Two Grandsons made plans to get up at 5:30 this morning to go fishing. I got up to take them to get fresh bait and then to the Sanibel Fishing Pier. There were already 5 or 6 people there. I stayed with them for a while and watched the sunrise. I also enjoyed watching the birds. There has been a lot of brown algae on Sanibel beaches recently. SCCF’s Marine Lab and the City of Sanibel identified it as Sargassum; it is not red drift algae. Sargassum moves in floating mats on the ocean’s surface. Both the Sargassum and this past June’s accumulation of manatee grass on Southwest Florida beaches may be related to storm events and larger regional issues. Sargassum weed is like a floating home for many organisms. Young sea turtles swim near the seaweed for cover and an easy meals of the shrimp and crabs that live there. The loggerhead turtles now hatching on island beaches swim thousands of miles and spend as many as 11 years feeding on jellyfish, snails, crabs, and shrimps protected from predators in the Sargassum. So, even though it is very annoying to us and rather unsightly, we have to remember that it is breakfast, lunch, dinner and home to them.
After that, I drove over to The Dunes tennis courts to meet Daughter #2 and Son-In-Law, who were dropping their two kids off for their tennis lesson, which was to begin at 7:30 and last 2 hours. The three of us, then went to the Sanibel Cafe for breakfast.
The two fishermen called to say they were ready for pickup. When I got there, they wanted to show me the big snook that were swimming all around the pier. Two men had caught one of them. They were using different bait than the boys and offered to share some of it with them. But, they still didn't have any luck. They said it was fun anyway. We stopped to get donuts to take home. After they had those and some milk, they were ready to go pick up their cousin and head over to the Sanibel Recreation Center for some basketball and a workout.
That gave me time for a quick trip to the grocery store and a stop to pick up contacts that had been on order for one of the boys. By that time, they were ready to be picked up and taken to join the others at the beach.
Next on the agenda was a trip across the Sanibel Causeway to get a Grand Daughter's laptop that was being repaired.
It had been a busy day, so after returning to the island, I had a nap, that lasted much longer than I had intended. Tonight is going to be an early night, in preparation for tomorrow.
10 comments:
I'm exhausted just reading about it! I would have loved to see the snook swimming by the pier, though. I saw a man catch one there once, and then he released it and walked with it for several minutes until it was rested enough to return to the deeper water.
My goodness lady, you need to start a new service called Tootie's Taxi!! You are as busy as Gayle.
sounds like you are having a very busy summer. enjoy.
we will be in sanibel late summer,trying to finalize plans. I can't wait.
Thanks for the info on the Sargassum weed, I like that the baby sea turtles use it for cover and meals. Kind of like a swim-through as opposed to our drive-throughs.
Your blog made me very tierd. I need to go to bed now. Happy Birthday to your gorgeous Daughter!
When I was in Australia I saw the turtles laying their eggs on 90 miles beach in Western Australia. During the day walking along this almost deserted beach (There aren't many people in Western Australia) you see the tracks of the turtles all over that had come up the night before.
Wow! I just got back from Montana on Thursday and have been catching up on blogs. You have been really busy!! Your kids and grand kids are very lucky to have such a great sponsor/tour director. It looks and sounds like you have all been having a wonderful time! I'm on the count down now - 3 months!!
P.S. - We have decided to stay in the same unit as last year vs. look for something beachside. Thanks so much for your help though!!
My family and I just got back Saturday from our vacation to Sanibel. I hopped on here to check out your blog and was surprised to see your pictures from the pier on Thursday. We were also at the pier on Thursday! Small world! We got to see a manatee and dolphins while we were there on the pier. I wonder how much time we missed you by?
Toni
I was at the pier early, just after 6. I stayed for a while, then went back to pick up the boys around 9:30. When were you there? One couple I saw there, had two little boys.
We were there later, about 1:00. We are already planning our vacation for next year- at the island. The kids are counting down the days.
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