The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1881-11-12
Curious Creatures in Chesapeake Bay.

The waters of the Lower Chesapeake
aud its tributaries are filed with living
things, among which are many strange
creatures. Not the least curious of these
are the jelly fish. or, as they are termed
by the natives, "stiugiug nettles, which
may be seen iu countless numbers floating
With tho tide or drawing themselves slow
" through the water, apparently by
sueiiou. | have spent hours watching
these strange little monsters Of the sea,
aud yet TO Que who has never seen them |
fear shall not be able 20 describe them
so as to give him an adequate idea Of their
real appearance. In the water they have
the appearance ofan open, shallow bag, or
pouch Of delicately aud beautifully wrought
white lace; the larger ones are about
twelve inches across the mouth Of the
pouch aud SIX inches deep, fully expanded.
la the center Of the bottom Of the web IS
a star With four points measuring about
two inches across. The edges Of this
pouch arc beautifully sealloped, aud sur
rounding il, an ineh from the edge, Is a
narrow, closely woven belt or cord, which
acts exactly like PuCkering string to this
bag The animal has the power Of con-
trac,ins aud expanding this cord with a
regular motion ike the rapid breathing Of
4 child, and in this manner il moves itself
10 the water This Is all there is Of the
creature, aud it looks as say, exactly like
a shallow bag Of beautiful design, which
the water keeps expanded to It's full size.
Where the exact scat OF life Is | don't
know, unless IL be in the beautiful star
which forms the center Of the bottom.
The animsls vary in size from one to
twelve inches aerOss, aud the water IS full
Of them. Fished from the water in =
scoop net, they come out a shapeless mass
Of slimy jelly without life or motion. II,
while bathing, they come in contact with
your Aesh, they bura you Ike 6re aud
leave the skin red, as from an ordinary
seald Another species, known as "blOOd
suckers, are more like ball They are
the size Of ones fist, with eup-shaped
mouth like a straw, which contracts like
the other variety, and they have three
loug flexible spindles Of reddish color
pendant from their bodies. At night, the
larger Of the kind FIRST described throw of
a phosphOreseent light, especially if dis
turbed, which gives them still more Pc
culiar appearance in the water. Another
Interesting feature of these waters is the
number aud extent OF the schools Of ale
wives which eau be seen at any time in
calm Wheather. Often a school Of them
cover an acre, containing tens Of thousands
of hsh swimming rapidly along so near
the surface that their backs are half the
time out Of water as they closely follow
the erratic aud ever-changing course of
their leaders. These FISH do not grow
very large, those that have seen being
only from hvc to eight inches long; but the
water literally sSarms with them. They
are caught in the spring iG vast quantities
10 the seines and used TO fertilizc the land.
Another peculiar fish is the gar, small
specimens of which can be seen at any
time from the wharyes swimming along
the surface of the water after food. Those
thus seen are not often more than a foot
long, aud one Of them Of this length will
not be larger around than your finger but
as round as pipe stem. The head ter
inmates in a slim, sharp bill, which con-
stitutes Just one third Of the length. That
is, a gar foot long has bill four inches
long, exactly the shape of a snipe's bill.
It attains a weight of ten pounds. The
sea turtle is another strange bird, as an
Irishmau would say, and great delicacy
for the table They are quite plentiful
about Hampton and Old Point | saw
one brought into Old Point in fishing
boat that measured little over three feet
in length and two and a-half ia width
You could hear him hiss half block away.
They have only an upper shell.