After living on a canal off of Alaqua Bay for nine years, I have observed some unusual things for a "city girl". Please forgive my ignorance but: yesterday, @noon, I was sitting on my back deck and saw 9 jellyfish Of course, I didn't have a camera and for this, I apologize. May I assume this is a natural occurence? The short web search I did seemed to point to moon jellyfish. Do any of you out there know about these canal creatures? Early gratitude to any who can solve this question for me: thanks!

dont know for sure without looking at them, but jellyfish often make their way to the bays and up canals from tidal, etc.

Hi, I live on the bayou in historic point washington and have been observing these jellyfish come through mostly sept/oct (but I've only lived here since spring). Are these what your 'friends' look like too? I believe you are correct as moon jellies. Not weird, just mother nature :)

Attached Images

jelly fish and dock a+.jpg (77.6 KB, 18 views)

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Yep! ChillPill. My little kritters look just like those in your picture, thanks for solving my mystery. Mother Nature continues to amaze me.

I'm with you. Completely amazed at what I see and learn about nature living here. First I google it, then I SoWal it too!

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Most every animal I've seen in the Gulf, I've seen in the bay and bayous, including jellyfish, stingrays, alligators, and dolphins. Still waiting to see the sharks in the bayous.

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SJ, your post is a bit amibiguous only with respect to sharks. Does it mean you've seen sharks in the bay as well as the other species, but just waiting to see a shark up a bayou/creek?

It's only 5 months until shark week is on Tv again, so i want to get my facts straight, before i freak out again,

Good catch, robertsondavies. I guess I was typing too fast. I have NOT yet seen sharks in the bay, though I've heard other people say they have seen them there. I've heard many people talk about seeing plenty of sharks in the Intracoastal Waterway, and there is only one way to get there from either direction, the bay. I'm sure they are there, and likely scooting in and out of the bayous too, I just haven't seen one yet, though I have paddled beside them in the Gulf, and I've seen them clear the water while standing on the beach, and I even had one swim maybe ten feet in front of me while I was out fishing waist-deep one time. I did see a Spinner Shark one time while out paddling in what I consider the bay, the north side of Cape San Blas.

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My next door neighbor caught a small (about 2 ft.) bull shark off his dock way up in the northern part of Mallet Bayou a couple of months ago.

I've seen catfish nearly that size in Mallet Bayou. I'm not sure which would be worse, being finned by a catfish or bitten by a small bull shark. ouch!

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Oddly enough, he was fishing for catfish at the time. He likes catching them.

Hubby and I saw a shark in the bay in October, while going over the 331 bridge. We went into a pool supply store for just a few minutes, and saw the shark again while driving back to Seagrove. Beautiful sight.

We caught several black tips in the mouth of the bay and the intracoastal. It was really cool to see them and they were not very aggressive. I would love to see a spinner shark and we did see a shark criusing Grayton Beach on Tuesday late afternoon.

OK, now ya'll have me scared to hang my feet in the canal. Seriously, I have learned some of the possible sightings I have yet to encounter from my dock. Thanks to you all!

From the article. River Monsters : Bull Sharks : Animal Planet

There are several videos too. I've seen these episodes and they are scaaaary!

A Freshwater Nightmare: The bull shark is a river monster of nightmares — it is a sea creature that can tolerate fresh water, allowing it to travel far up rivers and close to contact with humans. Its tendency to dwell in shallow coastal waters and rivers ranging from the Atlantic to the Indian to the Pacific Ocean, coupled with its unpredictable and aggressive behavior, lead many scientists to label it as the species responsible for the majority of shark attacks on humans.

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Get Outdoors!

I have seen blue crabs and, believe it or not, jellyfish several miles up the Choctawhatchee River. Was stunned to see both of them. Would never have figgered.

I have some great footage in some of my underwater video of these jelly fish. Small fish inhabit the interior of the jellyfish. I thought these did not sting because I've bumped into them many times without getting stung, but then came the time I was.

But yes, not sure which underwater videos I have footage of this one, but it's in their somewhere.