Paddy likes watching crab fishing shows – the type where rugged fisher-folk battle monstrous seas at ghastly times of year for that last big catch.
Paddy’s Dad has Sky TV and in between the recordings of documentaries, motor-racing and engineering programmes sits a lot of crustacean catching – courtesy of sonny boy.
It’s become a bit of a running gag with us every time we go to visit.
“What are we watching? Not bloody crab fishing again!” (Most of the time we aren’t watching crab fishing – Paddy just likes to announce that we are to wind him up.)
It was bloody crab fishing we were watching at the weekend however when I picked up the first clue towards what our mystery critters might be.
This time the battle between man and crab was taking part in the North Sea and starred fisherfolk with accents so think they needed sub-titles despite speaking in English.
They weren’t having much luck and were pulling up all manner of things that weren’t actually crabs – including these odd-looking creatures they called “squat lobsters” which looked suspiciously like a larger version of our unidentified swarm.
I turned to Google where I discovered a blog on how to cook the things, but it wasn’t a New Zealand-based one so I still wasn’t 100% sure
But Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand sealed the deal with this boggle-eyed chap
Accompanied by the following entry:
Swarms of these bug-eyed crustaceans often wash ashore in summer on southern beaches. They are the juveniles of the squat lobster (Munida gregaria), commonly known as whale krill or lobster krill, and they are an important food for seabirds and fish. Adult squat lobsters live on the sea floor and are not commonly seen.
So mystery solved – thanks guys!
Our squillions of swarming shrimp-things were in fact baby squat lobsters
Paddy’s response to all the excitement? “See? crab fishing is educational!”