Lionfish

This weekend was full of fun. The surface temperature of the water is still 86 degrees and it still has been in the high 80's during the day. Perfect weather for some good boating. We went out on a friends boat this weekend and we were able to water ski. I finally got up this time after about 7 attempts previously. I had water skied when I was younger, but there is something about trying it again in adulthood. It is so fun skiing in the ocean as the water is so warm and clear!

We also went to a Lionfish Tournament at Dockyard on Sunday. Lionfish are extremely poisonous if you are punctured by their fins on their back or tail. The photo above was a previously caught fish that had been frozen. The man dissecting the fish said that since the fish was frozen, if he were to be punctured by the fin it would less intense then a bee sting. Accroding to a Royal Gazette article published on August 12th, 2009, "Lionfish are a growing menace in Bermuda. The invasive species has already decimated fish populations across the Caribbean. Indigenous to the Indo-Pacific and Red Sea, they are expanding rapidly in the Atlantic. In the Bahamas they first appeared in 2002 but are now the most dominant fish in the waters of Nassau." While we did not go out to spear, hook, or net these fish, it was still fun to see what the 50+ boats that went out in search of this creature brought back. We were told that a similar tournament held last month in the Bahamas produced over 1,000 captured lionfish. The issue is so severe there that Bermuda is taking precautions now to prevent the fish from taking over the reefs in Bermuda. They are beautiful fish and we have heard they are quite tasty. They were frying the fish up, but so somehow missed out on the tasting.

Until next time...