Friday Rain

We left the island today for some shopping at the Home Depot. Clouds were building up as we left. .On the way back across the Sanibel Causeway, it was pouring rain



When it quit raining, I went over to Resident Access #1 off West Gulf Drive.



There wasn't much activity on the beach, except for noseeums. I wasn't there long before they found me. So, it was a short stay.



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Blind Pass Dredging Project

The talk of the island, is the nearing completion of the Blind Pass Restoration Project. Some old bridge timber pilings were found in the channel and those have to be removed and finish the remaining dredging. If the weather cooperates and things go as planned, they may be removing the remaining sheetpile wall which will open the pass. They are estimating August 1. However, the forecasted chance of storms this weekend could be a problem.

The temperature today reached 93, but there was some wind from the east that seemed to help make it a little more comfortable. Early this evening we drove out to Blind Pass to take a look around.

Late this evening there was a lot of thunder and plenty of clouds, but we only got a few drops of rain. The cooler wind did cool things off though. It's now a pleasant 78 degrees. :-)



Best viewed in HD on YouTube by clicking on the screen below.



If you enlarge the photo below, by clicking on it, you should be able to see way over to where there was a crowd of people at the pipe. It actually looked like someone had set up camp there, with a canopy, chairs etc. Great shells including Junonias have been reported to come flying out of that pipe. A number of people have carried a lot of shells away, with junonias and cones among them. Most of the shells I saw, had broken places on them. I've stood there myself on several occasions and on a hot day, it just isn't worth it to me. Before I lived here, I would probably have stayed out there with the best of them, just hoping something good would land at my feet. :-) I think curiosity of what may be there keeps people coming back. I also refuse to race with anyone to get to a shell first. It's more my nature to step back and say, "that's ok, you can have it." I think there will always be another one somewhere, just waiting for me to find it.





On the Captiva side of Blind Pass, there were small shells scattered, left by the receding tide.






These are the few shells that I picked up. A couple of the biggest Kitten Paws I've seen, a few colorful tiny Scallops, a little Drill, a Cerinth, and a few pretty Jingles. It doesn't take much to make me happy. :-)


After the sheetpile wall is removed and the pass is opened, some infilling is expected to occur. Lee County may authorize additional dredging in the Gulf, which could continue until October.

Another interesting project connected to the Blind Pass Restoration, is a study supported by funds from a Florida Sea Grant, being conducted by Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation's Marine Laboratory in conjunction with the Civil Air Patrol.

Seagrass beds in the area between Blind Pass and Redfish Pass are being mapped prior to and after the opening of Blind Pass. This is done through aerial remote sensing and from staff actually visiting each seagrass bed to take samples.

Seagrasses have an important role in the estuary. Marine animals live there for all or part of their lives relying on the seagrasses to provide food and protection from predators. This project will monitor the current condition of the seagrasses and determine the course of future actions.

A Nice Sanibel Evening

Sanibel was in the news today. A female landscaper, 56 years old, was pulling weeds in a man-made lagoon today around noon, when a gator bit her hand. By kicking the alligator, she was able to get away. She needed medical attention, but is doing ok now. The alligator was about 6' 7" long, weighed around 100 lbs and was caught and taken away by trappers.

This evening it was pretty nice on the beach, as far as temperature goes. It got up to 91 today, but had dropped back down to the low 80's with an east wind and the sun well hidden in a cloudy sky. I didn't stay long because there were no shells coming in around resident access 3, off West Gulf Drive.











Best viewed in HD on YouTube by clicking on the screen below.


It was such a nice evening, I decided to drive out to the Sanibel Causeway to watch the sunset. I wasn't sure there would be one, due to the clouds, but it turned out to be well worth the drive.

A bright ray of sunlight was shinning upward.




Even though it was getting dark, the sky was still beautiful.

Turtle Walk Tuesday

This was the 13th turtle walk of this nesting season. We arrived at the Buttonwood Lane Access, just after first light. The eastern sky was pink from the approaching sunrise. There was a nice breeze which is always a good thing, keeping bugs away and protecting us from a meltdown.

As soon as I started walking, I came across another pvc fishing rod holder that had been driven into the sand and left behind. There are usually 3 or 4 of these within our one mile walk. This eastern end of the beach has become a real obstacle course. Walking through this area is not very pleasant, at all, due to a growing number of sand holes, trash, abandoned broken beach chairs, & sand toys. Plus the sea weed from weeks ago is still on the beach, repeatedly getting wet, and is smelling rather bad. The only smooth and clean strip of beach in this area is right in front of the Buttonwood Lane Access. There doesn't seem to be as much activity there.

This hole is about 2 feet deep.

Very nice, but not turtle friendly, when left behind.

This one had piles of sand on each side and the hole was about a foot and a half deep.

This is who we can thank for that contribution. Sand holes are a real danger to people and wildlife and should be filled in before leaving the beach.





Someone had gone away and left their chicken roasting, unattended.

Yes, it's a beached boat !

AND.....A frog; belly up!

Not a prize winner today.

Oh please! Let me carry this broken chair away for you.

Your guess is probably as good as mine, on this one.

Ok, so I think it's safe to say that this shovel isn't being used by children. Especially when there were two men and one woman just a short distance away, watching as I was taking photos of their things. They probably thought I was going to make off with a camera that was left on top of this pile of chairs. Which, by the way, are not supposed to be out on the beach. I believe that shovel would be considered an excavation tool and excavation isn't legal on the beach. I looked back after walking away and one of the men had gone up to the chairs to get the camera. None of the three went back there until we had passed that area on our way back. I saw the lady looking at us when we went by, she said something to one of the men and he looked toward us too.

I'm sure they went back to their digging. There was already a 3 ft high pile of sand there.

This made me wonder if a Captain had thrown his First Mate overboard.

I noticed a few small shells, that I had to pick up. :-) These were certainly more fun picking up than the two heavy bags of trash we carried away today.



Best viewed in HD on YouTube by clicking the screen below.


We had no new turtle activity and the remaining nests in our zone aren't due to hatch until August.

Matrimonial Monday

At Resident Access 5 off West Gulf Drive, this evening we saw a marriage ceremony taking place. This seems to be a favorite spot for weddings and wedding photos. I wasn't close, but I didn't need to be, to tell the bride was beautiful! To avoid interfering or being background in their photos, we walked in the opposite direction for a while.



There were a lot of small shells. I didn't look too long, but still picked up a small hand full.




When we were leaving, just as the sun was setting, the noseeums were getting bad, but the photo shoot was still going on.







The temperature today reached 94 and the Gulf temperature was 87.

Best viewed in HD on YouTube by clicking on the screen below.

Lazy Saturday

After going to Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation for a volunteer, appreciation lunch, I spent the rest of the day being lazy. We had some needed rain this afternoon. This evening, after the rain had ended, I drove out to the Sanibel Causeway to watch the sunset.

I could see rain coming down from the clouds, as I looked North.

Clouds over the lighthouse and eastern tip of Sanibel.

There was a very wide rainbow in Ft Myers, over the tall buildings that you can see in this photo.