Slow Photography #83 Exploring the Shrimp Hole
GETTING THERE:
After sailing to Long Island, Bahamas in February 2018, we rowed our dinghy .4 miles (650 meters) east from the anchorage to a sponge fisherman's area ashore at Gray's Bight settlement, Long Island.First called Yuma by the Arawaks, and later named Fernandina by Columbus, Long Island is 180 miles southeast of Nassau.
Explore the Shrimp Hole and see the shrimp bodies reflected by the undersurface, an experience like floating in space, in this video:
Play Video "Exploring the Shrimp Hole, A Salty Paws Adventure"
THE SHRIMP HOLE:
We'd been previously to Long Island's famous Deans Blue Hole, one of the world's deepest at 663 feet. However, swimming in the shrimp hole was surreal. To get there, you can drive South from Thompson Bay. Since we were anchored, we landed a dinghy and took a short walk across the Queen's Highway and through the grounds of Saint Mary's Spanish church past the graves to a slightly uneven, well-marked trail behind the church.
White signs with red arrows marked the .1 mile trail, level all the way until we reached the Shrimp Hole. It was sunny and warm, with trade winds from the East, ideal for experiencing the setting on this ten minute walk from the highway. There was no parking lot, but ample room was available, to pull off the road and park.
We approached the cave, under shaded trees. My goal was to get closeups of this endangered species at the shrimp hole.
IN THE CAVE:
Swimming in the cave was a dreamlike experience. As if in space, red shrimp float past, some swimming behind, below and alongside.The red shrimp paddled with energetic legs upside-down between blue-hued sunlight beaming through the limestone cave roof. At the water's surface, their cherry bodies were mirrored in reflections. The shrimp were ubiquitous, walking the walls and floor, and catching small worms with their specialized "beak" appendages. This species, I thought, could have been Sterrer's cave shrimp (Parhippolyte sterreri), a critically endangered cave dwelling species, given their have dark eyes, white bands on their knees and joints, and white spots on their tail. Sterrer's cave shrimp have been discovered in the Exuma's, Grand Bahama, Andros Island, and also in Bermuda and Cozumel, Mexico.
HISTORY NEARBY:
On our way out, we went inside the Saint Mary the Virgin Anglican Church, built by the Spanish in the mid-1600's. Search for this church online, and your results may bring up a Saint Mary's in Long Island, New York or the ruins of an Anglican church on Cat Island. However, there was only one Spanish church on the island of Long Island, Bahamas. We also met Brian and Danny Fox, who were cleaning sponges, after soaking them for 8 days in the bay, to ship to Tarpon Springs, Florida for the Greek sponging trade.
WHEN YOU GO:
1. Map2. Transportation Links
3. More about the Endangered Shrimp
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1) WHERE: Map of Gray's, Long Island, Bahamas ( LINK )
Georgetown Exuma upper left, and Conception and Rum center right.2) DRIVING:
You can drive to the Shrimp Hole and Saint Mary the Virgin church from Thompson Bay. Long Island, as of this writing, is getting the funding for an international airport. You can fly into Georgetown, Exuma and take a Bahamas Ferry Service ferry to Long Island. The two airports on Long Island (LGI and SML) are in need of new construction. Air service can be chartered.
3) WHAT TO DO:
www.facebook.com/places/Things-to-do-in-Grays-Long-Island-Bahamas/110418005650801/
4) BIOLOGY OF THE ENDANGERED SHRIMP:
Find the classification and description of the cave shrimp in Gray's Bight, Long Island on Wikipedia.
Video Production ~ Thanks to Salty Paws Productions and Bentley E. Smith MD video editing.
Author~ Jim Austin MA, all text and video copyright 2018 Jim Austin Jimages
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