Some photos provided by ALVIN LAO, YENNI LIONG-LAO, & VICKY TAN-YAO
The first couple of post-pandemic years seem to have ambushed me. I have gotten used to the slow-paced work routine because of the numerous lockdowns. But now that the economy has jumped back on its feet, work has swung around with a vengeance. The past months have been so hectic that I was rarely able to go to my favorite hangout: the beach.
One Thursday, I finally told my wife, “I am not going to wait for the long weekend to go to the beach. Let’s go this Sunday!”
I did go to the beach two or three times last year, and I remember encountering one or two Pufferfishes during each trip. It made me want to find Puffers and take their pictures so that I could write about them for Animal Scene. I almost regretted this decision and my overconfidence, because I went home with barely any pictures of this wonderful and funny creature.
INTERACT WITH CARE
Let me just remind our readers to be extra careful when interacting with wildlife and Fishes. We do not want to put these creatures in danger of injury or death. I spent my childhood literally at the doorstep of both the forest and the sea, and I have had decades of experience with animals. Nowadays, I guide young people in their interaction with nature, including the kids whose pictures appear in this story.
GOING ON A ROAD TRIP
I requested Melissa, one of my staff, to be my guide and spotter at sea. She grew up in the remote town of San Jose in Northern Palawan, in a very secluded seaside community accessible only by bangka. She readily agreed, and my family made preparations for food, water, and gear.
I planned to seek out the Pufferfish, who will be this story’s “round” feature. The Puffer’s neighbors will be co-stars in this story as both “the flat” and “the scary”, which explains the title. The road trip took an hour. We stayed and swam at the beach until lunchtime.
STALKING A PUFFER
Brimming with confidence, I brought my wife and two daughters along to swim with me as I followed Melissa. I told them, “This is the day you will see your dad stalk and catch a Puffer.”
We swam for about an hour looking for any Pufferfish. It was very tiring because I had to dive two to three meters down to the sea floor towards crevices and rock clumps, checking if there were Puffers hiding there.
Sure, we saw a lot of Fishes. There were Damselfishes, Angel Fishes, Butterfly Fishes, Gobies, Shrimps, Emperor Fishes, juvenile Trevallies, and even Jellyfishes — but no Pufferfishes. My wife and my daughters got tired, so Melissa and I continued on our own as the others headed back to camp.
The two of us probably spent another hour swimming and searching for the elusive Puffer. I had already given up and signaled Melissa to head back to camp when, just a few minutes after turning around, there was a good-sized Striped Puffer — also known as a Narrow-Lined Pufferfish — right below me, staring at me like I was one clumsy Dugong.
FAILED ATTEMPT
Pufferfishes have very few predators because of their deadly toxins. Because of this, they are not easily frightened like most other Fishes. I then knew that if I approached the one I saw slowly and steadily, I could get really close and coax him to enter my net.
In fact, Mr. Big Puffer was not alarmed by my presence. He stayed still, with his left side resting against a clump of seaweeds.
So there I was, holding my breath two meters below the water surface. I already had my two nets in position, one at the Fish’s rear and another in front. With his left side blocked by seaweeds, there was very little space for escape.
Alas, I got too excited and closed the nets in too soon! Startled, Mr. Big Puffer swam through the very narrow window between my two nets.
NO MATCH
Mr. Big Puffer had become wary. He knew it was him I was after.
I continued to stalk him, but he would not let me get two meters near him. The more I followed, the farther he stayed away from me.
For a Fish in water, all that swimming took very little effort. For big clumsy me, it was taking a lot of energy and stamina to follow the fat, graceful swimmer that seemed to defy physics as he cut through water so effortlessly.
Sure enough, after a few more minutes, he shook me off his tail by diving into a thick seaweed garden. Tired and dejected, I turned around and swam back towards my spotter.
A SECOND ENCOUNTER
As I rejoined my spotter, I took my snorkel off and explained why I suddenly swam away, and how the chase ended in failure for me. I felt bad because Mr. Big Puffer was a really big specimen similar to the one in the picture. I encountered him three years ago, and he had a girth bigger than my hand.
When inflated, Mr. Big Puffer would be as big as a bowling ball. As I recounted the sad turn of events, I noticed that Melissa was grinning from ear to ear. It turned out that, as I suddenly sped off to chase Mr. Big Puffer, she also sped off after Ms. Slender Puffer. I wore my mask and snorkel in order to see the net she was holding underwater.
And there she was: Swimming above Melissa’s stash of sea shells was Ms. Slender.
With our mission accomplished, I told Melissa that we really had to go back to camp. We did not want Ms. Slender to experience too much stress.
This Puffer, whom I encountered three years
ago, had a girth bigger than my hand.
RESILIENT LOT
Both Mr. Big Puffer and Ms. Slender are Striped Puffers. Their species inhabits shallow beach areas and shallow coral reefs. It is no wonder that most of my pictures here are of Striped Puffers, because they are the usual Puffers whom we encounter here in the shallows.
It is very common to find a Striped Puffer stranded in a shallow pool during low tide. They are hardy and do not mind the long wait under the hot sun for the high tide to get them back to sea. The pool of water they are stranded in can get really hot and the oxygen level quite low, but Striped Puffers can ride this scenario out just fine.
ANGRY BIRDS
I remember one time when my extended family and I encountered an army of Striped Puffers. It was at Port Barton’s sandbar two years ago.
Our group had rented two big bangka for us to go to the sandbar in the afternoon low tide. This beautiful sand bar was just a kilometer from the mainland beach, but it was not visible during the high tide.
As I jumped into the water, I was surprised by the huge number of Puffers swimming around me. Most of them were juveniles the size of golf balls. Never in my life had I seen such a large number of Pufferfishes swimming about in one small area!
As more people jumped in, some of the startled Puffers started ballooning themselves up. It was a really funny spectacle to be surrounded by cute round Fishes who, at the time, could not position themselves in a more dignified manner.
I scooped up some of the Puffers to show my niece, who was on vacation from Metro Manila. Boy, was she surprised with the “golf balls” handed to her! She got three of them in her hand and understandably named them “Angry Birds”. (I would like our readers to note that there was a pail of seawater beneath the hand holding the Angry Birds. Striped Puffers could survive a long time out of water, but we took this precautionary measure just to be extra sure.)
Do not be confused by the white patch of skin you see in the area where their eyes should be. Some species of Puffers have this. As they balloon themselves, a protective layer of skin will be pulled over their eyes for protection.
PUFFY AND POISONOUS
Aside from the Striped Puffer, there were other interesting Pufferfishes I encountered over the past few years. I have interacted with a Guineafowl Puffer, a Blackspotted Puffer, and a Porcupine Fish (Karatongan in Filipino).
All of them can balloon themselves into enormous proportions. All are also poisonous when consumed as food, except for the Porcupine Fish. But, as we can see, the Porcupine Fish is not someone we want to pick a fight with. When inflated, the literally needle-sharp barbs are all pointing outwards. Whoever underestimates the Porcupine Fish is in for a very painful lesson.
Meanwhile, the poisonous Puffers carry the deadly paralyzing toxin known as tetrodotoxin. It is a very strange coincidence that, while I was writing this story, the local paper Palawan Times printed a story about a family who lost a few persons to Pufferfish poisoning.
Apparently, one of the family members cooked a Pufferfish and served it during the family dinner. Tragically, a number of people succumbed to the Puffer’s toxin.
STAY TUNED!
I really got carried away talking about the Pufferfish, my childhood companion at the beach for as long as I can remember. I have not even narrated how my photoshoot with the feisty Ms. Slender panned out. I also have not told you yet about the other interesting individuals whom we encountered on our way back to the beach, and why I gave Ms. Slender that name in the first place.
I guess I should save the rest of the story for the next time!
