Spiny lobster. (Photo courtesy of Drsonline / Stock.xchang)
Marine scientist and author Ellen Prager was the former chief scientist for the Aquarius Reef Base program in Key Largo, where she spent some time at the base’s underwater research station. Now she consults and educates the public about the ocean.
Her latest book is Sex, Drugs, and Sea Slime: The Oceans’ Oddest Creatures and Why They Matter (March 2011). The book is about the sheer diversity of life down in the deep. Prager tells of creatures that can change gender, eject their own intestines, clean up the oceans and potentially cure human diseases.
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1. What is a little-known creature that swimmers or divers in South Florida might encounter?
Oh, there are so many to choose from and may I point out – because I know there is a lot of fear of the ocean out there – that very, very few marine creatures pose a serious threat to swimmers or divers. I swim regularly in Biscayne Bay with South Florida’s Hammerhead triathletes.
Some of the most amazing ocean animals are quite small and often go unnoticed. The nudibranchs, also called sea slugs, are like snails sans the shell. They can be decorated with polka-dots, stripes, gills that are frilly or look like they are covered in porcupine quills. Essentially, nudibranchs are the epitome of undersea bling.
And they have amazing defensive strategies, hosting chemical weaponry, like stinging cells sucked out from other animals. They’re not dangerous, but just don’t try to make one a snack. Keep a sharp eye out when diving and you might just see one of these lovelies.
VIDEO
- See nudibranchs in this video from Jean-Michel Cousteau:
2. In your book you refer to shellfish as the “clean-up crew” of the oceans. Could shellfish possibly help us combat red tide?
Red tide and other harmful algal blooms are actually natural phenomena. It’s just that human activities appear to be increasing their frequency and intensity in some locations. Keeping healthy populations of algae-eating fish and shellfish might help, but we also need to do what we can to reduce nutrient pollution and combat the human contributions to climate change.
3. It’s almost lobster season in South Florida. Do spiny lobsters pee as much (or as dramatically) as their Maine relatives? Why does the Maine lobster pee so much?
Maine lobsters appear to use urine as a means of communication. In their pee are hormones that can signal aggression as well as pheromones that act like “Love Potion No. 9.” I guess you could say it is a part of the lobster language. I am not sure if the spiny lobster uses its pee with as much alacrity as the Maine lobster.
But researchers have discovered that spiny lobsters, like the Maine lobsters, have an incredible sense of smell – essentially the ability to detect chemicals in seawater. In fact, researchers have found that spiny lobsters can even detect disease in their fellow lobsters and may shun infected crustaceans from entering communal lobster dens.
Researchers around the world are studying the biology of lobsters and a lot of other marine organisms to help improve human health and for applications in biotechnology. Turns out we can learn a lot from what has evolved in the sea over hundreds of millions of years.
4. What is one of your most memorable experiences from your time living and working in the underwater lab?
When living in the Aquarius undersea habitat off Key Largo, I loved to get up early to watch the ocean at the large main viewport. All of the other “aquanauts” would be sleeping so it was quiet. As dawn broke, the water would go from black to deep and then royal blue and then shafts of sunlight would pierce the sea, flickering across the seafloor.
Schools of fish that spend their nights out on the reef foraging and days at the habitat would swim off the reef at about the same time and in the same place each morning. It was like the night shift leaving work.
Other fish that spend the night in the protection of the reef’s holes and crevices then began to get active and come out. We call it the changeover time (night to day or day to night). I loved watching it all unveil while sitting below the waves in the undersea lab.
5. Three words to describe your experience of living in South Florida:
Water (the ocean), Weather (good), and Hot (several interpretations on this one).