I’m still here in Mississippi, enjoying a nice time with family and a well-earned vacation from work. Today, we decided to take it easy and laze about the house. About the most taxing thing I did all day was play a game of checkers with my nephew, Liam.
However, I still need to write about yesterday afternoon’s shrimping experience. After the kids got done playing at Lynn Meadows, we loaded everyone back into the van and headed to the beach to catch the Biloxi Shrimping Trip aboard the Sailfish. This is a tour where the elderly, eccentric, and entirely lovable captain of the small vessel takes people out just a short distance from the shore, drags a small shrimping net for twenty minutes, and then goes through the catch to point out the various aquatic life he caught. The captain gives you a bit of information about the Mississippi shriming industry in the process. It was an enjloyable experience, and I thought I’d share some pictures.
First, we have a picture of the boat as you approach it:
The interior has a number of interesting sea artifacts and educational information:
Notice the small “gift shop” area in the far corner. There were plenty of postcards, tee shirts, baseball caps, and other assorted items to purchase.
Except while the net is dragging, the captain spends his time standing on the aft platform, either going through the haul or working on letting out or hauling in the net:
As the net drags along behind, the seagulls gather in hopes of a free meal:
Once the net is pulled in, the captain dumps the catch into his work area:
Notice the stingray in the middle of the picture. This was probably one of the most notable animals in this catch.
As he’s picking up various species of fish, the captain dumps many of them into the aquarium for display purposes:
About five minutes before we reach dock, the captain will dump the contents of the aquarium back into the gulf.
Of course, the captain never forgets the seagulls. All through the demonstration, he occasionally tosses a fish up to them. And when he’s done sorting through the fish on the deck, he will scoop the remaining ones up with a shovel and toss them into the air and overboard, just to create a great opportunity to catch a seagull feeding frenzy on film:
If you’re ever in the Biloxi area, I strongly recommend you check out this experience for yourself. The captain is an excellent showman and the educational aspects of the trip are rather interesting.
