Octifest Clue # 4 Has Been Found !

Congragulations to Peyton Smith who found the Octifest Clue Number 4! He scrambled ampongst the chaos to find the clue nested in an Australian Pine on a Causeway Island.


Bruce and Ev, they ponder and stew,
Over each word placed in the Ocitfest clue.

Octifest Fever is running wild,
Parents are searching disguised as their child.

Average explorers wait with great joy,
While Octi-fanitics tackle the paper boy.

They load up their cars and speed to the place,
Surprised to find past winners engaged in the race.

They scatter about and panic sets in,
Only to find they can’t count to ten!

After counting and digging under each branch and log,
The treasure was found by one cleaver P-Dog!

So the waiting begins for the next Octi-clue,
For the next 168 hours, what will we do?!



Good Times!

Octifest Clue # 4

Between B and C lies a small piece of land

Not always here it was constructed by man

On its shores are some local renegades

Not from here, They hang out, make shade.

But the song of this foreigner is a real local treat

Makes a cool lulling haven in the hot summer heat Between B & C, on the western shore

Find the tenth one from us, no less, no more

Stop a minute, relax and listen to the sound

Then take a good look around and the octifest octopus will be found

Good luck
Happy Octifest hunting!

Clues, Cousins and Octopi

Four cousins together we read the clue,
Word by word and through and through.

Sunset found us on Wildlife Drive
With a satellite image of power pole lines.

Where does it land? We just saw it by sea,
Fishermen will tell you it’s the place to be.

Are we all nuts to start out here this late?
Let’s hope that we find it, wouldn’t that be great!

Four of us dashing down Wulfert Trail,
When a cyclist blew past us – OH NO we can’t fail!

Garrett and John were first by a measure
Followed by Ali and Darby – Where’s the TREASURE?

Power pole rising from rocks soaring tall,
Aunt Jennifer found it, we all had a ball!

Thanks to the Sanibel Sea School and Luc Century for all the Fun!

Mary Ellen Pfeifer

Mass Mortality – A Natural Part of Life in the Oceans.

The ocean and its living inhabitants form a complex system which is really very poorly understood.

Recently, we have had large collections of dead and dying scallops, pen shells, sea urchins and parchment worms. One would immediately assume that some form of water quality issue is responsible, and it probably is – just not the types of water-quality issues to which we have become accustomed.

It appears that perhaps this die-off is best attributed to a sudden influx of cold water from out in the deeper regions of the Gulf. Prior to a couple of weeks ago, the water temperature was in the lower 70s (F), then we experienced a large upwelling event that brought cold water from deeper regions of the Gulf resulting in water temperatures of 63 ° F around our island.
The density of water is inversely related to temperature (at least above freezing.) Water that is colder is more dense. The very deep portions of most ocean basins hold very cold water. For some reason, some event likely happened that caused some of this cold water to upwell – that is travel towards the surface. The triggering mechanism causing the upwelling was probably a series of strong winds. These winds push surface water away and pull up bottom water to replace it.

This cold water then rushes past many of our bottom-dwelling invertebrates – known in biological circles as benthic invertebrates. These creatures do not readily thrive in the face of rapid temperature changes and become ‘cold-shocked’ or at times just die from the rapid temperature change. Once weakened, they are unable to maintain their hold on the bottom and become tossed and carried about by the currents. Many of which are then washed ashore on our beaches.

Some parts of this explanation are based on conjecture, but what we do know is that we experienced an upwelling event offshore (we can track surface ocean temperatures by satellite) and we had a rapid decrease in ocean water temperature around Sanibel. We also know that many of the invertebrates we have seen recently on our beaches are vulnerable to rapid temperature change. With this information it seems plausible that our recent die-offs are a result of temperature-shock; not red tide nor pollution, but just another interesting wrinkle of the dynamics of the ocean and its inhabitants.

There is an old adage in medicine that says when you hear hoof-beats don’t assume zebras (in North America) – sometimes what appears to be a result of some horrific pollution event is just the natural oscillation of life and death in the sea. Something we don’t know very much about.
We need to systematically monitor the life (and death) that washes onto our beaches. Along with other conservation organizations and the State of Florida, we are creating a network of beach-combing volunteers to do just that. Together we can truly contribute to our understanding of the dynamics of our oceans; if you are interested in joining this effort email me at bruce@sanibelseaschool.org

Perhaps together, we will get better at distinguishing the horses from the zebras.

Week 3 Octifest Clue

It seems that good things happen to people’s brains at night. Steve and Louise Clark cracked the code for Octifest scavenger hunt #2 Friday night. They realized that the old Sanibel Firehouse was moved to its present location in the 1970’s to become the Bait Box. But they had to wait until Saturday morning when the Bait Box opened to see if their hunch was correct. Bait Box owner Ralph Woodring wasn’t about to make it too easy either. Once inside, the Clark’s had to search for the clue, nestled in a display of mangrove honey. As Luc Century, the Octifest vase artist said, “Wow, mangrove honey?!”

This is Octifest, a season of mission at Sanibel Sea School that will culminate in the Octifest fundraiser on April 26 at the Community Center. To celebrate these eight weeks, Sanibel Sea School is holding eight all-island scavenger hunts. Each week a clue will be published here in the Island Sun. The person who finds a laminated token bearing the Octifest octopus will receive a beautiful crystal vase by island artist Luc Century.

To follow the Octifest scavenger hunts between issues of the Island Sun tune in to sanibelseaschool.blogspot.com on the web. As soon a token is found, the blog will carry a posting.

So, with mirth and glee we present clue number three!


We are islands after all
Connected by bridges short and tall.
And what that really means is that all
But the water we use must get here.

We use something every day
A lot of this, it’s sad to say.
We take it for granted in every way.
It comes to us from across the bay.
That’s all you need to find it.

The point you are looking for
Is where this stuff comes ashore
It’s customarily reached by foot, or
A boat, I suppose, could get there.

Good luck
Happy Octifest hunting!

Second Octifest Octopus Found

On Saturday morning (March 15th), Steve and Louise Clark found the second Octifest Octpus at the Bait Box. Yes, the building that houses the Bait Bax was the original Sanibel Firehouse. It was built at what is now the Heart of the Islands shopping center location and then moved in the 1970s to its present spot.

Sorry to those of you who didn't get there first. But look for a new clue next week.

A Noble Life in a Beer Bottle

A couple of weeks ago, I found a barnacle-encrusted beer bottle in the shallows of San Carlos Bay. As I talked about the merits of picking up litter versus the impact on the creatures living on the bottle, I absent-mindedly tried to empty the bottle of sand that had collected inside. Unable to shake the sand out, I poked my finger into the neck of the bottle to loosen some of the sand – still nothing. So I peered down the neck of the bottle and was joyously surprised to see a tiny suction-cup clad tentacle of a small octopus also claiming this bottle as home.

At first blush one might think this to be a ‘baby’ octopus, but on the contrary it was a grande dame dwarf octopus (Octopus joubini). Yes, some of our octopi can easily fit in a beer bottle as old, fully grown adults. We have two species of octopus on Sanibel, the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) a large variety, and the dwarf octopus (Octopus joubini). Octopi are wonderful mollusks and have unbelievable capabilities to change not only the color of their skin, but also the texture of their skin – almost instantaneously. They are among the most intelligent of invertebrate animals; many scientists believe their intellectual capabilities very similar to those of the house cat. Next time your cat out-manipulates you, think octopus-brain.

Octopi are equipped with a beak (in their mouth) which is located at the confluence of their eight arms. They are extremely fluid and can fit through almost any opening large enough to accept the diameter of their beak. They are also armed with poison that they use to subdue their prey – mostly small crabs, but also an occasional bivalve mollusk. And beware, they are not in any way opposed to bite and sting humans who foolishly choose to pick them up and handle them – which of course I have been known to do from time to time. Take it from me, don’t handle them unless you are prepared for a bee-like sting and bite – just remember cat brain, beak and poison; a bad combination.

One of the most fascinating tidbits of the biology of dwarf octopi is that they only live for about one year. They hatch from eggs and within five months are fully grown and sexually mature. After a female mates, she lays her eggs on a firm substrate and stops eating. She remains with her eggs diligently guarding them until they hatch, shortly afterward she dies advancing age and starvation.

The ocean holds so many majestic mysteries – an octopus living out her lifespan out in a year’s time, forgoing food to guard her eggs then slipping beyond her existence; all in a beer bottle in the shadow of the C span bridge. And she is about as intelligent as the cats we know and love (or not) so dearly.

Pretty cool world we are surrounded by on our island home. Go check it out.

Sea Star Hunts

Last week, we undertook a sea star hunt at Sanibel Sea School. Our survey team counted 158 sea stars along a short section of San Carlos Bay; we will keep these counts to compare with future observations on the health and dynamics of our marine environments. Perhaps just as importantly, we will also keep the memories of our experiences of sea star hunts along cool clear waters of San Carlos Bay. Collectively we took a small step towards our role as stewards of this marine planet – and we had a lot of fun doing it.

For most of us old enough to vote, we know these creatures as star fish, but new generations of ocean lovers know them as sea stars. We call them sea stars now to avoid confusing them with fish. They are animals that belong to the phylum Echinodermata, along with the brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars and sea cucumbers. The name Echinodermata is derived from the Greek echinos (spiny) and derma (skin) – they are the spiny skinned animals.

They are one of a very few groups of animals that are exclusively marine – that is, they’re found only in the oceans. Although they are invertebrate animals (not having a backbone), the echinoderms are fairly close relatives to vertebrate animals (those of us with backbones). One of the characteristics they share with us vertebrates is that they have skin covering their hard parts; they do not have an external skeleton like that found in mollusks or crabs.

Echinoderms also have a unique and quite fascinating hydraulic system in which they use water to pressurize a system of tubes which protrude from their body. This hydraulic system is known as the water vascular system and allows them to crawl along the bottom of the sea on a cushion of numerous “tube feet”.

The most common sea star in San Carlos Bay is the Orange Sea Star which is in the genus Echinaster. There may be as many as six separate species in our area, but like many of our marine animals little is known about them. These sea stars appear not to feed on bivalve mollusks like many other sea stars do. But rather, they feed on sponges and can also ingest dead organic matter which accumulates on the sea floor. Their recent abundance is likely another part of the cycle in our ocean’s dynamics related to nutrient inputs from land-based sources.
Whatever the cause of their recent abundance, enjoy these stars of the sea, but please remember that like mollusks, they are protected by Florida State law in Lee County and collecting live specimens is prohibited.

Islanders Chip and Nancy Roach Find First Octifest Octopus !

So what happened last week? By flashlight, in the night, after a moment of inspiration, Chip and Nancy Roach found the first Octifest token! The hunt sent plenty of folks searching around the old wharf site. But a few realized that the clue referred to a now-dry freshwater well on Buttonwood Road that Cuban fishermen used when they came here to fish. The old well has an historical plaque marking the site.

Eight All-Island Scavenger Hunts Mark the Beginning Octifest Season for Sanibel Sea School

Inspired by a game from this past summer’s Sanibel Skills Camp, Sanibel Sea School will hold eight island-wide weekly scavenger hunts to mark the season of Octifest, Sanibel Sea School’s first celebration of mission.

“This summer we walked past Luc Century’s house every day and the kids sang songs along the way. Once day Luc called us and said how nice the kids sounded and how he wanted to play a game with them. He carved a beautiful whale in a river stone and hid it in plain sight. He said the first child to find it, could have it” recounts Evelyn Neill. “It was a lot of fun and such a wonderful gift. So when we started talking about all we wanted Octifest to be and we were pondering how we might give back to the island, we thought of Luc and a scavenger hunt.”

Each of the next eight weeks, Sanibel Sea School will hide a waterproof token somewhere on the island and will give clues to its location in the newspaper. The person who finds the token will redeem it for a beautiful signed crystal vase carved by Luc Century with an encircling octopus. “There’s no hitch. No one has to buy anything. It’s just a game!” says Neill.

Similar types of scavenger hunts have created tremendous community fun in cities like Portland, Oregon where a large medallion is hidden somewhere in the city or the famous search for the silver hare in the book Masquerade by Kit Williams. “We are going to have a fundraiser at the end of these eight weeks and we hope it will be a tremendous success “ said Neill. “But as one of our committee members said, that is our fundraiser and this is our fun raiser.”

“I hope someone will learn a few facts along the way too” says Dr. Bruce Neill, director of Sanibel Sea School. He says the clues will not be easy and he hopes that everyone will join in the fun. “This is what it’s all about to live on islands like Sanibel and Captiva. We founded Sanibel Sea School as a non-profit dedicated to a very specific mission: to save our oceans through knowledge – teaching people about the marine environment in a visceral hands-on way. And we have found something else in the process: how supportive a community can be not only of our mission, but also of its appropriateness for Sanibel. And for that we are truly grateful. This scavenger hunt is a small way to share that mission.”

The Eight Octifest Scavenger Hunts will begin next week with Clue #1. Each week look for the clues in the paper and may the best man, woman and child win!!