Flamingo Tongue Snail

December 10, 2023December 11, 2023 / Jeffrey Cardenas / 7 Comments

Don’t kill me because I’m beautiful

^{The spotted mantle of the flamingo tongue snail warns predators that, despite being pretty, it is also poisonous. Photograph: © Jeffrey Cardenas 2023}

The bare shell of the flamingo tongue snail looks like a characterless white rock. It is the living part of this animal–the mantle–that dresses up the shell with its outrageous leopard-print cloak. It does this to impress its underwater neighbors. The flamingo tongue is not looking for a date. It simply wants to avoid being eaten. The colorful spots tell predators, like lobsters and pufferfish, that, however beautiful it might be, the flamingo tongue is also toxic.

I am weathered-in aboard Stella Maris for several days with 30-knot winds and driving rain. There is no better cure for cabin fever than time spent underwater. I particularly enjoy freediving in shallow water, where I can get up close and personal with the minutiae of the underwater world. The flamingo tongue snail is a part of this world today. At less than an inch long, it might be easily overlooked were it not for its flashy costume.

The snails are most frequently found grazing on toxic soft corals like sea fans and other gorgonians. The flamingo tongue uses its foot, which resembles a long ribbon with teeth, to secrete chemicals that dissolve coral into digestible food. The snail is not concerned by the coral’s toxicity—it repurposes the chemicals by storing those toxins in its own tissues to use as a defense mechanism against predation.

Not every diver is happy to see flamingo tongues because as they graze, they leave a thin trail of dead coral polyps in their wake. But the snail will rarely kill its host coral. Most damaged gorgonians can regenerate their lost tissues. Marine biologists who have specifically studied snails and their effect on coral say that because the polyps regrow, this predation is part of a well-balanced reef.

Female and male flamingo tongue snails leave behind mucus trails that release pheromones on the soft coral when it is time to breed. Flamingo tongue snails are hermaphroditic, having both male and female reproductive organs. However, they cannot fertilize themselves and require a mate to reproduce. Mating can last up to four hours (snails move slowly). Four days after mating, the female lays her sticky white egg clusters onto part of an exposed gorgonian skeleton. Each egg can contain up to 300 embryos! After ten days, the egg capsules hatch to release free-swimming larvae.

The flamingo tongue snail is not currently considered endangered, but like many marine organisms, it is threatened by human activities. It is listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), meaning that international trade in this species is regulated to ensure that it does not become threatened with extinction.

Conservation efforts for the flamingo tongue snail include protecting its coral reef habitat through marine protected areas. Some countries, such as Jamaica, have implemented regulations to limit the collection of flamingo tongue snails, and the United States has banned the import of these snails for the souvenir trade. Flamingo tongues are often collected by people who mistakenly think that the shells themselves are colorful when they see the leopard spots on the mantle. Once a flamingo tongue snail dies, the mantle is gone and the surface of its shell becomes a bleached bone-white piece of calcium.

Flamingo tongue snails may not yet be endangered. Still, as I swim in this gorgonian garden and see so much beauty on a windy and rainy day, it makes me wonder: what is so toxic about human nature that makes some people, when they see something beautiful, want to kill it for a collection? Life on coral reefs is already seriously threatened by climate change, ocean acidification, and mass tourism. The one thing we can do right now is minimize our impact by moving more slowly–and less possessively–in this fragile underwater world.

^{Beautiful in life, a souvenir trinket in death.}
^{Photograph: © Jeffrey Cardenas}

REFERENCES:

National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (21 Feb, 2020) Sea Wonder: Flamingo Tongue Snail
Oceanus (26 Aug, 2008) Biochemical Warfare on the Reef, Kristen Whalen–Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
One Earth (8 Aug 2023) Flamingo tongue snail: the beautiful tropical creature of the Caribbean, Lindsey Jean Schueman
Ocean Conservancy (10 Sep 2021) What is the Flamingo Tongue Snail?, Eric Spencer

Thanks for sailing along with Stella Maris on this Bahamas leg of our journey.

As always, sailing is not just about the wind and the sea; equally important are the places, the flora, fauna, and people encountered along the way.

Please click “Follow” so that you don’t miss a new update,- and please consider sharing this post with others who might enjoy following the voyage. I welcome your comments, and I will always respond when I have an Internet connection. I will never share your personal information.

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Text, Photography, and Videos © Jeffrey Cardenas 2023

^{Let this be a time of grace and peace in our lives – Fr. John Baker}

Breathe In, Breathe Out…

December 6, 2023April 25, 2024 / Jeffrey Cardenas / 5 Comments

I am anchored tonight next to an island blowhole.

As ocean swells from a distant storm meet the iron rock shoreline, water travels under great force through a labyrinth of ancient passages in the limestone until it emerges as a fountainhead roaring with a blast of sea air.

Breathe in, breathe out… I will sleep in peace listening to this tonight.

^{A secluded anchorage with a hydrodynamic soundtrack. Turn up the volume…}

Thanks for sailing along with Stella Maris.

As always, sailing is not just about the wind and the sea; equally important are the places, the flora, fauna, and people encountered along the way.

Instagram: StellaMarisSailing
Facebook: Jeffrey Cardenas

Text, Photography and Videos © Jeffrey Cardenas 2023

“^{Let this be a time of grace and peace in our lives” – Fr. John Baker}

Dry Land Feels Weird

December 4, 2023December 5, 2023 / Jeffrey Cardenas / 11 Comments

^{I am most comfortable on the water and underwater. Things get weird when I reach dry land.}
^{Photograph: © Jeffrey Cardenas}

At the Moriah Harbour Cays National Park in the southern Exuma Cays, conservationists understand that not everyone wants to get wet. What is dry on these islands is as spectacular as the underwater world that surrounds them. The addition of a little human waggishness adds to the experience. On the southern tip of Stocking Island an “Art Trail” has been cut through the coppice allowing restless sailors to stretch their legs and express personal wit.

^{Wilson was here…}

Of course, nature always has the last laugh. The natural beauty of the coppice (a Bahamian hardwood forest) is breathtaking. In the 22,833 acres of Moriah Harbour Cays National Park, trails pass through exotic palm groves. Caves are cut into calcium carbonate limestone. Lowlands are alive with American Oystercatchers and Giant White Landcrabs. An upland hiker might be startled by a Bahamian Blind Snake or an Antillean Nighthawk. And, growing so thick that it nearly shuts off sunlight, is flora that includes Drawf Frangipani, dominant stands of Bahamian Poisonwood, and wild Oncidium Orchids.

Dry land, I learned, can be a wonderland. All I need to do to experience it is step ashore once in a while.

^{And, at the end of the trail, there is always the sea.}

Thanks for sailing along with Stella Maris.

As always, sailing is not just about the wind and the sea; equally important are the places, the flora, fauna, and people encountered along the way.

Instagram: StellaMarisSailing
Facebook: Jeffrey Cardenas

Text and Photography © Jeffrey Cardenas 2023

“^{Let this be a time of grace and peace in our lives” – Fr. John Baker}

A Hidden World Protected

November 20, 2023November 20, 2023 / Jeffrey Cardenas / 12 Comments

Eleuthera’s New Seahorse National Park

^{This proud papa, a lined seahorse, flaunts his pregnancy with a swollen brood pouch and will soon give live birth to hundreds of baby seahorses. Photograph: © Jeffrey Cardenas}

I am channeling Charles Darwin today as I step out of the thick Bahamian scrub and into a landlocked pool of anchialine water in Central Eleuthera known as Sweetings Pond.

This body of water, fed from a maze of subterranean connections to the ocean, is teeming with bizarre life forms. They include the red flame scallop (which is actually a clam) that can dislodge itself from the seabed and “walk” away from predators by clapping its valves together. And then there is a gelatinous sea slug called a fringeback nudibranch with sharply serrated gill fingers and long tendrils that pulsate in shades of aquamarine. But the show-stopper is a mutated miniature lined seahorse with enough characteristics from two distinctly different types of seahorses that some marine biologists think we could be witnessing the evolution of an entirely new species.

Protecting the 500-acre Sweetings Pond with its unique biodiversity has been a quiet mission for conservationists. Until recently, researchers and locals managed to keep its location a secret. In its anonymity, the pond faced no immediate danger. However, the rampant development of resorts and marinas in the Bahamas, as well as other threats including agricultural runoff and poaching has encouraged marine researchers and governmental organizations like the Bahamas National Trust to push for the preservation of this rare habitat.

One of those researchers, Dr. Heather Masonjones from the University of Tampa, has been studying the seahorse population in Sweetings Pond for over five years. In an interview with BBC Wildlife magazine, she said that the pond may have one of the most densely populated seahorse communities anywhere on Earth. She hopes the protection of the pond brings sustainable tourism that will educate people about seahorses and contribute to improving their conservation worldwide. “If we don’t take action it could be lost forever.”

Several weeks ago, the Bahamian government formally designated Sweetings Pond as its newest National Park. “The declaration of Seahorse National Park is more than just a designation,” said Lakeshia Anderson-Rolle, Executive Director of Bahamas National Trust. “It is our shared promise to our community, to future generations, and to the world that we are committed to conserving our unique and diverse ecosystems.”

Thanks for sailing along with Stella Maris.

As always, sailing is not just about the wind and the sea; equally important are the places, the flora, fauna, and people encountered along the way.

Instagram: StellaMarisSailing
Facebook: Jeffrey Cardenas

“^{Let this be a time of grace and peace in our lives” – Fr. John Baker}

Conch–The Magnificent Mollusk

November 13, 2023November 14, 2023 / Jeffrey Cardenas / 12 Comments

^{This Eleuthera queen conch tolerated a peek under her petticoat to show her bright orange mantle where she sometimes hides a conch pearl. Photograph © Jeffrey Cardenas}

In the Bahamas, it is often about what’s for dinner. Conch fritters, conch salad, conch chowder, cracked conch.

But today, near a nursery of wild baby conch, we swim among the queens and there are no thoughts of putting them on a supper plate. Seeing these threatened creatures thrive in a natural environment of crystal-clear water is reassuring.

Queen conch had been collected at a sustainable level by local subsistence fishers for centuries. But beginning in the 1970s, according to research by the Shedd Aquarium, increasing commercial fishing has caused conch populations to decline or collapse in much of the species’ range, including the Bahamas.

If the conch fishery collapses, it could put more than 9,000 Bahamian fishers—two percent of the country’s small population—out of work, according to a National Geographic report. Nearly all exported Bahamian conch meat is shipped to the U.S. In 2015, about 400 metric tons of conch were caught in the Bahamas, and about half of that was exported to the U.S., which prohibited the taking of conch in the mid-1980s.

A limit of six queen conch in possession aboard a foreign-registered vessel is the limit in the Bahamas. That is a privilege. Queen conch is a delicacy.

But today, in Eluthera, they look better to me alive than they would in a frying pan.

Thanks for sailing along with Stella Maris.

As always, sailing is not just about the wind and the sea; equally important are the places, the flora, fauna, and people encountered along the way.

Instagram: StellaMarisSailing
Facebook: Jeffrey Cardenas

“^{Let this be a time of grace and peace in our lives” – Fr. John Baker}

Stella Maris Sail

New Horizons

Flamingo Tongue Snail

Don’t kill me because I’m beautiful

REFERENCES:

Breathe In, Breathe Out…

Dry Land Feels Weird

A Hidden World Protected

Conch–The Magnificent Mollusk