Went out to the jetty at John’s Pass for a bit of fresh air after a long day at work on Monday. I was curious to see what effects the recent passing of Alex, our first tropical storm of the season, had on my favorite beach.

Thankfully, the brunt of it had passed well south of us, and we enjoyed a lovely weekend. Regardless, this type of disturbance tends to stir up the water in the gulf, which results in interesting detritus on our beaches.

Alex brought in lots of Sargassum (a floating, brown seaweed) and there were a number of fishermen out scooping up the clumps, looking for crabs, octopodes*, and other invertebrates. It’s easier to find them at night since their eyes have a reflective layer that produces “eyeshine” when exposed to light.

*And yes, this is the correct plural form of octopus. Even though octopi is commonly used, you can’t “Latinize” a Greek word.