Spring break! Woooo!!! The week was a whirlwind tour of some of my favorite spots and things to do in southwest Florida (where I grew up).

Those structures are called fish huts, or fish shacks or fish cabins…The Department of Natural Resources, as the Florida state environmental agency was called in the mid 1980s, believed the structures were navigational hazards and destructive to sea grasses.  And they also believed that since they had no plumbing, the people using them as bunk houses were likely creating sanitation problems.  So the state started burning them down.  Locals who wanted to preserve the fish huts were able to debunk these concern, according to Gladys Schneider of Bokeelia.  She was hired as a consultant to compile the documentation needed to have the shanties declared historic.  So our fish huts are still with us and a number are listed on National Register of Historic Places. (source)

Fish hut

Pelican

Pulling up to North Captiva (Gulf of Mexico)

North Captiva; a long but very thin island; only a hundred yards or so wide in places (that’s Pop walking to the estuary side of the island)

Chasing birds

Royal Terns, Black Skimmers and other birds

King’s Crown shell

The water isn’t as clear in the estuary as on the Gulf side but it is one of my favorite types of habitats to explore

There are many live shells in the estuary

Live shells on the gulf side too! This is a large horse conch

Mmm looks yummy (haha; we threw it back)

This ground cover plant was very cool

The shallow grassy flats (the areas darker in color) are great places to spot lots of little creatures like sea horses, pipe fish, live shells, crabs and fish

Sandbar

The water on the estuary side of the island is brackish (a mix of fresh and salty water that changes depending on things like tide, rainfall and how much water is released from Lake Okeechobee (80 miles up the Caloosahatchee River from here).

Around the docks there are sea stars, sea slugs, fish, shells, crabs and other little creatures

Bow and arrow for fishing

Hunting for bait…While we were in this spot we saw a small bonnethead shark (illegal to shoot; quite unsportsman-like to catch with a bow and arrow (it would be like shooting fish in a barrell) (couldn’t resist haha). We were searching for rays (the fishing guide called them skates but really they are Southern Stingrays).

Catch and release, of course. These are endangered; due to being extremely easy to catch and being heavily over-harvested until 1990! Case in point…10 minutes later…

While in Florida we also got to drive up to Sarasota and visit some cousins!

Back out on the water…