waterways

Boating With the Dolphins

It was a beautiful December day here in Florida yesterday with temps in the 70’s and partly cloudy skies. So we went out cruising around on our flats boat.

We saw a lot of dolphins. And just to be clear, I am a horrible wildlife photographer. I can get some pretty good photos of living mollusks only because they move very slowly. And dolphins are only visible for a second or two as they hit the surface to get air.

In the photo below I just happened to be aiming toward the coast to get a picture of the condos beyond the backwater. I never even saw the dolphin, but my son did. When I checked the photo, sure enough there he was just hitting the surface.

Dolphin and condos in the distance — A dolphin just surfaced as I took this photo of condos on the coast

A dolphin came up right next to the boat so I grabbed my iPhone and waited to see him again. He stayed down under the water for a very long time and surfaced on the other side of the boat. Of course I was not ready for the shot! No worries – the dolphin were everywhere.

The last time I was out on the water there were no dolphins visible. The tide was high then, and this time the tide was low and going out. We were wondering if the lower water pushed the dolphin out of the shallow channels so we would see more of them in the main channels. I should pay attention to the tides in reference to dolphin sightings.

The manatees have left the cold (68 degrees) water this time of year for warmer places, like the many Springs and warm water runoff sights. But dolphin can be seen year round.

Below I managed to get a dolphin’s tail just before it submerged.

Dolphin tail just out of the water — Dolphin tail

As we headed back to the boat ramp we saw a couple of dolphin swimming in a circle and playing, or eating.

More Boating Photos

There is nothing too exciting to see here, just a pretty day on the water. We didn’t do any fishing, and I saw no hermit crabs along the island beach where we usually stop.

Indian River and South causeway — North Causeway in New Smyrna Beach behind us

Behind us was the bridge in New Smyrna, the North Causeway. We saw quite a few boats out parked at the sand bars or fishing along the mangroves. The sun is more “normal” this time of year so you don’t bake within five minutes. It is more enjoyable.

There was a nearly invisible crab trap buoy right in the channel. Boaters look for the markers to avoid getting tangled in the rope or hitting the metal traps. This one was nearly impossible to see.

The white birds and black birds we usually see were in the water and along the shorelines. The black ones are either Anhingas or Cormorants. The white birds are Egrets. For more photos of water birds (which are way better than mine) read this post by a vacationer.

I’m not good at identifying Florida birds (or getting their photo), except for the obvious types such as pelicans, Roseate spoonbills, Sandhill Cranes and seagulls.

Anhinga or cormorant water bird — Probably a cormorant

A Scary Walk in the Lagoon Where Alligators Call Home

This time our boat took us south to Mosquito Lagoon. We don’t go to this area often and I forgot that alligators can be in this water.

A few weeks ago my son and I decided to try out a new boat launch down on Merritt Island. We put in at the Biolab boat ramp, which has a good size parking lot and one small ramp. The trouble was that the ramp is in shallow water, with a marked access out to the Lagoon which was also shallow with lots of grass.

Travel Through the Canal

We put the boat in, to begin our boating day, on the East side of Mosquito Lagoon. Then traveled north and east through the Haulover Canal. Boat ramps charge $10 on Merritt Island. I have yet to see a really good boat ramp in the area.

Haulover canal bridge — Haulover Canal bridge, heading to the West side of Mosquito Lagoon.

It was a beautiful day as we started out and we were looking for some of the Spoil Islands. That is not marked on my map. We headed further south and then backtracked to the railroad bridge. Our deserted island quest fizzled out, for various reasons, at the railroad bridge we veered right and stopped at a beach. This was a shallow area, so I walked in the knee-high water looking for shells while my son went a bit offshore to fish.

My goal was to find some living sea snails, and maybe even a cool empty seashell. I had my iPhone and did find some nice shells.

As I walked over toward, what looked like, a dark water hole (called Roach Hole on a map), I saw a skull (photo below). As I was getting this photo, I wondered what type of animal it could be.

I continued shuffling through the shallow water, which was murky as the depth increased, in search of seashells. The bottom was muddy and this was obviously a place where few people ever ventured.

The only excuse I can make for my complete ignorance of the fact that alligators lived there is that I have never beach-combed in this area… but… it is part of the Intracoastal Waterway system where I usually beach comb. Except, usually we are far north of the Lagoon area, where I have never seen a gator, nor have I ever heard of one being spotted.

Alligators are known to live around the Kennedy Space Center, Mosquito Lagoon waters, which is where we were, but on the west side. ……. I simply forgot about that. This water is not as salty as the water in the northern Indian River. To the North, ocean tides move the water level, whereas the Lagoon water level does not move according to the tides. I believe that gators prefer less salty water, which would explain this.

Water was flowing toward me out of that dark blue lagoon. In fact, it was looked more black than blue.

Alligators Are The Creepiest of Florida’s Wildlife

It wasn’t until later when I began reviewing my photos and saw that skull photo again that I realized I had been strolling casually through water that most likely held gators. You don’t have to see them to know they are there. Alligators will sit on the murky water bottom and wait for their next meal to come along. When they bite, they mean business. They will drag their prey underwater and roll until it drowns.

The recent story of the woman who died after a gator pulled her into the water is the type of thing I think about whenever I am near fresh water in Florida. As the story says, it’s rare, but I can recall many such stories over the years. They mainly target small prey such as children and dogs that are near the edge of the water. Or bite when swimmers invade their territory.

Nearly every bit of freshwater in Florida contains alligators. My son and I just saw a small one alongside the highway, Route 528, on our way home from the airport. We’ve had a lot of rain so the ditches were full. Although Florida is mainly a swamp, I would not purposely live near any freshwater pond or lake. And I would never swim in one, except for the springs, which are clear.

Alligator facts you should know: They are fast. They may sit still on riverbanks and look lazy and complacent, but they can move when they decide to. Once a gator chomps down on something he is not willing to let go. They migrate on land and in water. They mostly attack in and around water, but can be encountered anywhere.