Matt and I were diving at Nubble Lighthouse
Finding a flounder on the floor of the ocean is always exciting for me. Flounder are a type of flat fish that spend their time living on the sea floor. This particular fish is a yellowtail flounder.
I spotted this flounder while Matt and I were diving at Nubble Lighthouse in York, Maine. The lighthouse sits on an island only a few dozen yards from the shore. The rocky coast line is mostly made up of iron ore which allows for many eddies to sustain micro habitats of sea creatures. There is a rocky beach area due west of the lighthouse from which Matt and I started our dive.
Our plan for the dive was to travel towards the lighthouse and make our way clockwise around the island. Once we were underwater, we realized that we were in a hotbed of sea life. We began taking photos of starfish, crabs, lobsters, and blennies.
At one point during the dive, I began to experience some discomfort in my ear, so we surfaced for a few moments. After our short surface interval, I quickly spotted this flounder during our descent. He seemed generally uninterested in me as I took photo after photo.
He seemed generally uninterested in me
The left eye slowly moves over to the right side of its body
Fun Flounder Facts:
- Yellowtail flounder can live to be 17 years old
- They feed on crustaceans and worms
- There are 7 managed populations of yellowtail flounder. This fish was in the Cape Cod/Gulf of Maine stock. This population is currently overfished, and the biomass is only at 16% of its target level
- When yellowtail flounder first hatch, they have an eye on each side of its face. As they age, the left eye slowly moves over to the right side of its body!
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