French Cay Harbour is a protected area and the lobsters know it. In most places, if we see lobsters at all, it is just the feelers sticking out from under coral and rocky ledges. Here, As Jerry at Fantasy island says, “the lobster condos are all full so they have to hang out in the open.”

Jim and I had snorkeled just off the anchorage before and although we saw lots of lobsters and conch, it was pretty boring. But today, we saw action!

We thought we’d take a quick swim through to have another look and then continue to our favourite spot off the Big Cay Channel. We tied the dinghy to the signpost (and had a very enjoyable chat with Debbie and Dick (Sticky Paws) and jumped in the water. It wasn’t long before I heard Jim calling and waving so I kicked my flippered feet faster, circled around some coral heads and came to an abrupt stop. No, that’s not true. I went immediately into reverse as I came alongside Jim, because no more than 6 feet below me were 2 of the largest lobsters I have ever seen!

These Caribbean Spiny Lobsters can be up to 2 feet, and these had to be at least 1 ½ feet with antennae that stretched 2 feet on each side, and long, articulated legs that allowed them to rise up to 8 inches off the ground. They were orange and brown and tan and had spiny horns above their eyes, and even without the claws that their northern cousins have, these were fearsome looking fellows!

We floated nearby for a half hour at least as we watched one fellow defending his turf against the interloper who would scramble up close, only to be driven off by the alpha male. He would walk backwards and then his big tail curled and straightened just like a flipper and he swam quickly backwards out of reach. This happened again and again – sometimes with a straightforward approach, sometimes with stealth as he crept around from a different direction. At one point, while two were mixing it up, we watched another big one scramble out from under the coral, and we also watched the big guy back off and allow a smaller lobster – female maybe - come out and walk away. I read a book one time – The Secret Life of Lobsters – that talked about the northern lobsters mating habits and supremacy battles and I need to look it up again to understand more of what was going on here.

We could see the spines of sea urchins peeking out from almost every crevice, algae covered conchs in the turtle grass and many more tell tale antennae of lobsters in their caves, but the out in the open drama was by far the most fascinating thing for that day’s excursion.