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| Lobster at Florida Key Largo’s John Pennekamp Park’s welcome center saltwater aquarium about the only way I trust my current “underwater” camera to take photos. |
“Ya Mon. We go get some lobsta,” the Rum Cay locals we befriended told us (click here to read about them). Resourceful folks. They were the inspiration for the conch fritter potluck dinner using their locally caught conch. One of their friends taught a friend of ours to catch land crabs, and somewhat to our relief was not successful in catching the “tasty” lemon shark he was angling with reel (he was more used to fishing with a hand line).
“Isn’t lobster season over?” Wayne asked. (Lobster season in the Bahamas ends March 30th; our conversation took place a week or so into April)
Our friend looked puzzled. “Lobster season?” he replied. But the lobsters are still there!”
Of course one wouldn’t expect lobsters to know when the season’s over.
Or do they?
Fast forward about three weeks. We were snorkeling at lovely Lighthouse Beach in Eleuthera. Our cruising friend and proficient lobster hunter Andy from Andante flagged Ann of Krazy Lady and me. The lobster he spotted could feed a small village. Ohhh, he looked luscious and our trio loves lobster (Wayne can take it or leave it).
But it seemed too risky to nab him outside lobster season. We swear he must’ve known; he came toward us and practically danced a little cha-cha. “Neee-ner neee-ner you can’t get me!” we sure he was saying in lobster-speak.
Maybe next year it will be different; maybe not. At least we did capture some conch and catch some mahi mahi. We know better than presuming we can count on our hunting skills for provisioning, in or out of lobster season. “As Tightwads on the Loose” author Wendy Hinman quips, “We caught more fish by being nice [gifts from others who caught fish].”
Location Location
4 June 2014, BAHAMAS retrospective from April 2014 Rum Cay and Eleuthera. We are currently at JAX Naval Base Mulberry Marina (N30.12.980 W81.40.234) planning to soon drydock our boat for hurricane season in Green Cove Springs, FL. There is no shortage of unpublished photos and adventure stories to fill the gap between now and cruising season, though some are awaiting a long overdue iPhoto technical transfusion.
