In May, I spent a few days on Dauphin Island–always a good time! But that trip I had a cold that wouldn’t quit, so one afternoon, instead of walking beaches and bird sanctuaries and neighborhoods as usual, I went to the marina and got on a “Lighthouse, Shrimping, Dolphin” boat tour.

Turns out the dolphins were all vacationing in the Bahamas and the sea was too rough to go out to the lighthouse. Nevertheless…. it happened that the smallish group on the boat included a family of seven: mom, dad, a babe in arms, and four kids ranging in age from about 4 to 9 or 10. No one better to have fun with then a bunch of kids! I fit right in.

The shrimp net brought up an interesting variety of critters from the bottom of Mississippi Sound. After oooing and awing and learning a bit about the various species, we put some of them back into the water. I took photos of each species and my iNaturalist species count grew greatly that day, especially in the area of icthyology.

Then the kids and I hand fed the minnows, small fish and small shrimp to a gaggle of gulls and a flotilla of pelicans. For pelicans, that involved a relative well-aimed toss. But for the gulls, the strategy was to hold the shrimp or minnow with one hand above your head. Immediately a hovering gull swooped in and snatched it. Only rarely did a beak engage a finger tip!

Many thanks to the crew of The Duke for showing us a good time. #YearInReview