A Swarm of Dragonflies

On Thanksgiving day Alan and I spent time simply relaxing.  There was a leisurely breakfast, a walk on the beach, and a little floating in the water while exploring the reef area with snorkel, mask and fin.  Aside from that we lounged in the dappled sunlight under palm trees with each others company, a book (for me) the sound of the ocean and the presence of many curious bobbing dragonflies.  I say bobbing because they appeared to bob in the air rather than dart or zoom.  I was mesmerized by their beauty and the sheer number of them.  There were hundreds if not thousands of dragonflies!  I have never seen anything like this before and had to research this phenomenon. Come to find out this is one of those ephemeral events that few are lucky to experience in their lifetime and I was also able to submit my data for collection as part of The Dragonfly Swarm Project.  

 

This is a small video I made while watching them by the pool late in the afternoon.  There were swarms all over the beach as well.  One of the waitresses came by after watching me take pictures and the video and let me know the Spanish word for dragonfly is libélula (LEE-BEH-LOO-LA).