by beachhunter on July 2, 2009
A "false crawl" of a loggerhead turtle.
By David McRee at BlogTheBeach.com
A morning walk along the beach, especially on Florida’s central and southern Atlantic shore, is likely to produce many sightings of sea turtle tracks on the beach during the June - July nesting season. For those of us who are not accustomed to such, finding fresh sea turtle tracks is exciting!
Sea turtles come up out of the water onto the beach for one reason only: to dig a hole in the sand and lay eggs. Depending on the species, a single turtle may dig multiple nests spaced several weeks apart over the nesting season. Sometimes the turtle will crawl up onto the beach and then decide, for whatever reason, that this is not the right place, and crawl back to the sea without laying eggs. This produces a track pattern that we call a “false crawl,” pictured above.
These tracks indicate that the turtle crawled all the way to the dune, layed eggs, and returned to the ocean. Note the foreground horizontal tracks of the all-terrain-vehicle used by the people who document and monitor turtle nests.
Tracks that indicate a turtle successfully dug a nest and layed eggs lead to a very disturbed area in the sand that clearly indicated much digging has taken place. A green sea turtle digs such a large nest pit that it sometimes look like a bomb exploded on that spot!
Tracks of a loggerhead sea turtle.
Did you know that each sea turtle makes a very distinctive type of track in the sand? You can learn to identify which turtle made the tracks simply be observing the track’s features. The tracks in the above photo were made by a loggerhead turtle. Note the wavy lines and narrow space between the flipper marks. Also notice the line down the center made by the turtle’s tail dragging. Loggerheads do not always leave a tail drag mark, but this one did.
Here's a loggerhead sea turtle in her nest pit. Notice how larger her head is--hence the name "loggerhead." Photo copyright Jim Angy.
Tracks in the sand made by a green sea turtle coming onto the beach to nest.
The tracks above were made by a green sea turtle. The green turtle does not leave a tail drag mark, but leaves evenly spaced tail marks down the middle of the track.
A green sea turtle on the way back to the ocean after laying her eggs. Photo copyright Jim Angy.
Leatherback turtles also nest on Florida beaches but are much less common. I don’t have a photo of leatherback tracks, but they would be much wider than a green or loggerhead. I’ll see if I can find a photo.
Distinctive tracks leading from the water's edge to the dune and back indicate that this is a very popular nesting beach for sea turtles. Several tracks are visible in the photo.
Thanks to Florida wildlife photographer Jim Angy for the photos of the loggerhead turtle and the green sea turtle on this page.
by beachhunter on July 1, 2009
By David McRee at BlogTheBeach.com
Florida wildlife photographer Jim Angy spends a lot of time with camera in-hand, observantly poking around in the Brevard County wilds looking for a perfect shot of who-knows-what. One of his favorite subjects is sea turtles. Egg laying season is the time sea turtles present a photo-op for land-based photographers. Below are some of Jim’s photos of a green turtle (Chelonia mydas) on the beach doing what has to be done to perpetuate the species, a job turtles have been doing successfully for 150 million years, but which is becoming increasingly difficult in the face of human interference.
A green sea turtle covering her eggs in the early morning light on a Florida beach. Photo copyright Jim Angy.
According to Dr. Blair Witherington in his book Sea Turtles: An Extraordinary Natural History of Some Uncommon Turtles, adult female green turtles generally weigh between 175 and 485 pounds and may lay 80 to 145 eggs in each nest. A green sea turtle may deposit eggs in up to 7 nests during a season in two-week intervals. However, they only nest every 2 to 4 years.
A green turtle leaving the nest after laying her eggs. Photo copyright Jim Angy.
A green turtle slowly makes her way back to the Atlantic ocean after laying her eggs. Photo copyright Jim Angy.
As graceful as sea turtles are in the water, they must expend tremendous energy to drag themselves across the sand to lay eggs. It is a very tiring process and they stop to rest frequently.
Almost home! This green sea turtle has made it back to the comfortable familiarity of the Atlantic Ocean after laying her eggs on the beach. Photo copyright Jim Angy.
The green sea turtle disappears into the Atlantic Ocean under the rising sun after a successful attempt at laying her eggs. Photo copyright Jim Angy.
Many thanks to Jim Angy for sharing his photography.
by beachhunter on June 29, 2009
An afternoon beach siesta on Higgs Beach in Key West.
In early May I ventured down to the Keys for several days to meet the Miles Media video crew to do a video shoot for VISIT FLORIDA. We took the Yankee Freedom II high speed catamaran to the Dry Tortugas for some great snorkeling (more on that later).
While down in the Keys I couldn’t resist the temptation to spend some time checking out the beaches. It had been many years since I was last in the Keys so I was really excited.
The Florida Keys are not known for their sandy beaches, which are few. Life in the Keys is all about fishing, boating, and diving the reefs. But there are some excellent beaches in the Keys. You just have to know where to look, and you have to know what you want in a beach.
Don’t expect really wide beaches with rolling surf and all that. The beaches in the Keys tend to be fairly small, with calm, shallow, clear water. During my visit, the winds were blowing rather strongly out of the east. This resulted in water that was a bit clouded with suspended sand and sediment stirred up by the rougher-than-usual water conditions. So my photographs don’t completely capture the calm, still, clear conditions that the Keys are famous for.
If you are interested in seeing my photographs and reading about what I think are the best beaches in the Florida Keys, I’ve finally got my new Florida Keys Beaches web pages up. Check them out and let me know what you think. What’s your favorite beach in the Keys?
Bahia Honda State Park Beaches
Dry Tortugas National Park Beaches
Sombrero Beach
Smathers Beach
Zachary Taylor State Park Beach
Higgs Beach
Rest Beach
Anne’s Beach
I’ve got a lot more Florida Keys photographs I’ll be adding and some video too, so y’all come back.
by beachhunter on June 19, 2009
Pine Island Fruit Market has a wide selection of mango varieties.
By David McRee at BlogTheBeach.com
We drove down to Pine Island today in search of my favorite fruit: ripe mangoes. We hit the jackpot! We also bought 4 pounds of lychees and a couple of medium-sized sapodillas. If you don’t know what those are, I’ll cover them in another blog post in the next week or so.
Pine island is a rather large island in the mouth of Charlotte Harbor between Cape Coral and the barrier islands of Sanibel, Captiva, North Captiva, and Cayo Costa. It has no beaches, but it has a lot of tropical fruit groves of all kinds.
The Pine Island Fruit Market is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in June, July, and August from around 10am to 4pm. It can be hard to find, but is located just to the east of Stringfellow Road on a little dirt road called Ficus Tree Lane. If you look for it on Google Maps, look for the intersection of Valeria Road and Stringfellow Road. It’s on the northern half of the island.
Get there at 10am for the best selection. Some fruit lovers are known to come and buy ALL the fruit of a certain variety. This morning, just after we bought 4 pounds of lychee fruit, a man came along and bought all of the lychees that were remaining. Mangoes generally are $1 per pound, lychees are $4 per pound, guavas $3 per pound, sapodillas $2 per pound. It adds up fast. We spent $43 and wished we’d bought more lychees.
Another great thing they offer is mango smoothies. They seem to just offer those on Saturday and Sunday (they spend Friday preparing and slicing the fresh mangoes that go into the smoothies).
Now there is someone on the premises that sells smoked mullet and smoked mullet spread, and I think fried fish too. We didn’t buy any today because I promised Sue that I would take her to Peace River Seafood in Punta Gorda for lunch.
The selection of fruit at the Pine Island Fruit Market.
If you like festivals, Pine Island has an annual festival called MangoMania. This year it is being held on July 11 and 12, 2009.
by beachhunter on June 16, 2009
Gull tries to steal a pelican's fish.
By David McRee of BlogTheBeach.com
These pelicans on Siesta Key were having a hard time eating the fish they caught. As soon as they caught a fish, a gull would land on their head and try to make them drop it. I guess the pelicans are used to this because they seemed not to be terribly bothered by it. I didn’t see any gulls successfully steal any fish, but I’m sure they must get lucky from time to time.
Snowy egret with catch.
This snowy egret has caught what looks like a small pompano or some kind of jack. It took a long time to swallow it–making sure it was very dead. I once saw a black skimmer catch one of these and finally decide not to eat it. The skimmer flew away and left the fish on the beach. A willet came along and tried to eat it as well, but also gave up. I sauntered over to find out why they gave up and discovered that this little fish is well protected with very stiff spines near its dorsal and anal fins. Too much for a skimmer or a willet, but not too much for a cautious egret.
by beachhunter on June 10, 2009
A regular golf cart just doesn't cut it for some folks!
By David McRee of BlogTheBeach.com
A couple of weeks ago Sandy G. published a guest post here on BlogTheBeach with photos and a description of Don Pedro Island. She just sent me this photo of a really tricked out delux golf cart used by a family on Don Pedro. In case you didn’t know, golf carts are the main mode of transport on Don Pedro.
by beachhunter on June 10, 2009
Mystery objects in the beach wrack.
By David McRee of BlogTheBeach.com
I just got a comment from Cindy K. on a blog post that asks this question:
What’s currently washing up in high numbers along Bradenton Beach/Anna Maria Island beaches, along with the seaweed, in the surf line? They look like bone-colored quills or needles — like white pine needles. We’ve never seen them before.
Great question Cindy! Here’s a closer look:
A closer view of the white quill-like objects washing up.
The first time I saw these I was a bit stumped as well. But I have a great book that helps me identify strange things like this. It’s called Florida’s Living Beaches, by Blair and Dawn Witherington. It tells me that these are “sun-bleached segments of manatee grass.”
Manatee grass is an undersea grass that grows out in the gulf to a depth of about 20 feet. Blair goes on to say in the book that manatee grass often breaks apart into segments like this. The fragile leaves are often the first ones to show up on the beach during rough weather.
Here’s a really close-up look:
Sun-bleached segments of manatee grass have washed up on the beach and I photographed them in the wrack line.
I took these photos yesterday at Fort Desoto Beach in St. Petersburg, but they are likely being found in the beach wrack all up and down the coast right now.
by beachhunter on June 6, 2009
This crow was right out on the beach gathering nesting materials. What a mouthful!
By David McRee of BlogTheBeach.com
If I were a bird, I don’t think I’d want to have black feathers in the Florida summer heat. You’d think an all black bird would stay in the shade. Perhaps the black feathers heat up enough to keep mites and other parasites off the bird.
This crow was seriously gathering a beak-full of what appears to be dried sea oats roots.
by beachhunter on June 6, 2009
Someone confused this clump of sea oats with a garbage can. Too bad. The garbage can was only 20 paces away.
By David McRee of BlogThe Beach.com
What does the act of littering say about the one who does it?
Littering is a personal choice. It’s not one of those social activities like smoking dope or getting drunk, where peer pressure plays a role. It’s just an act of pure selfishness. A lack of respect. A sign that somewhere, somehow, deep within that person’s brain, something just hasn’t developed properly.
We took a walk on St. Pete Beach this morning, near Upham, picking up plastic bottles and aluminum cans along the way and depositing them in one of MANY trash cans placed conveniently on the beach. Then we came upon the above pictured clump of sea oats. From this tiny clump we removed 7 aluminum beer cans and 5 glass beer bottles. Bud Light and Heineken if you must know.
The trash can was only a few feet away.
It saddens me that I share the beach with people who would do this.
by beachhunter on June 6, 2009
Gathering seaweed for my garden.
Yesterday I went boogie boarding at Upham Beach and noticed that there were piles of turtle grass and manatee grass on the beach. Several days of onshore winds have been increasing the amounts of seaweed on the beach.
I decided that a couple of bags of seaweed would be very good for my garden, so I came back today with Sue and got two kitchen trash bags full. There was some shell mixed in. I only got 2 bags because I was concerned about the smell in my yard as it decomposes. I needn’t have been.
Once I got the seaweed home, I spread it out on the grass and rinsed the excess salt off quickly with the hose before putting it on the garden. I had some left over, so I spread that around one of the orange trees that has been a bit yellow lately from a lack of minor elements. Perhaps it will help.
That was about 5 hours ago. The sun has been on it since then. I just walked outside and found that it has almost completely dehydrated and is nearly crispy-dry. No smell whatsoever.
I’ll be going back for more.
I got the idea from a guy I knew in Bradenton back in the 1980’s. His entire backyard was an organic garden. His name was Henry Ortman and he was in his 70’s. Henry frequently drove out to the beach and brought back seaweed for his incredible garden. He was a real inspiration to me. I could do a whole blog post on him.
Thanks Henry, wherever you may be.
