Turtles and Ghosts

Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Fri 26 Apr 2013 22:59
Bear and the Turtles and Me and My Ghosts
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Bear went with the rest for a snorkel and he was just about to give up as visibility was not so great and he was seeing nothing new, just the usual suspects.
 
 
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Just then he saw a rather pretty lady and her posse.
 
 
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She came out for a better picture........
 
 
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.............and posed nicely.
 
 
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Then Daniel came by with a new friend.
 
 
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After posing he needed a rest.
 
 
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A youngster came by and an eagle ray completed Bears fun time.
 
 
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Whilst the others were snorkeling I indulged in my favourite hobby - rock pool hunting. Anemones, Sally light-foots and a baby sea cucumber.
 
 
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Sally kept me interested for a while.
 
 
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My real target was hiding, but there had to be many judging by the thousands of little balls of sand all over the beach.
 
 
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I had to wait fifteen minutes, sitting very still before the first appeared, then another, then more.
 
 
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A rather pretty painted ghost crab.
 
 
Ghost crabs dominate sandy shores in tropical and subtropical areas, they breathe through gills, which they periodically wet with seawater. They must return to the ocean to release their eggs, which develop into marine larvae. Their name conjures up all sorts of images but merely means they are primarily nocturnal and most are pale coloured. One claw is slightly bigger than the other.
 
 
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I just love to watch them shovel in sand..........................
 
 
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.....................which drops out of their gills in their trademark little balls.
 
 
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As soon as the snorkelers returned my chaps ran back home.
 
 
Adult ghost crabs dig deep burrows, comprising a long shaft with a chamber at the end, occasionally with a second entrance shaft. They remain in the burrow during the hottest part of the day, and throughout the coldest part of the winter. They emerge mostly at night, to feed on just about anything.

The name "ghost crab" comes from their nocturnal lifestyle. Their scientific name Ocypode is derived from the Greek roots ocy-fast and pode foot, in reference to the animal's speed and can they run. Their gait alters as their speed increases. It can trot along indefinitely using all four pairs of walking legs, occasionally alternating which side leads. At higher speeds, the fourth pair of legs is raised off the ground, and at the highest speeds, the crab runs, using only the first and second pairs of walking legs. Just before we rejoined Chino for our lift back to Vision, Daniel somehow managed to pick up a chap from the shoreline for me to get a closer look – what a handsome chap.

 

 

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ALL IN ALL A HAPPY TIME