How do I account for the ‘fluther’ of Portuguese Man of War that drifted into our little mangrove creek yesterday? It has to be serendipty. Bob jumped in the dinghy and got lots of photos for me. Now I have plenty of good images to draw from for my tapestry.
The poor things will die back here as they tangle with the mangrove roots. We will have to be very careful going under the lines we have tied in the mangroves as we go to and fro in our dinghy, as well as when we leave and Bob pulls in those lines. At low tide the lines droop down in the water, so there is a good chance the lines have poison on them and can sting Bob’s hands when he pulls them back aboard in preparation for leaving. We’ve put dishwashing gloves on our provisioning list.
The water is a very weird color back here in the mangroves–a milky green. We think that it’s caused by something the mangroves themselves produce and leech into the water, but we have no certain knowledge about this!
What I do have certain knowledge about is the collective word for jelly fish: fluther! A fluther of Portuguese Man of War. I love collective nouns; they are so evocative. A ‘murder’ of crows is one of my favorites. A “bloat” of hippopotamuses, a “kindle” of kittens, a “parliament” of rooks. Last night when I went searching for a collective word for jelly fish, I found that a ‘gaggle’ of geese is for geese on the ground. When they are flying they are called a ‘skein’ of geese. I love that! Ducks also fly in a skein.
Just now Bob called me up on deck to see a small spotted Eagle ray– a juvenile. Isn’t he beautiful?
I’ll end with a shot of Bob I took yesterday. He was attempting to befriend a pelican. Not successful!
