Not so important note: Just discovered that the bay tour described below took place on February 21st...not the 22nd. Not that it makes any difference, but historically that's when it happened.
Today while out looking for a better pizza place (just joking....since there isn't any)...we drove over to a place where one can rent Kayaks and such.
To read about them Click here
The establishment is located on Tarpon Bay, a 1000 acre estuary or bay to the north side of the Island.
Note: An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea
This estuary is mostly enclosed by land as you can see on the map. Water flows to and from the estuary as tide levels fluctuate in adjacent Pine Island Sound and fresh water sources on the island itself. This makes the water brackish with varying levels of saltiness. You can also see that a great deal of Sanibel Ialand is preserved ((60%). The majority of that is part of the JN "Ding" Darling Wildlife Refuge. Here is a link to the organization that manages all of this. It's called the SCCF, or Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation.
To read about them Click here
The concession we visited is located at the extreme end of the bay....they offer rentals of pontoons and Kyaks and various souviners. They also have a number of tours and educational programs available mostly revolving around the estuary.
We were nosing around there because I recall getting some nice photos in the past. This time we noted that the building we remembered has been torn down and newer more modern building is there in it's place. We also saw a large pontoon boat that takes people on educational tours into the estuary. Just on the spur of the moment we decided to take a tour that evening.
Up until that point it hadn't occured to us that we hadn't brought appropriate clothing to combat the increasing cold air we were experiencing. I thought we would be ok and talked Mrs. Gerrie into taking the tour. Fortunately they had some blankets on the boat and offered them to those who needed them during the tour.
The tour started promptly at 4pm and began in the open ground floor of the building. The tour people have set up what they call a "touch tank" where kids and adults can see some of the sea creatures up close and personal. Unfortunately the cold temps kepted most of the creatures tucked away in their shells. We did see a live Horseshoe crab and that's only because they rolled the animal over to reveal it's innerds or is that it's "outterds"? There were some other animals but mostly they were all hidden from view.
During the crfuise part of the the tour we got to see several man-made mangrove islands. There are five or six of these formed when a channel was dredged through the middle of the bay. The scooped up mud/sedimate was used to create these islands. Mangrove spouts eventually found their way there and the result is several very shallow sand bars where these trees grow and provide roosting and nesting places for many species of birds.
It was on these islands that we saw baby Cormorants and Great Blue Herons along with a number of Fish Crows and White Pelicans. The tour guide was well informed and kept our attention well. We also had an interesting experience with one small girl that entertained us well by insisting that she was not shy and had never been so, not one day. Fortunately she was loud enough that everyone on the boat could her her well. Oh yes, at one point she announced that she was in love with the tour guide. I think he turned pink after that, but he did well handling that unexpected comment. Wow, what on earth will her parents do with her during her teen years..it's going to be interesting.
Hugs,
Jerry & Gerrie
