Great blue herons at Venice Rookery, Florida 

Photographed by Rachel Case Riddle

The First Book of Mammals. Written and illustrated by Margaret Williamson. 1957.

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Hello new generation of marine biologists! I need to express how important good relations with fisherman are. Some enthusiasts and students seem to get angry at fisherman often, and lay blame to them. But they are a really important source of information for research. They spend more time at sea than you or I likely do, and their livelihoods and/or passions are tied to a healthy ocean. They've likely seen things that could be very influential to potential research.

From catch records to personal anecdotes to conservation. Fisherman are a bedrock source.

Here's an example: the coelacanth was discovered to be quite alive after consulting with east African fishermen, who had been catching them for quite a bit. With their help, an ROV was able to find them in the wild.

A personal example: I recently interviewed fishermen at a local pier to gather information on sixgill sharks around Tacoma, and learned of a group of poachers that have been illegally harvesting them at the pier (they are protected in Washington State). I was able to get more information and provide it to the proper authorities. And i also know when the sixgill sharks now appear around Tacoma.

As you go out into the world and learn new things, please keep fishermen in mind. They might just clue you into something very interesting.

Heinrich Harder (1858-1935)

via

Bonnethead Shark

medium: watercolor pencil

update: so I did a color enhancement on iPiccy

I love this. Bonnetheads are some of my favorite sharks. They're like tiny hammerheads, but 𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 (more round?). They can be an unfortunate bi-catch when I fish using bait instead of lures, however. From what I understand, hammerheads and bonnetheads do not fair well from the stress, even if the release is super quick. This is why I prefer to use lures, because it limits the chance of hooking a small shark or ray.

A little bass decided to grace my net on a very windy day

They call them Redear Sunfish for a reason

Yeah, down here in Georgia if I call any sunfish by their real name I get funny looks followed by "What's that?" and "Nah man this is just a bream." 😐