natjtan This year I’m fascinated by the baby mullets. There’s more than last year and I’m not sure if this is because the sea bed changed in the winter storms.
There’s less rocks, more sand. I’ve seen older mullets a little further out feeding by scooping and filtering the sand. Where I snorkel is the nursery. They look so sleek compared to the sea breams with gold flecks that catch the light.
The saddled sea breams as always say hi and like to chase bubbles from swimmers or maybe the bubbles and kicking of legs stirs up invisible to human eyes plankton snacks. I often spook myself feeling a bubble brushing my leg as I swim, thinking it was a fish nibbling on me only to turn around and see a few saddled sea breams following me. I’m sure it’s a bubble produced while swimming but it’s funny to turn around and see them following me. Almost like my body guards.
I get excited and in awe of baby fish clouds. They’re almost invisible until you’re on top of them when they glint like translucent glitter. The cloud has gone down in 4 weeks and it’s been fun monitoring them as they grow.
The sea bed now at then end of July (time of writing) is now getting more established in it’s new layout. Algae is starting to grow on the larger rocks which is attracting more fish. This weekend I had time to swim to the beach division rocks and discovered a whole new world of fish that I’m excited to share in a few weeks. So many salemas that I thought had gone as their preferred habitat vanished in the storms and rainbow wrasses I thought too had vanished. I’d seen a few glimpses of salemas this month in low vis but wasn’t sure. One sighting I was trying to avoid a mauve stinger jellyfish only to turn around for them to swim on.
My diving is improving slowly. Still not up for holding breath and staying still, but learning how to surface more slowly and not hurt my ears so much. I learnt my lesson last month with my snorkel band too tight. I dive more to pick litter up than to collect shells which are now getting a problem as I’m out of space for shells. Any plastic I find floating I stuff in my rashie sleeves. I exit the sea later with huge biceps filled with floating plastic.
I often feel like I’m exploring a post apocalyptic world due to the amount of industrial rocks and bricks I find. I think even up to the 1950’s the beaches in Barcelona were shanty towns so the rocks, stones and pebbles for sure aren’t all natural sea rocks.
I call the sand ridges, mini sand dunes. I’ve more or less worked out where the main riptide is. Thankfully it’s not a big one however if it’s a rough and I get to the beach after the lifeguards have finished I avoid it. I follow the ridges as a marker than I’m not swimming out too far and noticed where the riptide is the pattern of the ridges breaks up from more or less ‘straight’ lines to swirls and loops.
Thank you for stopping by! Be sure to check in a few weeks for more Under the Med Sea life!
