A snorkeler was left in shock when she came face to face with a strange sea creature while swimming in the blue waters off Mexico.
Susan Aide Morales Cruz has been documenting marine life around Playa Miramar for years, but only came across a unique snail this month.
Footage from the dive shows a bright red sea hare swimming through the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Morales Cruz was “hypnotized.”
Sea hares live in shallow coastal waters where they can feed on seaweed and marine plants. These plants owe their reddish brown colour to the animals.
Sea hares resemble snails and live in most marine waters of the world. They feed on alae and sea grass and are often red-maroon, green or brown.
Susan Aide Morales Cruz (pictured) has been documenting marine life around Playa Miramar for years, but only this month came into contact with a unique snail
Morales Cruz, who lives in Ciudad Madero, a short distance from where she saw the sea hare, described her encounter as nothing short of memorable.
“It was late that day and out of nowhere I saw the sea hare coming, as if he was flying through the big blue sea,” she said. Narrative.
“It really hypnotized me, and I started swimming after it. I started recording it and followed it for a long time, maybe 30 minutes.”
The minute-long video showed Morales Cruz following the animal, which can grow up to 7 inches (18 centimeters) long.
Sea hares have structures on their heads called rhinophores that can taste molecules in the water current, helping the animal to find food.
“It’s rare to find this species here where I live,” said Morales Cruz.
‘It was a beautiful scene, the combination of the majesty of the animal and the sunset. A very memorable moment.’
Sea hares are found in most marine waters around the world where there is no strong current. They feed on algae and sea grass and come in a variety of colours including reddish brown, green and brown.
Although sea hares are called sea snails, through evolution they have acquired small internal shells, but no external shells like the land snail.
These remarkable creatures live on average for one year, from the time they hatch from their eggs and begin life as larvae.
At about two months old they are fully mature and can start reproducing at about seven months.
Sea hares have an average lifespan of one year, starting when they hatch from their eggs and begin as larvae. At about two months of age they reach full maturity and can begin reproducing at about seven months
Sea hares are found in shallow coastal waters where there is plenty of seaweed and marine plants to feed on, giving the animal its reddish brown colour
Like land snails, sea hares are hermaphrodites: they can be either male or female during mating.
The animals usually breed in large groups of 20 or more sea hares. Each sea hare produces millions of eggs that hatch after about two weeks.
Sea hares contribute to the marine ecosystem. They feed on seaweed and algae, thus ensuring a balance in plant growth so that other species can survive.
They are not considered endangered, but their populations are at risk of declining due to ocean acidification, climate change and coastal development.
Ocean acidification is caused by the release of carbon dioxide. This carbon dioxide is absorbed by the seawater, making the water more acidic and potentially damaging the outer shells of animals underwater.
But as the animals decline, “overgrowth and ecological imbalance pose serious problems,” the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation says.
This ‘could have consequences that impact human society, such as changes in the availability of fish and seafood, changes in water quality and partial ecosystem collapse.’