Airport Art Contest

Recently, I have been working on a picture for the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport art contest. I have my picture finished, but I could use some ideas on the background. If you have any ideas, please leave a comment on this post. Thanks!
Update- I have sent in my picture with a background. I decided on Blue with green streaks going left to right.

Stingrays, Stingrays, and More Stingrays!

Stingray Under The Sand

 Recently at Lido, there have been a lot of stingrays in the water. They're usually Atlantic stingrays, but we have also seen devil rays again in the water. The first stingray picture is covered with sand which makes it hard to identify. There has also been lots of fish washing up on shore. The ones that I have seen include: lots of cowfish, a grouper, a butterfly ray, and a toadfish. They have been becoming stranded more frequently than usual, probably because of all the recent storms.

Two Atlantic Stingrays

Cownose Ray

The cownose ray (Rhinoptera bonasus) is a species of ray. It gets it's name from the shape of it's head because it looks like a cow's nose. To find their prey, they will either flap there fins to stir up the sand, or they will move the sand around with their snouts. Once they have located there prey, they will rapidly flap their fins to reveal their prey. Cownose rays will migrate by the thousands from the Gulf of Mexico, and up the east side of the U.S.. Their natural predators include cobia and sharks. They are not commercially fished by people. However, the Virginia Sea Grant at VIMS is trying to persuade people to start eating cownose rays because a main part of their diet is oysters. But since cownose rays usually only have one pup at a time, it could cause a decrease in the population like the thylacines did. Cownose rays are commonly kept in touch tanks in aquariums. I don't think that I have ever been to a stingray touch tank where they did not have cownose rays.

Mandarin Dragonet

The mandarin dragonet (Synchiropus splendidus), is a tropical from the family Callionymidae. Mandarin dragonets go by many different names including mandarin goby and mandarin fish. They usually live in small groups in the wild. Mandarin dragonets produce a thick mucus that covers them and is toxic to whatever might try to eat it. Mandarin dragonets will dull in color when they are going to rest at night. Mandarin dragonets are popular in marine pet stores, despite the fact that they are difficult to feed because they eat amphipods and other small invertebrates.

Beach finds

 There finds were found a few weeks ago, but I have had a very busy schedule and have not had much time to post on my blog. The two top photos are the stuff which I kept, and the last photo is the stuff that I either recycled or threw away. The best find that I found that day was the shark tooth necklace in the first picture. It was far from where most people stay when they go to Lido.

Lightning Whelks



Lightning whelks (Busycon contrarium), are gastropods like other whelks and snails. They are called lightning whelks because of the jagged lines on the juvenile's shells. The shells in the picture are small ones. There have been lightning whelks recorded at 15"! Lightning whelks are sinistral or "left handed", compared to most whelks which are dextral or "right handed". The lightning whelk is also the state shell of Texas.

Olive Snails

Olive Snail Shells

Olive snails (Oliva sayana), are gastropods like other snails. The ones in the pictures are lettered olives, there are other varieties too that I do not have pictures of like the netted olive (Oliva reticularis), and several smaller varieties. Lettered olives can grow up to 2 1/2 inches in length. The second olive in the picture is fossilized.

Live Olive Snail