Inspecting The Dead

Wanting to become closer to the cerise tide destruction, my married adult woman in addition to I visited Whitney Beach this morning.  Stretching along the northwest border of Longboat Key, it is both the almost scenic stretch of sand in addition to (in my opinion) the best birding place on this barrier island.  As expected, the beach was littered alongside dead fish, eels, rays in addition to horseshoe crabs in addition to the diverseness of birds was far below normal.

Wandering amid the dead, nosotros endured the nauseating stench of rotting bounding main life.  While a distich of yellow-crowned dark herons in addition to a dozen shorebirds (black-bellied plovers in addition to ruddy turnstones) scoured the beach, they stayed clear of the victims; dark-brown pelicans in addition to large flocks of laughing gulls passed overhead or lounged far offshore.  Except for a lonely hunter alongside his metallic detector, nosotros were the solely humans on that pop beach.

Though the algal counts accept waxed in addition to waned along Florida's Southwest Coast, the cerise tide is expected to persist until a tropical tempest or cool spill weather condition invades the region.  There is problem inwards paradise and, this morning, nosotros bore witness to its wrath. 

To Margaret Bay

Ketchikan spreads along the southwest coast of Revillagigedo Island but nearly of the isle is uninhabited.  Today, nosotros enjoyed a boat ride to Margaret Bay, ane of several that indent the northwest coast of Revillagigedo.

The role was to railroad train a brace of crab traps inwards Traitor's Cove as well as to accept a hike to a bear-watching site inwards the Margaret Creek Valley; the latter is managed past times the National Forest Service.  A two-mile, roundtrip hike takes visitors to an overlook blind inwards a higher house the creek, where dark ship fish for spawning salmon.  During our stay, nosotros were fortunate to let on 2 immature bears, angling at a waterfall along the creek.

The trapping examine produced ane Dungeness crab as well as nosotros stopped to depository fiscal establishment represent several shrimp traps on our agency dorsum to Ketchikan; those traps were highly productive though an octopus as well as several large starfish had eaten but about of the catch.  Beyond these highlights, the trip provided spectacular views of the waterways, mountainous islands as well as rugged peninsulas due north of Ketchikan; our thank you lot to Steve as well as Gary for the seven-hour tour.