paw had the imprint of a cat (no claws visible) but the track was quite large for a feral cat. If it was, it was a big cat. I have seen bobcats in the Gulf Breeze area, and you cannot rule them out, but the pattern of the stride appeared more like an otter. Otter tracks would be webbed – these were not – so… I am not sure what it was.
Most encounter island mammals by finding their tracks.
Photo: Rick O’Connor
Leaving the beach, I returned to the inland trail heading back to the truck. On this portion of the trail, you cross over ponds just outside the walls of the fort. As I glanced across the water – hoping for a swimming snake – I saw something else. It surfaced briefly and then dove again. At first, I thought it was a diving bird, such as a cormorant or loon, but when it resurfaced, I saw that it was not. It was an otter. I had seen otters before in this area, and other pond areas on the island, but – like the bald eagle and dolphin – it is always exciting to see them again.
Based on this hike, it is still the time of the “warm-blooded”. Birds and mammals were the creatures most visible. We will see if this warming trend continues. Maybe during the late winter hike in March, we will see some of the “cold-bloods” come out. Maybe it WILL be an early spring.
The leatherback sea turtle is the largest of the five species that have been found in the northern Gulf of Mexico. With a carapace (top shell) length between 6-7 feet and weighing between 800-1000 pounds it is truly a magnificent creature. Any encounter with them is amazing.
Most encounters occur with fishermen or divers who are out searching for artificial reefs to fish or dive. Though very rare, they have been known to nest in this area. They feed exclusively on jellyfish and will follow them close to shore if need be. But what do leatherbacks do with most of their time? Do they hang offshore and follow jellyfish in? Do they circle the entire Gulf of Mexico and we see them as they pass? Based on past studies, many encounters with this turtle occur in the warmer months. They often become entangled in commercial fishing longlines set in the central Gulf of Mexico. But what do they do during the fall and winter? One of the tagging projects presented at a recent workshop tried to answer that question.
The project was led by Dr. Christopher Sasso of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The tag chosen for this was a satellite tag. Since the leatherback must surface to breath air, and often is found near the surface following jellyfish, orbiting satellites would be able to follow them. As we mentioned in Part 1, catching the creature is step 1, and catching a six-foot 1000-pound sea turtle is no easy task.
The team used a spotter aircraft to locate the turtles. Once found, the pilot would radio the chase boat who would zip in with a large net. The net was connected to a large metal hoop and was designed to give way once it was around the turtle. Once in the net the turtle was hauled onto a small inflatable boat where the work of tagging could be done. They would measure the animal, take blood samples, place a PIT tag within them (similar to a microchip in your pet) and then attach the satellite tag by a tether to the tail end of the turtle before releasing it. The entire operation took less than 30 minutes.
Between 2015-2019 19 leatherbacks were tagged in the northern Gulf. 17 of these were females and 2 were males. Data obtained from these tags ranged between 63 and 247 days at liberty. The behavior the team noticed was divided into foraging behavior (feeding on jellyfish) and transiting behavior (direct swimming ignoring all).
The turtles foraged in this part of the Gulf until the fall season. At that point most of them moved south along the Florida shelf, past the western peninsula of the state, heading towards the Keys. A few chose to swim directly south against the Loop Current, and a small number remained in the area.
Those moving along the Florida shelf appeared to be foraging as they went. Those crossing the open Gulf may have foraged some but seemed to be focused on getting south to the nesting beaches. Almost all of the turtles entered the Caribbean on the east side of the Yucatan channel, following the currents, with their final destination being their nesting beaches. When they returned, they did so in the warmer months and used the western side of the channel – again following the currents – until they once again reached the northern Gulf and foraging began again. One interesting note from this study, the two males tagged did not leave the Gulf.
The tagging studies do show that leatherbacks use the Gulf of Mexico year-round. They usually head south to the Caribbean when it gets colder and use the currents to do so. It is during the warmer months we are most likely to see them here foraging on jellyfish. It is an amazing experience to encounter one of these large turtles. I hope you get to experience it one day.
Satellite tracks of leatherback movement in the GoM. Red (2015), Blue (2018), Black (2019).
Image: Sasso (et.al.) 2021.
Reference
Sasso, C.R., Richards, P.M., Benson, S.R., Judge, M., Putman, N.F., Snodgrass, D., Stacy, B.A. 2021. Leatherback Sea Turtles in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico: Foraging and Migration Behavior During the Autumn and Winter. Frontiers in Marine Science., Vol. 8., https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.660798.
You might have seen a floating oyster farm while driving over Garcon Point Bridge or along Scenic Highway. Many people know them for the beautiful, tasty oysters they produce, but those farms have a major ecological benefit that many aren’t aware of. First, the oysters in those cages act as a very efficient water filter, filtering upwards of 30 gallons per day. The floating farms also act as an oasis for other marine creatures, from crustaceans to finfish, and can help increase the biodiversity in the area. Oysters are also great at sequestering carbon into their shells. Today, we will go over these ecological benefits and proper etiquette when maneuvering around the farms to enjoy some of the ecological benefits of the oyster farm.
Florida Pompano Caught Off an Oyster Farm – Thomas Derbes II
Besides being tasty, oysters are very well known for their ability to filter massive amounts of water in a single day. Research has shown rates of up to 50 gallons per day in a laboratory setting, but they filter upwards of 30 gallons per day in the wild. With most oyster farms in the area having more than 500,000 oysters on their farm, that’s more than 15,000,000 gallons of water per day per farm! Oysters can filter out any excess sediments from the water, forming them into small packets and depositing the sediment on the bottom of the bay, keeping the sediments from being re-suspended. This is very beneficial to any bay or estuary as eutrophication (More Here on Eutrophication) has been an issue in almost every bay in the southern United States.
Another benefit to oyster farms is that it is a floating oasis for all types of marine creatures. Blue crabs and stone crabs are a common threat to oysters, and they love to congregate around oyster farms waiting for an easy meal from a dropped oyster or oyster spat on cages. Common bay fish, like the Spotted Seatrout, Sheepshead, and Red Drum, have been known to hang out under the cages consuming smaller finfish and crabs, but some uncommon fish like Tripletail and Florida Pompano also patrol the cages looking for a meal. Because of its ability to hold all types of fish, fishermen love to fish around the oyster farms. Fishing around oyster farms is allowed, but most farmers want the boats to stay on the boundary of the farm and not inside of it. This is due to there being lines under the surface of the water that could potentially damage any lower unit and can cut free a line of cages. Also, it is against state law to be within the boundary of the farm if you are not an authorized harvester of that lease, and I have personally seen FWC enforce those rules. As a seasoned oyster farmer once told me “We know our farm holds fish and it is okay for them to fish the farm, heck put out some blue crab traps around it, but do not mess with the cages and stay outside of the boundary and we can all live in harmony.”
Tripletail Caught Off An Oyster Farm – Brandon Smith
Last but not least is the ability of oysters to sequester carbon and excess nitrogen into their shells and pseudofaeces (aka bio-deposits). Carbon and nitrogen sequestration is a crucial service provided by oysters that helps battle global climate change. Just as they do with excess sediments, they deposit excess carbon and nitrogen into bio-deposits that accumulate on the bottom, keeping them from being re-suspended into the waters. Oyster reefs are currently on the decline around the world, and their decline has “resulted in a forfeiture of several ecosystem services” including carbon and nitrogen sequestration and water filtration. (More Here on Carbon Sequestration)
While oysters might be tasty, we have learned about some of the ecological services oysters provide to an estuarine environment. From water filtration to increasing biodiversity to carbon/nitrogen sequestration, oysters are a major benefit to any estuary and can help fight climate change and eutrophication. Next time you see an oyster farm or reef, give oysters (and farmers) a little appreciation for their hard work in helping make the world a healthier place!
Recently I attended a workshop on wildlife tagging projects. Researchers from across the Gulf of Mexico who had projects going on in the northern Gulf were invited to present their updates. I was there to help present what we have learned about diamondback terrapins but there were numerous other talks, and the results were fascinating. Fascinating enough that I thought the public would be interested in them as well. Most of the presentations were on fish or reptiles, but the fish included interesting species such as whale sharks, tiger sharks, cobia, and tarpon. So, I am going to run a series of posts on the different species along with another series on barrier island wildlife.
I thought I would start with an introduction on the methods of wildlife tagging and why scientists tag animals. Some of the reasons may seem obvious, but with today’s modern tags, there is a lot of information scientists can gain from doing this.
Why do they tag?
With the types of tags they used when I was in school there were a few things that you could learn. (1) How far do the animals range, (2) how fast they reached those locations, (3) some idea of live longevity – you at least knew how long they were “at freedom”. With these data you could get a better idea of what their habitat range was and how they used the habitat. Some, like blue sharks, may move great distances all year long. Others, like nurse sharks, may not move more than a few miles from the point where they were tagged. Others may move seasonally, spending summer in one region and winter in another. All of these data are useful to resource managers responsible for maintaining the species population.
With the more modern electronic tags, they can learn such things as how deep they dive, how long they stay at depth, what water temperatures they may frequent, what salinity they prefer, and let you know where the animal is at any given moment in time. Today’s tags are pretty amazing.
This tag is similar to the ones we used in the 1980s on sharks. They provide a number for individual identification. Ours also had a capsule with a note on water resistant paper.
Photo: Hallprint.
How do they tag?
Well… step one to answering this question is HOW DO YOU CATCH THE ANIMAL? – not as easy as you think. Whale sharks and leatherback sea turtles are quite a handful. If your target species is something like a white shark, tiger shark, diamondback rattlesnake, there is an extra danger added. As you plan a method for your safety, you must also plan a method for their safety. The objective is not harm or kill the creature – you will learn nothing from this. When I began my career, I saw a program on how they tagged polar bears in the 1980s. They would fly over the ice in a helicopter looking for the bears. When the bears saw the helicopter, they would run for the safety of water. The scientist would try to shoot a dart into the animal to put it asleep long enough to get a tag on it. BUT if you overdosed the bear, and it made it to the water, it could drown. So, from the air, they had to gauge the weight of the bear, guess what amount of the drug to shoot, and hope they were right. If the bear did fall asleep, how “asleep was it? Did you give ENOUGH drug? Polar bears can be very dangerous. In the episode I watched the bear was asleep, but the researchers did mention that they will “play sleep” and you need to be ready. Such was the world of wildlife tagging 40 years ago.
One of the things that was also discussed when I was in school was what type of tag you were going to place on the animal. They did not have the neat tools they have now. Most tags had a capsule with a piece of paper, sometimes written in multiple languages, to call said person and report where and when they found the animal. There was usually a monetary award for doing so, or sometimes a hat or T-shirt. I remember the hat you got for reporting a tagged redfish was really neat, but I never caught a tagged one.
You did not want to place a tag that would alter the natural behavior of the animal. In the case of the polar bear, they would place an ear tag and paint a large number on its side in black paint. This made sense from the biologist’s side – flying over the ice you could see the large black “3” on a bear and know the individual. But that large black number could also be seen by their prey. Not good. I saw researchers painting the shells of gopher tortoises with all sorts of neon colors to make detection by them easier, but easier for their predators as well.
Radio tagging was used 40 years ago. This involves capturing the animal (as we have already seen – fun in itself), putting it asleep and attaching/inserting a radio tag. This tag provides a radio signal that can be detected by a receiver carried by the research holding an antenna walking/driving around following the animal. You had to be within range to hear the signal and – honestly – good at detecting the signal. Some researchers were better at this than others. As you can imagine this was only as good as your ability to keep up with the animal. At some point your car/boat would need fuel, or the animal crossed a river you could not. It provided some good data, but there were limits.
Today modern tags have solved a lot of these issues. Some new tags do not have typed notes but sensors that can detect the elevation/depth, temperature/salinity, all sorts of information that was unknown in my college days. These tags can be retrieved and downloaded on a computer to give a much better idea of how the animal spends its time and what it seeks.
This modern shark tag could provide additional information such as diving depth, water temperature, and more.
Satellite tags work well for creatures who surface frequently – sea turtles, whales, whale sharks. Satellites can detect them, and you can follow their movements/habitat preferences as they are actually using them.
For species at depth, like some sharks, cobia, tarpon, etc. there are now acoustic tags. The tag emits a signal that is detected by an array of receivers the researchers place in the environment. As the animal passes within range of the receiver it is detected, and the downloaded data gives a similar picture of how the animal uses the environment. A couple of neat things about acoustic tags are that (a) you can track satellite tagged animals while they are diving, and (b) your receivers can detect other species tagged by other researchers and let them know where their creature was. This was one reason for the workshop – so, everyone could meet everyone else and know who has tagged what and how to share information.
No tag is permanent. All are designed to fall off. Battery power will eventually fail. But no animal is stuck with this all of their lives as they could have been when I was in school. In future articles we will look at the results of some of these studies.
This tag with an antenna can be detected by a satellite and tracked real time.
Photo: USGS
Pompano?! More like Pompa-YES! Growing up in the Panhandle of Florida, I was exposed to many great fishing seasons and opportunities, from the Cobia (Rachycentron canadum) run in the spring to the “Bull” Red Drum (Sciaenops occelatus) run of the fall, but my absolute favorite season was the Florida Pompano (Trachinotus carolinus) run on the beaches. While I enjoyed being on the boat scouring the beaches with a small bucktail jig, casting at sliver flashes in the cuts of the sandbar, I had my most memorable trips on the beach with a few rods, sand spikes, and a “flea rake.” There were no bad days on the beach (as they say, it’s better than a day in the office), and when you happen upon a honey hole, it makes for an incredible day with very little effort and usually an incredible dinner to follow. Since we are rapidly approaching peak pompano season, I will pay homage to the “Silver Surfers of the Emerald Coast” with a little overview of the life of a Florida Pompano.
Beach Fishing for Florida Pompano is for Everyone, Young and Old – Thomas Derbes II
Florida Pompano have a very wide range, from Massachusetts to Brazil, and are a member of the family Carangidae (aka the Jack Family). It is a very popular sport and commercial fishery, and its rapid growth rate makes it a prime candidate for aquaculture. Florida Pompano are highly migratory fish, and they can run from the Florida Keys all the way to Texas and back in a season. In the Florida Panhandle, the Florida Pompano run starts in April/May lasting until July, with a bonus fall run in October/November when they are returning south. When fishing off the sandy beaches of the Florida Panhandle, you can run into its cousins the Permit (Trachinotus falcatus) and Palometa (Trachinotus goodei) who often get mistaken for a Florida Pompano. Another thing they have in common with Florida Pompano is their love of crustaceans including the Mole Crab (aka Sand Fleas) (Emerita portoricensis) and Atlantic White Shrimp (Litopenaeus setiferus).
Just like most members of the family Carangidae, Florida Pompano are considered “batch spawners.” A batch spawner is when a female releases her eggs into the water column and a male simultaneously releases his sperm into the water column. Female Florida Pompano can release upwards of 800,000 eggs per spawning season, and Florida Pompano typically head offshore in early spring to October in the Gulf of Mexico to spawn, and their juveniles return to the beach to grow along the shoreline. Florida Pompano can reach an aquaculture harvest size of 12 inches within one year, and males reach maturity in 1 year whereas females mature after 2 to 3 years.
Florida Pompano Eggs 12 Hours Post Fertilization – Thomas Derbes II
When it comes to table fare, Florida Pompano ranks very high on my personal fish list, and many chefs love serving pompano at their restaurants due to the great, mild taste and fillets that are of even thickness. Their diet of crustaceans helps yield a buttery, almost crab flavor and the meat is very flaky and white. There are many preparation techniques for Florida Pompano, from grilled whole to pan-fried, and pompano have even inspired their own cooking technique, “Pompano en Papillote,” or baking pompano in parchment paper.
Beautiful Florida Pompano Caught Off Pensacola Beach, Florida – Thomas Derbes II
When fishing for Florida Pompano off the beach, most anglers employ a large rod (usually a 10ft rod) with a 20lb fluorocarbon double drop loop rig and pyramid weight. The larger rod allows for maximum casting distance from the beach, giving beach anglers a chance to reach behind the first sandbar. Most anglers will bring either fresh dead shrimp or a flea rake with them to catch the prized bait, mole crabs. Pro tip, when casting out the rods, make sure you have a bait close to the shore in the “trough” and not just past the sandbar. (Learn More About Rigging Here!) If you plan to harvest a Florida Pompano, make sure you check your local regulations. In the Florida Panhandle, Florida Pompano must be 11 inches (fork-length) or larger with a daily limit of 6 per angler.
My nephew showing off his prized Florida Pompano – Zach Saway
I hope you have enjoyed this profile for the Florida Pompano. Now is the time to get your rods out of storage and ready to hit the beach!
