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This cache is located near a public beach. Site of many Jubilees throughout the years. There is plenty of parking and restrooms just steps away. Please be aware of muggles as it is a fairly busy area. Please place the cache back exactly as you found it to provide a good challenge for future cachers.
If you have lived in the Mobile Bay area for any length of time you have certainly heard of a unique, local natural occurrence called a “Jubilee”. This phenomenon occurs mainly on the eastern shores of Mobile Bay.
During a Jubilee many species of crab and shrimp, as well as flounders, eels and other fish leave the deeper water of the bay and swarm in large numbers to the shallow waters of the eastern shores of the bay. Many of the creatures literally come out of the water onto the beach. A Jubilee is a celebrated event in Mobile Bay, and it attracts large crowds, many drawn by the promise of abundant and easy-to-catch seafood.
Although similar events have been reported in other bodies of water, Mobile Bay is the only place in the world where the regular appearance of this phenomenon has been documented.
The Mobile Bay Jubilee typically takes place at least annually, and sometimes several times per year; years without a jubilee have been recorded, but they are exceedingly rare. Many accounts of the jubilee exist, the oldest dating back to the 1860s.
The size, scope, and duration of the Jubilee can vary greatly. Sometimes a 15-mile (24 km) stretch of coast representing most of the eastern shore can be affected, and at other times the extent can be limited to as little as 500 feet (150 m) of coastline. Most Jubilees happen in the pre-dawn hours.
The large volume of crustacean and fish that a Jubilee can produce is hard to overstate; author Archie Carr comments that "at a good jubilee you can quickly fill a washtub with shrimp. You can gig a hundred flounders and fill the back of your pickup truck a foot deep in crabs."
In addition to the sheer mass of marine life present, harvesting them is made considerably easier by the effect that the oxygen deprivation has on the animals. Their behavior has been described as "depressed and unnatural” crabs are observed "climbing tree stumps to escape the water" and flounder "slither up the banks."
It was not until 1960 that the phenomenon was explored in-depth by marine biologist Harold Loesch for the journal “Ecology”. Locals and laymen had based some earlier attempts to explain the animals' strange behaviors on the interaction of sea and fresh water during the incoming tide.
After researching the oral histories and journalistic records of past jubilees, measuring physical and meteorological conditions, and taking biological and chemical measurements, Loesch concluded that accumulated organic material on the bay floor could, under a certain set of conditions; result in a rapid depletion of oxygen (hypoxia) in parts of the bay, driving fish to the surface seeking oxygenated water.
Favorable Conditions, Locations, and Frequency:
Loesch studied jubilee events spanning 11 years, from 1946 - 1956, hoping to find patterns in the jubilee occurrence. From this data he was able to conclude several things. Over the 11-year period studied, the 37 jubilees all occurred between the months of June and September, more frequently in August than all other months combined. Jubilees are most common on the upper eastern shore of the bay, from Point Clear to slightly north of Daphne, but they also occur with less frequency south of Point Clear to Mullet Point, and on the Bay's western shore at Deer River and Dog River Point. Most jubilees occur in the hours immediately preceding dawn.
Loesch lists five observations that he reported as having a strong concurrence among witnesses of several jubilees:
1. Jubilees occur only in summer.
2. They usually occur in early morning hours, i.e., before sunrise.
3. The wind on the day previous and during the jubilee is from some easterly direction. If wind direction changes, the jubilee will cease.
4. There is a rising tide during a jubilee; a change to falling will stop the jubilee.
5. There are 2 water masses meeting, with the saltier water invading during a jubilee.
The length of coast that serves as the most popular jubilee grounds is densely populated. When a jubilee is spotted people living near the shore will often ring bells and call out to alert their neighbors so that everyone can rush down to the water with washtubs, gigs and nets, and gather a bountiful—and easily reaped—harvest of seafood. As jubilees only happen on warm summer nights, often in the early pre-dawn hours, the event takes on the aspect of a joyous community beach party, with lights shining into the Bay water.
This cache is located adjacent to a beach that is located right in the middle of the "Jubilee Zone". Perhaps one summer night when you are seeking the cache you too will witness this one of a kind celebration.
Sometimes when you are looking for a cache hiding place, you come upon a place that is perfect and begs for a cache. Such is this place as you will see.
This cache was made especially for the “Bermudian” team (yes I have read the strong hints in your logs recently) it is a camo lock N lock container large enough for trades. The initial contents are several trinkets and a few other items as well as a logbook. BYOP. The cache also contains some laminated pictures of past Jubilees. Please dont take the pictures. Please make sure that the plastic bag that contains the log doesnt hang out of the container when locking to prevent container leakage. Enjoy !!!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Guvf 200 lrne byq zna xrrcf uvf frpergf qrrc vafvqr