The bright morning sun stuns my eyes as the pleasant ocean water of the Gulf of Mexico warms my teenage body. Hundreds of us (Tarpon) swarm around blue crabs that are bunched up around this sixty foot trench about a mile offshore. We are stocking up for our annual “run” we like to call it down to the dreaded pass, which has claimed many of my family members is the years past. From the knowledge I have obtained over the years the pass is located at the end of Gasparilla Island, every year starting in mid April thousands of us travel through the one hundred foot trench to end Charlotte's Harbor an estuary that is prime spawning ground due to its abundance of resource and food and a limited amount of predators. The bring full moon begins to appear …show more content…
The night passes very quickly and the activity on the surface begins to increase. Fishing boats from all over the Florida rush in on their chance to catch us. However, as the sun rises and hundreds of boats flood the pass and drop their lines. Our school heads east towards Pine Island to our sacred breeding ground to give birth to our next generation. We arrive along the mangroves of Pine island, this estuary is prime spawning grounds for us due the abundance of shrimp and pinfish, and the the lack of predators like the dreaded hammerhead shark. Over the course of two days we spawn, off the shore of Pine Island, the newly born do not feed but they absorb the nutrients through their porous skin. As r-selected species we do not take care of our young like most of other fish. We depart mangroves of Pine Island during the dead of the night as we continue our quest for food. Once again we are headed back to the pass, while I swim in the warm brackish water I notice the abundance of marine life present in the estuary, the wonderful array of fish make this journey very soothing and pleasant. The light begins to fade as we dive deeper and deeper into the abyss of the Boca Grande