Tide Fisher

"What are you looking at, sir?"
The young deckhand shot a cursory glance out over the choppy waters, but saw nothing but the distant cliffs. His captain did not answer immediately, but continued squinting into the glare of the sun for a moment before his arm snapped up, finger pointing.
"There. Here they come."
The deckhand shielded his eyes from the late morning light with his hand and looked in the direction the captain indicated. He saw nothing for several seconds and was about to ask what his captain was pointing to when he noticed several small dark shapes hovering over the water. After another second he realized they were moving closer and he had only spotted them because they had moved in front of the mountain mist.
"Tide fishers?" he asked.
"Aye," said the captain. "If we are lucky, everyone will get a good haul this morning."
The deckhand grunted and nodded. This was his first time fishing in the bay, but he knew the other fishermen often took advantage of the gliders' ambush tactics to scare the fish into their nets. "If we are unlucky?" he asked after a moment.
The captain smiled grimly, teeth flashing for an instant. "Then, only half the fishers out this morning will catch anything."

Basic Information

Anatomy

Tide fishers are quadripedal mammals. They rarely grow beyond half a meter in length and 0.7 meters wide with limbs outstretched. They weigh between nine and sixteen kg. Tide fishers have narrow, muscular bodies with long necks, thin heads with pointed snouts, and broad, flat, rudder-like tails. Thin flaps of skin connect their fore- and hind-limbs on either side that can be stretched taut when their limbs are fully extended. Rough pads cover the bottoms of their feet and they have short, strong claws on each toe. Tide fishers' toes are long enough to let them grip the rocks of the cliffs they live in. Their teeth are thin and needle-like to pierce and hold fish as they dart through the water.
Tide fishers have a uniquely flexible spine that allows for wider side to side movement than is usually found in vertebrates, giving them the ability to swim by wriggling their bodies back and forth like the fish they hunt. Tide fishers are covered in a slick, streamlined layer of fur to reduce drag in the water as much as possible. The fur produces hydrophobic oils to keep water from reaching their skin, which helps keep them warm when fishing in colder months. Their undersides are white and their topsides are a mottling of grey and black, darkest at the spine and lightening only somewhat at the sides.

Genetics and Reproduction

Tide fishers give birth to live young who are capable of fending for themselves after two to three weeks. Gestation lasts about two months. During the latter half of the pregnancy, when it is more difficult for the female to move around, the male will fish for both members of the pair. Pairs mate at the beginning of every spring and continue to do so for life, only choosing a new mate after the first dies. It is not uncommon for a tide fisher who has lost its mate to refuse to take another, even when advances are made, though younger tide fishers are more likely to take or seek a new mate than older ones.

Growth Rate & Stages

After birth, young tide fishers rely on their parents for only two to three weeks, during which time they are restricted to the nest on the clifftop. During this time they are clumsy newborns and struggle to figure out how to walk without tripping over their own skin flaps. These newborns are about a tenth 0.1 meters in length and weigh about 2 kg. Once they are coordinated and confident enough to leave the nest, their parents demonstrate how to glide only once, after which they must succeed for themselves or be dashed against the cliffs. This same process applies to swimming and retaking to the skies, as well. Adolescence lasts for about six months. During this time of rapid growth, tide fishers gain roughly 2 kg a month until they reach adulthood.

Ecology and Habitats

These semi-aquatic mammals live only in the cliffs of Ithilien, literally climbing into crevices and gaps in the stone where they pile on top of each other in family groups called crowds, using the close proximity and one another for warmth and grooming. Tide fishers spent most of the year in the cliff side, living on the cliff top during mating season.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Tide fishers are piscivores, living entirely off the fish in the Gulf of Andileath, and earn their name from the way they hunt. When the tides are low, the animals leap from their crevices and use the warm air rising off the water to glide far out in the gulf. When they spot the schools of fish they feed on just beneath the surface, they tuck their limbs tight against their bodies and dive into the water like a spear. Using their momentum and muscular bodies, they dart through the schools and grab one or two fish on their sharp teeth, then dart out of the water and spread their limbs to catch the updrafts again. They eat while they glide. Gradually, the tide fishers make their way back to the cliffs with the tide. Once the tide is high again, they use swim up through the waves, using the crest as a launching point to leap from the water and grab onto the cliff face above the reach of the water. Then, the tide fishers climb back inside their crevices to groom and socialize until the tide ebbs and it is time to feed again.

Biological Cycle

During the spring mating season tide fishers move to the cliff top where they build nests of mud, rocks, sticks, and other debris, mate, and give birth. Even on the cliff tops, the gather tightly together, using their numbers to help deter potential predators.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Tide fishers are highly social, living in groups called crowds in the cramped space of their crevices. Communal grooming and communication via high pitched vocalizations (chirps, whistles, and squeaks) are frequent.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

While tide fishers are not domesticated, the fisherman of Ithilien do often take advantage of their presence on their outings. This is, however, a hit-or-miss strategy, as the tide fishers are just as likely to scare the fish out of the fishermen's nets as into them. Because of this, some fishermen adore the creatures and even think of them as lucky, while others consider them to be a potentially disastrous nuisance.

Average Intelligence

Tide fishers are suspected to have some higher level of intelligence, though it is unclear if they can actually be trained or domesticated. When Ithiliens are out in their boats, these gliders prefer to fish around ships whose crews treat them kindly or even feed them and will avoid those ships whose crews are aggressive towards them. This strongly suggests tide fishers are capable of recognizing the faces of the crews and identifying them as friend or foe.

Lifespan

5-7 years

Conservation Status

Non-endangered, but only found in the cliffs of the Gulf of Andileath.

Average Height

0.3 meters

Average Weight

9-16 kg

Average Length

0.5 meters/0.7 meter "wingspan"

Average Physique

Tide fishers resemble weasels in body-type. They have long, narrow, muscular bodies. Their rudder-like tails and skin flaps between their limbs distinguish them from other weasels.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Tide fishers have white bellies with a mottling of black and grey on their backs, darkest at the spine and lightening slightly at the sides.