Crabs on the Pier

What a beautiful day for an outing! Our ride took us to a spot we had not visited before - the pier south of Gulf Park Estates in Ocean Springs. Lots of folks were taking advantage of the sunny skies and getting a little fishing in before the cold snap that's approaching.

We watched three young people who fished from the end of the pier. They were catching something, but not fish! As they reeled the lines in, up came blue crabs - holding on for dear life to the shrimp they'd "caught". Close examination of each of the crabs showed bright red tips of claws, something we were not familiar with.

After returning home and researching the blue crabs online we learned what those youngsters probably already knew - they had caught "she crabs" or "sooks", as fishermen call them. Luckily for the ladies hanging on to the shrimp, their captors gently released them back into the waters to live on, and maybe in the future, have a few youngsters of their own!