Indian River

One Day I Found a Giant Red Hermit Crab

One day while searching the islands at high tide, I came across the only red hermit crab I have ever seen. He was big, and living in a very broken crown conch shell.

Have you ever seen a giant red hermit crab? Me neither until, well, one day I did! I got some great photos, so read on.

giant red crab florida — Giant Red Hermit Crab found in the Indian River

The Story of the Big Red Hermit Crab

We went out on the boat yesterday, my son and I, and ended our day at Three Sisters, which is a group of three islands in the Indian River backwaters. The tide was coming in so there was no sand showing, but it was shallow enough to walk and search for shells. We were the only ones there until a pontoon boat with a family aboard pulled up as we were leaving.

Three sisters saltwater islands at low tide on the Indian River. — High tide means no sand showing at Three Sisters

While walking the shallows, I came across this rather large shell. It was moving so I figured a hermit crab was inside, but I could see something red and the hermits I see are never red. The shallow water was very murky. I didn’t have a clear view, so thought maybe it was a living mollusk. Horse conchs are this color. I had to investigate.

seashell under water — Tiny bit of red on this underwater seashell – I’m curious

Some conchs can be brightly colored like the horse conch I once found. That was my best guess … until I picked it up!

red crab underwater — I needed a closer look

The camera captured a clearer image because in reality I was dealing with moving water and the glare of sunlight.

It is seldom ever that I find an empty shell out on the river. Something is always inside. The ends of the shell are always the safest for grabbing so the crab won’t pinch me. And it’s a good thing I was careful because look what I pulled up from the sea!

giant red hermit crab in broken shell in the wild — Giant Red Hermit Crab

giant red hermit crab — Giant Red Hermit Crab

In all my time out walking the shallows of the Indian River backwater I have never seen a red hermit crab. I took a couple of quick photos and put him down. Usually the hermit crabs I see retreat back into the shell when picked up. Not this guy… he was bold. I didn’t want to bother him, so I put him and his broken Crown Conch shell back down. In fact, if his shell hadn’t been broken, so I could see a little bit of his color, I may have passed it by assuming it was just another typical hermit crab.

I had to look this one up when I got home and found some info by a writer (who is from New Smyrna Beach) and says they are native to Florida but “not often seen”.

Then I checked my Florida’s Living Beaches book and found that these crabs live on reefs and are “beached after storms”.
There are no reefs in the Indian River and this red crab must have been far from his home. His shell was pretty broken. I’m thinking he must have been searching for a better shell to live in.

Anyway, that was my amazing find. It was such a hot day, and the water had to be 90 degrees. I’m looking forward to cooler weather.

Finding a Remote Boat Ramp in Scottsmoor

While we were over on the east coast of Florida one day, we decided to head south from the Edgewater area and try to find the next closest boat ramp. Down that way the ramps go into the western part of the Mosquito Lagoon. From there, make your way (in your boat) across to the Haulover Canal which passes through to the east side of the Lagoon.

We drove east for a few miles from Rt. 1 on a dirt road and finally came across the small boat ramp. It has room to put in one boat at a time and the boat loads into a narrow channel that feeds out into the open water.

Looking south, the Kennedy Space Center vehicle assembly building is barely visible.

I found some crown conch shells and thick clam shells, but the most interesting item I found floating among the weeds in the shallows was this horseshoe crab. It was not alive.

Area map of Scottsmoor Landing Boat Ramp, Credit: Google Maps, Google imagery @2016 TerraMetrics

map of mosquito lagoon area — Boat Ramp, where we were, with Haulover Canal, Space Center view

Once we have a flats boat we plan to spend some time fishing in this area. For now, we have to stay close to the Edgewater ramp where we put the little boat in, as it doesn’t travel very fast, or handle waves well!

Manatees Playing at Haulover Boat Ramp

manatees haulover canal — Manatees at Haulover Canal

Nick and I took a ride over to the Mims and Titusville area the other day and one place we stopped was the Haulover Canal boat ramp. It’s a much smaller place than I thought, with only one ramp, but a nice trailer parking area. We walked out on the metal dock and that is where we watched the manatees play.

It was hot so we didn’t stay long, but the small bay area, where the boats launch and dock, was full of manatees. The water is brown and murky (brackish) but the manatees could be seen breaking the surface, splashing and rolling around. I got a short 30 second video – it was too bright for me to easily see what I was filming. It was also really hot – did I say that?

The boats go very slow in this little bay, so the manatees just move out of the way when they hear the motors. We drove over the bridge and went to the eastern side of the canal where there is a “Manatee Watching Deck” and didn’t see any manatees there. The boat dock was the best place to see them. (The observation area had port-o-potties, fyi.)

The Haulover Canal is a channel for boats to go between the Indian River, on the west, and Mosquito Lagoon, to the east. Both are wide open bodies of water. The canal is part of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. On the opposite side from the boat launching area is a long dirt road. We traveled down to the end and saw cars stopped and little camps set up where people were fishing along the canal. At the end was an area to put in canoes and kayaks. This is the view from the end of that road which looks out into the Indian River lagoon, which is a huge area.