12/17/2023 0 Comments Pqcific football fish![]() Which one of us, exactly, are you gazing at adoringly? Which fish-selfie are you about to take? (We call them “fishies.The footballfish form a family, Himantolophidae, of globose, deep-sea anglerfishes found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Ocean. When you are in the water exploring our reefs, you may want to know our names. You’ll be surprised and delighted by the life you see. Most of us are quite brilliantly colored, and many Hawaii fish can even change colors at will! Just hang in the water awhile and watch. What you may appreciate the most, dear land visitor, is our uncommon beauty. It’s all part of the tide of life down here! It depends on the “sea-tuation.” Of course, those of us who are carnivores or omnivores also eat each other if the opportunity arises. Sometimes we go about in uniform schools, and other times we’ll partner with a member of another species and hunt together. Many of us work together to secure our food. Some run businesses cleaning other fish, rays, and sea turtles. Some Hawaii fish are landscapers, mowing algae in their own private yards. It takes a village to study false killers!Įach of us has our own special role to play among the coral. If you do see one and get some good shots of it, make note of the date, time, and location, and send them to Robin Baird. He’s seen a pod catch a fish and then pass it around to one another – without any of them taking one bite! False killer whales have also offered freshly caught fish to people – whaaaat?! 1 Keep your flippers crossed that you’ll see a member of the endangered Hawaiian population while you’re out here. Marine biologist Robin Baird has been studying their biology and behavior in the Islands since 2000. False killers are a gregarious, long-lived, social species who eat mostly fish and squid. Their skulls are very similar to that of the killer whale, and that’s why they’re called pseudorca. These deepwater members of the dolphin family are black and torpedo shaped with a curved dorsal fin and no beak. Thank you!ĭespite the fact that there is a resident population living around the main Hawaiian Islands, false killer whales, or pseudorcas, are rarely encountered by people. (When was the last time you spent 24 hours in the ocean? They do it all day, every day!) Your marine mammal respect is greatly appreciated. Do not approach, try to swim with, or touch spinners in the water – they need their rest just as much as we do, if not more. On the other flipper, when you see a spinner from below, their light grey belly blends in with the sunlight streaming in from above. When someone looks at a dolphin from above, the dolphin’s dark grey back blends in with the deep blue sea below. The back of the dolphin is dark grey, the middle is a softer, lighter grey, and the lower third is a shade lighter than that. A spinner’s body coloration, called countershading, protects them from predators and hides them from prey. These dolphins are smaller and more slender than many other species, attaining an adult length of about 7 feet. There are many theories, including a) they do it for fun, b) the spinning is a form of communication, and c) the dolphins spin to shake off parasites or remoras. Spinners eat fish and squid, and no one knows exactly why they spin they way they do. They live in large groups called pods, resting together throughout the day and cooperatively hunting and feeding together at night. Spinner dolphins are extremely social, intelligent, and beautiful animals. If you are walking along the beach, and you see a turtle nest that’s been roped off, keep dogs away from it and feel free to celebrate even more! Totally cute turtle babies may be hatching soon! Most hawksbill nesting sites are in the main Hawaiian islands, and these areas are vulnerable (or already gone) due to the development of beachfront properties. Hawksbill turtles eat sponges as well as other invertebrates that live on the rocks. Deflated balloons are just one reason sea turtles have such problems near humans – they eat floating balloons that seem to be jellyfish, and afterwards they cannot dive or eat again, sometimes choke, and always die. However, do not celebrate by releasing balloons, please. If you see an endangered hawksbill while snorkeling, it is an occasion worth celebrating, because this turtle is quite rare in Hawaii. This overlapping does not occur in our more common Hawaiian green sea turtle. ![]() The “tiles” that make up their shell overlap each other slightly. Hawksbill sea turtles have a narrow, sharp-looking beak, like a hawk’s. ![]()
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