Tag: Indian River

A Beach All Our Own

Took a boat trip to the lagoon and explored one of the Spoil Islands.

A boating trip south to the lagoon brought us to an island we had all to ourselves. My daughter came for a visit in November and we took a boat ride, with my son, to explore the islands.

island beach Mosquito Lagoon
Spoil island beach
Island beach, water and palm trees

If you Google Florida’s spoil islands, the links that come up have mostly to do with the islands made further south. Those islands have camping and are kept up for visitor. We were in the northern tip of the lagoon. In general the “spoil” islands were mostly manmade by dredging the ICW canal so large ships could pass through. The coquina rock chunks were piled up to create islands which are now filled with palm trees and vegetation. This is my understanding.

This area is very shallow, and you can only access these islands with a boat that has a low draft. We are not used to dealing with “rocks” and had to be careful as we approached the shore. These coquina rocks are made up of shells and sediment that are all tightly compacted.

A Whelk Unearthed

On the rocky beach side of this island I came across the pointed end of this whelk sticking up out of the sand. When I pulled, the smooth, worn, knobbed whelk shell came up.

worn end of whelk shell
Shell part sticking out of sand!
shell found buried

Beach Erosion, From Hurricane Ian?

Hurricane Ian passed over this area the end of September (2022) and I am guessing that the erosion seen here was due to that storm. Hurricane Nicole didn’t come until November 10th, which was only a few days after this trip. Nicole was worse for the coast, so I’m sure more of this island beach was washed away. Hope we can go back soon. The wind and waves from hurricanes can wash up – or wash away to expose – some interesting things. In Daytona Beach Shores they are excavating a shipwreck that has appeared along the beach, and is believed to be from the 1800s.

Windy days have kept us off the water – that, and the fact that it’s just a busy time of year. I took a short video for the full effect of being on this beach.

Yes, many of the shells had hermit crabs inside, but the big whelks did not.

shells with hermit crabs
Hermit crabs in all three shells
broken whelk
Coquina rocks & broken whelks
bleached lightning whelk shell
This bleached lightning whelk was just so pretty
Beachcombing
beautiful knobbed whelk
A beautiful whelk!

The water was still quite warm – around 78 degrees – and my daughter took a swim and did some snorkeling. I saw stingrays hiding in that grass and it kept me on dry land!

We spent a few hours walking around the beach area, then boated to another island and headed home. hadn’t seen my daughter in nearly two years, so it was a really nice week with her. The day she arrived we (along with my son) headed to Flagler Ave. for an evening beach walk. Every day was spent on or in the water!

Me and my kids
Snorkeling

I’ll be writing more about the shells we found here on my next post.

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Back Out On the Water – Soon

Getting the boat ready for some river trips. It’s been a while, and the Redfisher needs some fixing up first.

by Pam

A Muddy River Walk To Identify a Clump

Last September I had a good day out on the boat. Low tide offered some interesting sea life finds. I was so excited by getting a really good hermit crab video, that I neglected to write about another aspect of the trip. I took a long walk across the muddy flats to inspect a large object in the distance.

Our day out on the water proved to be one of discovery.

First, at the boat ramp, while my son parked the truck and trailer, I found a bubble shell. It’s the only shell of it’s kind I’ve ever seen.

We stopped at an unnamed island along the Indian River where I’d previously seen some very large Tulip shells. This is where I took the hermit crab video and began to wonder if hermit crabs could oust a mollusk from it’s shell.

Three Sisters islands

After we enjoyed that little island, we went just north a bit to Three Sisters. This is one of my favorite places to beach-comb and take photos when the tide is low. It’s also a good place to get into the water to cool off on a hot day.

Must Identify That Clump

The tide was very low and we could walk a long way. Lots of muddy ground was exposed which meant there would be lots of marine life to see.

Off in the distance, in an area where I’d never walked, there was something large sitting on the mud. Any time something stands out like that it’s worth a look. I figured it might be a big horse conch and hoped it was not a dead animal.

It turned out to be a clump of something I can’t identify. It was hard and jagged, like a piece of coral maybe. I took these photos and then walked back toward the boat.

clump
Strange clump on the muddy flats

Truthfully, the walk across the mud to identify the clump was a bit nerve-racking. The mud can be very soft. As you can see in the photo below, it’s easy to simply sink and get sucked in. It’s why I am careful about where I jump out of the boat.

Not only did I have the mud to worry about, but there were bumps just sticking out of the water. Anyone who knows what an alligator in water looks like would agree with me that these bumps look similar. Supposedly there are no gators in this area of the river, but they do live in the river just south of here near Cape Canaveral. I once discovered an alligator skull down there. I’m always on the look out, because you never know in Florida.

Back the way I came
my feet sunk into the mud
My footprints
Creepy bumps
Passed some shells with hermit crabs in mud
Shells with hermits
Shells buried in the mud
Shells in mud
golf ball in saltwater
A weird find

Seashells and Oysters

I sometimes find interesting seashells among the oyster beds but the mud is especially soft and the oysters are sharp. The hermit crabs like to carry their shells into these beds. The oysters are constantly snapping and gurgling while they feed and filter the water.

Pear whelk in mud with oysters
Oyster bed with sharks eye shell
Muddy oyster bed at low tide with seashells
Shells in the oyster bed
Pear whelk in mud with oysters

This area is loaded with oysters which mostly grown in clumps around the base of the mangroves. Oyster shells are sharp and can damage boat bottoms, not to mention feet! This is not an island paradise.

Mangrove island surrounded by oysters

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The Indian River – Fishing and Manatees

In October some friends came to visit and we went fishing on the Indian River. The water was exceptionally clear that day and we could easily see manatees near the boat.

We all enjoyed the beautiful weather and the fishing was pretty good.

manatee just beneath the water
manatee swimming in the river
fishing off the boat
fishing from the boat

Where is the Indian River?

I often write about being out on the Indian River. So, where is the Indian River? It is part of the ICW (Intracoastal Waterway) that runs up the eastern side of Florida. In my (central east coast Florida) area it is named the Indian River. A bit further south, part of the river branches out by Merritt Island and the Space Center and that part is named the Banana River. Here is a good map of the area.

The river is salt water, or brackish, which is a mix of salt and fresh. We only live about two miles from the local boat ramps. This is the main area we go when we travel by boat. Our part of the Indian River is actually designated as “north” and is part of the Mosquito Lagoon area. The Indian River is also referred to as a lagoon: Indian River Lagoon.

The area is known for it’s abundance of fish and sea life specifically bottlenose dolphin and manatees. We see lots of dolphin while boating, but only see manatee when the water is warm.

This area of the river can be a nursery for fish until they grow and migrate offshore. Whenever we fish in the river, our catches are usually small in size, and are released back into the water. However, some fish hang out in the river once they have become large. We’ve caught good size Redfish, Jack Crevalle, and trout. The Snapper is usually very small as they move offshore to grow large. Offshore fisherman catch some really nice snapper. An old friend of ours runs a fishing charter business out of Jupiter if you like offshore fishing.

The only parts of the river and lagoon that are deep are the dredged parts which allow for large boats to travel it like a highway. This can make for some very big waves at times! Well, big if you are in a small boat like ours.

Yacht on the ICW
two yachts
Yachts on the main channel

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