82. Sixteen Tons

Subject:

The Striped Catfish (Plotosus lineatus) is one of the very few catfish species that is found in saltwater. Schools of these fish are known to swim up rivers on Africa’s east coasts. The spines of the first dorsal and of the pectoral fins are venomous, and can be lethal, a good reason for the Convict Blenny (Pholidichthys leucataenia) to mimic this species.

While juvenile Striped Catfish swim in dense ball-shaped schools, the adults hide in smaller groups under ledges and overhangs during the day.

Here in this video we see how a shoal is deepening out a ledge and turning it into a suitable day-shelter. They do so by combining their efforts. Each individual grabs a mouthful of sand from the to excavate area and transports it away. The grabbed sediment is then spit out and the catfish returns to get a new grab. By working together a shoal can dig out a complete new den in matters of minutes. Most sand grains on the ocean floor are more or less round shaped due to the constant friction of these grains amongst each other. Due to ball-like shape of the sand grains the area where these catfish shelter is constantly refilling with new material. These dig-outs need constant maintenance in order not to collapse.

Fun fact: after observing and looking several times at the footage used in this clip we’ve noticed that there are some individuals in this school that are pretending to move sand but that are actually faking their work efforts and they, in contrast to most of them, spit out nothing.

Technique:

“Sixteen Tons” was written by Merle Davis in 1946 and released for the first time a year later. Initially this song based on the life of American coal miners wasn’t a succes. It broke through nine years later (1955) with Tennessee Ernie Ford’s version of it. With the appearance of a clarinet in the tune and by adding the the sound of snapping fingers the song quickly became an international hit.

More than 70 different versions were made over time by diverse musicians and artists in various languages. We preferred to use an instrumental version of this folk song to accompany this short clip.

The original English text goes like:

Some people say a man is made outta mud

A poor man's made outta muscle and blood

Muscle and blood and skin and bones

A mind that's a-weak and a back that's strong

You load 16 tons, what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt

St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go

I owe my soul to the company store

I was born one mornin' when the sun didn't shine

I picked up my shovel and I walked to the mine

I loaded 16 tons of number nine coal

And the straw boss said, "Well, a-bless my soul"

You load 16 tons, what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt

St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go

I owe my soul to the company store

I was born one mornin', it was drizzlin' rain

Fightin' and trouble are my middle name

I was raised in the canebrake by an ol' mama lion

Can't no high toned woman make me walk the line

You load 16 tons, what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt

St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go

I owe my soul to the company store

If you see me comin', better step aside

A lotta men didn't, a lotta men died

One fist of iron, the other of steel

If the right one don't get you

Then the left one will

You load 16 tons, what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt

St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go

I owe my soul to the company store

Filming location:

This short underwater videoclip has been filmed in Mauritius 🇲🇺

Join us on a journey of discovery and entertainment as we explore fascinating marine wildlife topics and explore the many exciting underwater adventures on our YouTube channel and our Facebook page!

Take the plunge and learn to create stunning underwater videos with our online Marine Wildlife Videography course!