Thursday, May 27, 2010

Turtle Walk Thursday

We're still having very pleasant nights, around 72 degrees. Today the high temperature reached 87, but with a NW wind, it was very nice on the beach.

When we first started our turtle walk this morning, just before daylight, there wasn't much air moving and it seemed a little warm. The Moonflowers were still in full bloom, but were closed when we returned.

As soon as we walked out onto the beach, we felt a nice breeze. The eastern sky was glowing from the approaching sunrise.


As we walked to the waters' edge, we were greeted by jumping Mullet. :) We walked along watching them for quite a while. There have actually been studies as to why Mullets jump like they do. Some think they are taking breaths of fresh air because the water has a depleted supply, to rid themselves of parasites, or simply playing. Whatever the reason, it's quite entertaining. I tried to catch a shot of one in mid-air, but with my little cell phone camera, that didn't happen. The one below, does show the water after the fish went under. :)


This one actually shows the water splash! :)


There were a lot of small shells on the beach.














This appears to have been a big fish.


Someone must have made and decorated their own beach umbrella holder.


A lone fisherman.


An 18" hole, just waiting for a foot. :)


It was a pretty uneventful walk. There was even a lack of trash. The only thing I picked up was one balloon. Yay!!! There were no signs of turtle activity in our zone. We only saw one Snowy Plover that appeared to be hiding a baby under her wing.


Shells I carried home.


After our turtle walk, we met friends for breakfast at the Sanibel Cafe, where we had great service, good food and lots of laughter.












Our laughter could be fleeting.............

What if the oil spill does reach Sanibel Island, an article written by
Eric Taubert.

3 comments:

Jackie said...

Beautiful photos and a good time!
Have a wonderful weekend!

The Florida Blogger said...

I've done quite a bit of mullet fishing down around Pine Island and still can't figure out why they jump. My best guess is it is a warning signal that there are white monsters painted in camo about to catch them. Sometimes their signal works, other times not so much.

Dani said...

Just wanted to thank you for your blog post. I was needing to get some Sanibel fix as I am really missing the island right now. Our trip was too short but next time we come down I would like to stay a week. Maybe we can meet up for breakfast :)

I am still sorting all my shell treasures I got while I was down there. They are so much fun to look at and I plan on displaying them in our bedroom in shadow box frames when they are all nice and clean. I'll let you know when I do so I can show you my creation!

Keep up with those blog posts!!!