Amazing Sea Creatures

Sometimes you explore nature and it blows you away. Kayaking the Commodore Creek Trail with my family was one of those times. The scenery itself was beautiful: a narrow channel of slow-moving water with a wall of mangrove on each side. But three amazing creatures are what really stood out from this trip:

The fist organism in this video is one of the coolest I’ve ever seen. Having only seen neon-colored sea slugs in nature documentaries, I had thought they were only found in tropical coral reefs. The surprise of meeting this bizarre creature in Florida mangroves added to the stunning sight of watching it swim. Next, my dad spotted a fish he couldn’t begin to describe. I quickly paddled over while my sister recorded a video on her phone of the strangest fish I had ever seen. With two rear fins sticking outwards, this fish seemed to walk across the muddy bottom more than swim. We later identified the fella as a toadfish. Last, we had the rare honor of witnessing a hermit crab change shells. I remember learning as a child that as hermit crabs grow, they need to abandon their shells for larger ones, but it was amazing to stumble upon this event in the wild. This was also a good reminder that seashells have more vital uses than serving as souvenirs.

It’s amazing what you can find in nature if you go slow and look around.