Camo Mermaid

Saltwater and sun is my recipe for Summer fun! I am drawn to the sea, like a fish out of water, I need it to survive! My playground is the Gulf of Mexico! Growing up I would pretend I was a mermaid and use to wish on shooting stars that I could talk to dolphins. Ok, ok, I will admit that to this day I still would love to be a dolphin trainer! Underwater my mermaid tail is Camo colored and my hair is blue! I am one with the water and have always been comfortable swimming and playing in the Gulf! My love for it has led me to not only fishing, but to spearfishing, free diving, and scuba diving. I love being submerged in a blue under water world of scales, barnacles, and seaweed!

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One of my favorite things about being under water is the way the sun glistens down on you. It is like you can see every sun ray cutting trough the water down into the sea below. The sun twinkles and dances when it’s under the water! There are so many unique things about just the water itself. Certain times a year there is bioluminescent plankton in the water. It is a type of plankton that shines and glows in the dark. Imagine someone taking the inside of glow sticks and poring that stuff into the water at night. It’s plankton that when agitated glows and becomes fluorescent. When they are abundant in the water at night you can see a glowing trail behind the boat from the prop stirring them up. You can also see it at the beach when waves break on the shore. It’s like the stars fell into the ocean and are all shimmery in the waves!

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The Gulf of Mexico is full of surprises. One time I went scuba diving with dolphins. It wasn’t on purpose, we honestly had no clue they were there when we entered the water. I was on a spearfishing trip at a near shore rig. It was about half way on my decent around 60 feet or so that I saw something out of the corner of my eye swim crazy fast past me. It scared me half to death because your first thought is curious shark. I heard them before I saw them. Dolphins make a high pitch very distinct noise. I was relieved but honestly very intimidated by the creatures. There were three of them, one in the distance and two swimming around in our bubbles at the surface of the water. Dolphins are pretty big up close and personal. These seamed at least 9 feet long. One of them hand spots or what I like call dolphin freckles. The curious three didn’t stick around long, just wanted to play and then went on there way.

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I have had several encounters with dolphins. I see them weekly when I ride the ferry boat to get to work and on and off the island. I have also had them come up to us while on bay boats and ride the wake at the bow of the offshore boats. They are very curious creatures and I have in return been very curious of them as well. I love the Gulf of Mexico, have been in the Pacific a handful of times, but hope some day to put my feet in many other oceans of the world!