Blind Pass, Monday's Mission

This afternoon it was sunny, 78 degrees and windy; a perfect day for a mission. That mission was to check out the dredging project at Blind Pass again. After parking in the Sanibel parking area and walking across the bridge, I was surprised to see such a large amount of water in the containment cell. I took photos and have videos so that you can see for yourself how the water was piped into it and the way it was leaking back out. This is where they are holding the excavated material that is not suited for beach renourishment. That material will be trucked to an upland disposal area. One dredge was pretty far out in Wulfert Channel and the other dredge was next to the gulf shore. You can certainly tell the project is progressing. I checked the 'before' photos of Wulfert Channel and even though I remembered what it looked like at that time, it is still shocking to think of how much sand has already been moved. I even saw a fish jump out of the water, while I was standing on the bridge. :-)











This is the Gulf side with the containment area. The sand that is being pumped into this area is deemed not suitable to be released into the Gulf.


This is the bay side of he Blind Pass dredging project.


This is Turner Beach on Captiva, just over the Blind Pass Bridge. The water was really clear and the beach was empty.


After getting back from Blind Pass, it was around 4:00 and time for the Sanibel Grill to open. Made a stop there for early dinner,and Happy Hour prices. :-) They have the best steak quesadillas! For those who don't know, this is a sports bar, with TVs all around.

Soon after arriving, I saw a news alert that there was a grass fire on Sanibel Island, they were showing clouds of smoke in the sky over the island. What a surprise, since just driving past that area and seeing no smoke at all. Evidently a fire was started from the exhaust of a pickup truck when it was driven into a restricted,15 acre open field, called Sanibel Gardens, owned by Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge, the city of Sanibel and the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation. The vegetation is very dry here now, and it was windy today, which caused the fire to spread quickly. There were a few homes near the area, but firefighters got the fire under control before causing them damage. I wouldn't want to be the driver of that pick-up right now.

So, that's about all the excitement I can handle for one day.