An Adventure With Jethro
by Left The family decided to take up scuba diving, since we live close to the Gulf of Mexico, diving around here can be a year around activity, and there are so-o-o-o many things to see. Before starting our adventure Mom decided to take a little side trip and swim with the dolphins at the Dolphin Research Center on the island of Marathon. While she was down near the bottom, just idling along, turning her head back and fourth and looking from side to side, she suddenly looked right into the eyes of a fish three times the size of herself. She almost swallowed the mouth piece, LOL. She floated there for a minute, looking into his huge eyes, shocked at his size, then he opened his mouth (he could have swallowed her whole), it scared Mom to death. Needless to say, it didn't take her long to shoot for the surface and scramble into the boat.
They went back to the Dolphin Research Center and she told a man working there what she had seen. He laughed and said "You just met Charlie." He was a Goliath Grouper with a hormone problem, "about 300 pounds", the man said. This fish has been known to get as large as 750 pounds. Needless to say, that ended mom's diving career. But the family all trooped back to Key Largo where we resumed diving with more normal sized things. That is where I met Jethro. Jethro is a Reef Shark who lives in the tropical waters off the coast of Florida. While we were swimming along, I asked Jethro where some of his favorite places were in this big body of water. Jethro replied that he tended to hang out mostly in coral reefs and the ocean bottom near the continental shelf. He said he prefers shallow water and you can often find him on the outer edges of coral reefs near drop offs or just lying motionless on the ocean floor.
I asked Jethro what his favorite food was and he admitted that he feeds on fish and maybe a marine animal or two. Jethro said he has an acute sense of smell, sight, touch, hearing. He also has this cool electric vibration he says, there are small pores under his skin that form a sensory network. Jethro also use a lateral canal system in his body to detect water vibration. He is some interesting fellow.
When I asked Jethro where he got his unique name, he said that it was a family name, and thou he has taken a lot of teasing from the other sharks, he actually likes his name and doesn't want to change it. I personally think his mom had a great sense of humor. Soon it was getting late, and the dive was drawing to an end. We exchanged phone numbers and promised to keep in touch. I told him we would be back in a month for another dive and we made plans to meet by his favorite reef. As the sun set on Key Largo, one happy cat trudged home with the picture of his new friend and memories too numerous to mention. |
