Encounter Narrative
Wildlife Perspective
1 Pictured above is a juvenile Acanthostracion polygonius (Brown).
My name is Acanthostracion polygonius, but most people know me simply as a Honeycomb cowfish. I am a native to the Haitian seawaters, so I am always prepared for the warm temperatures. I typically live in the coral reefs between twenty and sixty feet below the surface. The reef not only is a great, providing home, it is useful for hiding. I tend to hide here to avoid predators. Avoiding predators can be a challenge considering how small I am. Even though my tough exterior makes me less vulnerable to predator attacks, my size still makes me a target. I only grow between seven to fifteen inches, with seven inches being associated with my juvenile stage and fifteen inches being associated with my mature adult form. Right now, I am still in the juvenile stage. Juvenile Honeycomb cowfish can be characterized based on their bright colorations, being shorter, and being more round. Older Honeycomb cowfish are longer and lack brightly colored bodies. My school is very balanced and includes juvenile and adult fish. We tend to stay together. We all live together in the coral reefs and feed on mainly shrimp found throughout the waters. Depending on the day and time, we can eat enough food to keep us full for days or we can have no luck and end up catching one or two. It is nice to have a healthy balance I guess but having more shrimp available to us every day would be great.
Usually, the days follow the same pattern. First, I wake up to the warmth of the ocean, then I meet up with the rest of my family and we join the rest of the fish. We travel together for what seems like hours to find food. I along with the other younger fish swim fast and end up needing to turn back around because the adults are too far behind. In reality, we never travel too far from the reef. The other fish and little creatures who reside on the reefs become too small to see clearly but we can make out the colors of the reef just enough so we can return home when the day is over. Our elders show us ways to catch food, by blowing air into the sand and eating the little creatures that appear as a result. I pay attention, but I cannot speak for anyone else. Shrimp sometimes just swim around in small groups and we end up chasing and eating them all within a matter of minutes. Other fish and creatures eat the shrimp too, so we do face competition. Some days we are actively eating the same meal around other fish. After we feast, we make our way back to the reef where we stay the night. The water is no longer clear, and the temperature drops slightly in response to the loss of warm from the Sun. I end up falling asleep and the pattern repeats the following day. This is how most days go.
As I awoke today, I noticed that something was off. I could not put my tail fin on it, but I knew something was just not right. I swam out of the hole I was hiding in only to see no other fish of my species or any other species in sight. One of the adult fish swam out and around me, warning me of danger. I followed quietly back into the hole I was in. I was alone in this area at first, but more fish appeared out of nowhere and began to share the space I was in. We all remained quiet and stood still for some time. I felt myself growing tired and began to drift to sleep, when suddenly a large sound burst through the ocean. We all darted out of the reef to look beyond into the ocean. The sound occurred again and again. It was so loud that we could barely hear the cry of the wales in the distance. The once clear, warm ocean became dark and cold. I looked around as did the other fish and for a moment we all felt like this would be our last day alive. The water seemed to form a wave that pushed us hard and far away from the reef. It took only a split second to change our lives.
I had fallen unconscious after being pushed by the cold wave that came through the water. I woke up surrounded by other fish who remained unconscious and some who were just in shock. The water was cooler than normal now and there was no reef, no home, nothing we knew before in sight. I did notice that there was a multitude of shrimp just swimming around freely in the water. Many fish rushed to eat them, I just sat back and watched. I had to take in this new environment. We were all exposed here, it was not safe here.
After everyone regained consciousness, an agreement was made to go back to the reef. We needed to go home where we knew it was safe. Many of the fish who were not conscious the first time feasted on the large amount of shrimp present in the area before we left. We did not know how long it would take to get there because we did not know how far we had been displaced. We knew that no matter how long the journey, we would make it.
A few days into our journey many fish had white spots forming on their bodies. I looked around and noticed not everyone had them, just the majority. It was very strange, this was not a color shade known for my species and judging from the appearances of the other species, it was not a normal color to develop. We continued our journey as normal until nightfall, when the water becomes dark and cold, then we rest and wait for morning. After morning breaks, we continue swimming and swimming in the never-ending ocean.
A few more days pass and the white spots on the fish have grown larger in size. It appears all the fish who have these spots are the same ones who feasted on the available shrimp. The small portion of us who did not get to eat, did not think much of it that is until one of the fish died.
We were swimming when a few of the fish stopped and remained behind. Turning around, we could see their faces and noticed that they were gasping for breath when we normally breathe through our gills. It was very odd and shocking because these fish were fine moments before. Going back closer, we were able to see the white spots present, had grown even larger almost coating the whole body in white. One fish ended up dying, his body flipped upside down and he slowly began to rise. This is when we became afraid.
We had to continue our journey, but it was hard with everyone dying one by one. All the fish with spots, eventually turned white and entered a state where they would stop moving and gasp for breath. When this would happen, there was nothing more we could do. We simply left the fish and continued our journey.
It got to a point where I stopped looking back behind me and I just kept moving forward. I had to make it home. After what felt like years of swimming, I saw something shine within the distance. I got closer and the hues of reds and blues seemed familiar. I got closer only to realize this was the reef. We had finally made it home. Swimming faster, I rushed to get there, to see relatives and to find comfort in a place I knew all my life. I was here and nothing was going to stop me from making it. Finally, I reached the reef. I took it all in. There were still fish living here, not everyone was swept away. For the first time in the past few days, I turned around and there was no one behind me.
They all had eaten the shrimp that day. An odd bunch of shrimps that did not resist or try to run and avoid being eaten. These shrimps were probably harboring a parasite that infected them, causing their lack of fear making them vulnerable to us. This explains why the shrimp stayed still and were found in a great cluster. When the wave came it brought with it something that not only infected the shrimp, but the fish and bigger species as well. In smaller species like us, death was inevitable. I wonder how this parasite has affected life on dry land and how bigger species are handling it.
Works Cited
"Acanthostracion Polygonius – Discover Fishes." Florida Museum. 30 Apr. 2018. Web. 5 Dec. 2020.
Heimbunch, Jaymi. "What Happens to Marine Wildlife During Hurricanes?" Treehugger. 12 July 2019. Web. 7 Dec. 2020.
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"Honeycomb Cowfish – A Student's Guide to Tropical Marine Biology." A Student's Guide to Tropical Marine Biology – Simple Book Publishing. Web. 7 Dec. 2020.
"Honeycomb Cowfish." Photograph. reefs.com. Barry Brown, 2015. Web. 3 Dec. 2020.
"Hurricanes – Discovery of Sound in the Sea." Discovery of Sound in the Sea. 2020. Web. 9 Dec. 2020.
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