The Bahamas Lobster

The Bahamas are famous for their crystal clear waters and amazing reefs where wildlife can be spotted on a regular basis. Visitors travel from all over the world to enjoy a dive excursion within this tropical paradise. One of the best ways to truly experience the island is underwater. There are a wide variety of scuba and snorkeling hot spots throughout the Bahamas that attract visitors on a daily basis. This includes spots within Freeport, Grand Bahama, Nassau and more. While there are many different sea creatures that you're likely to see while enjoying a Freeport diving excursion, one of the most well-known inhabitants of these tropical waters is none other than the lobster.

Lobster Appearance

Lobsters are members of the aquatic arthropod family, more commonly known as crustaceans. This aquatic creature group includes more than an amazing 35,000 species. The term, "crustacean", is derived from the Greek word meaning, "hard shell", which is a common characteristic of lobsters and other creatures belonging to the aquatic arthropod family. Lobsters can be spotted by their hard shell that provides them with protection and allows their muscles to attach correctly. There are some types of lobsters that have claws, which are the most well-known types of lobsters, while others do not have this feature. Throughout the Caribbean, many of the lobsters that you may see during your dives are known as spiny lobsters. These lobsters do not have claws.

Lobster Eating Habits

Lobsters are known for their varied eating habits, consuming almost anything that they can get a hold of. However, their favorite type of diet consists of crabs, clams, urchins, mollusks, snails and other slow-moving species. Because the spiny lobsters of the Caribbean live in crevices of the coral reef, they usually only venture out into the open water during the night in order to find something to eat. In fact, the overall coloring of the lobster is determined by the food that they consume. The small species that lobsters eat are typically covered in algae which the coloring for varies depending on the depth of the water. Lobsters in shallow water tend to be a greener color than lobsters in deep water because algae near the surface is more green than red.

Lobster Habitats

Caribbean spiny lobsters are usually found in reef communities everywhere from North Carolina to Brazil. You are likely to see this species while on a Freeport diving trip. When the fall season approaches, the lobster residing within the Caribbean waters may take part in what is known as a long migratory march. The lobsters line up single file in shallow areas of the water and walk out into deeper water, as far as 30 miles from the shoreline. The exact reason why lobsters take part in this migratory march is unknown, but specialists believe that this is due to the storms that commonly occur during the autumn. This is a prime time to spot lobsters in deeper dive areas within the Bahamas. The lobsters will then make their way back to shallow areas over long periods of time, typically alone.