Collecting

[Paul B]

Today is a beautiful day for collecting. There are no tropical fish yet this time of the year in NY but I go for grass shrimp, worms, snails, seaweed and most of all amphipods. Those things are all over the place, especially on my anchor line. When I pull the anchor, they jump all over the boat.
I still have a breeding population in my tank from years past but I like to refresh the supply every year. Of course I also collect bacteria from the mud but I think that is just me who does that.
I don't usually dress as nice as this unless I am looking for shrimp with "class"

 

[cdness]

lol are you out attempting to attract Tuxedo Urchins?

 

[Xler8n]

Looks like your about to perform or be apart of a baptism. LoL!

 

[NaplesAquatics]

lol are you out attempting to attract Tuxedo Urchins?

Ouch! Iced tea snorted out my nose! :)

Jeff

 

[Paul B]

This is where I usually gollect shrimp, amphipods, tiny anemones, fiddler crabs and blue claw crabs (for dinner)

Perfect fiddler crab habitat.

My wife waiting by the boat. (she loves me)

And of course friends stop by to help us finish off all the alcohol we have on board.
Somebody has to do it.

 

[Paul B]

I was back on the boat all day today with my daughter and some of her friends so I went collecting. I collected 17,873 amphipods and this cool bottle that had a baby eel in it. I let the eel go because some day I may eat it in a sushi restaurant and besides they get 3 feet long, but the amphipods are in my tank, all over the place.

 

[awcasper]

Wow, thanks for sharing the real stuff. You rock!

 

[Paul B]

Yesterday while hanging out behind the boat this little 2" pipefish swam into my hand.
He was a cute little fella and he just came by to say hello. I could tell by his eyes that he wanted to stay in his home so after the short visit I let him swim away. The water is just full of pods and I had them all over me (and the boat) when I got out of the water.
In a little while we will be going back to that spot (where we have been going for many years) for some partying, I mean nature watching.
I will bring my net and hold it behind the dinghy as I putt around the inlet collecting amphipods. What can I tell you? It's what I do.

 

[Palancar]

Nothing like the thrill of collecting your own things. Its the fun and excitement of the trip not knowing what you will find, and if you catch something special so much the better plus you had a great time doing it.

 

[droblack]

I felt like a curious little kid reading your thread. Thanks!

 

[Paul B]

I love this stuff, even as a little kid my Mother would leave me on this muddy beach in New Rochelle and if it was low tide I was in my glory. I would dig a little pond in the mud and collect eels, snails, horseshoe crabs, fiddler crabs, green crabs, hermit crabs, blue claw crabs, rock crabs and what ever else I could find. Then when the tide came in I would say good bye to all of them as they swam, crawled or slithered back to the sea. I never lost that facination and still do almost the same thing.
I spend hours lifting rocks in the mud even though I know exactly what I will find but the thrill is still there.
Sometimes I go by myself, anchor the boat and swim to shore to look around and maybe collect some amphipods.
Today I will collect a bucket of amphipods and maybe something interesting. I will check out the rest of the local fauna but almost all of it I will leave there.
I would not know of any other way to live. For the past 30 years or so there was never any discussion of what we are doing on weekends in the summer. We are going boating, usually with old friends some from grammar school.
We are a large crowd and we all like boating. We don't fish any more, it is all basically hanging out and partying sometimes all night or all weekend.
The most we had was 14 boats tied together, that is called rafting.
Have a great day

Rafting

 

[_Alex_]

paul i wanna be like you when i grow up!!! but here in kansas we dont have any oceans to go collecting in :(

 

[Paul B]

Alex, my boat would make a lot of noise in Kansas. :nerd:

 

[Paul B]

Some of the cool stuff you can collect besides amphipods,
Grass shrimp by the thousands

Rock crabs

Mud snails, by the millions

Fiddler crabs

Rock anemones

Seahorses

Butterflies, hermit crabs and the list goes on

 

[secretreefer]

Thanks for sharing Paul! I myself am like you ( minus boat/party animal) and have always found a fascination with marine life. "flipping" is a must while diving or tidepooling. I love how you've kept your tank with real creatures that you would find tidepooling!

 

[Paul B]

I myself am like you

You mean your bald? :bigsmile:

I would have a hard time not living near the sea or tidepools. It is a lifelong thing.

 

[_Alex_]

Alex, my boat would make a lot of noise in Kansas. :nerd:

Your boat wouldn't be to loud, we got boats here with big blocks and straight open headers lol. But right now most of are lakes have dried up or are just way to shallow for a big boat.

 

[Paul B]

OK, then it would make a lot of noise on the highway getting there as I have no trailer :ooh:

 

[jmking33]

I wouldn't be anywhere near the water....its Shark Week!!lol