Pointy Bits

Winter is the dry season in the Caribbean. Where we lived, that meant very little runoff from the streams and rivers, which meant that the ocean water clarity was superb for diving.

We lived on a hill between two beaches. Our hill extended about a third of a mile into the ocean as a rather impressive peninsula. One of our regular weekend pastimes was to gear up and walk down to one beach then snorkel all the way around the point to the other beach and walk home from that side. I had brought an old three-prong for spearfishing, but the rubber band was dry and broke the first time I tried to stretch it. When we finally replaced it I took the spear out on our weekend dive.

Lionfish are an Indo-Pacific species that invaded the Caribbean several decades ago and have proven to be extremely damaging to native fish species. From Florida to Tobago there have been organized campaigns encouraging divers to kill and eat as many lionfish as possible. While we did not see great numbers of them where we were, we did consistently see them, during both day and night dives. With a functioning spear in hand, we managed to find three on our trip around the point. I missed the smallest one and it escaped deep into a cave, but the larger two got got.

I also speared a few soldierfish, which we gave away to a neighbor, but we had never tasted lionfish before so we kept them for dinner. Lionfish have venomous spines in their dorsal, anal, and pelvic fins, but they can be carefully trimmed off with kitchen shears or scissors. I filleted the fish and cut up some vegetables to make fish broth, a local seafood soup.