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| Launching the kayaks |
On our second day in sunny Florida, we had the pleasure of
spending the morning in kayaks, exploring the J.N. “Ding” Darling National
Wildlife Refuge. With our enthusiastic
and knowledgeable tour guide, we paddled along the Commodore Creek water trail
and got to see and learn many interesting things about this important mangrove
ecosystem. The estuary and the mangrove forests are a nursery and are home to
many birds, crustaceans, gastropods, fish, and mammals. While the egrets and
pelicans were beautiful as they preened their feathers in treetops, it was hard
to take my eyes off the bottom of the water trail. As we leisurely paddled
along, we saw crown conchs, lightning whelks, sea stars, horseshoe crabs and
various fish species.
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| A crown conch in its natural setting |
After a quick lunch break, everyone was eager to get back
outside in the sunshine and collect more shells on Bowman’s Beach. We spent the
evening identifying our shells and I’m excited about the diversity we’ve been
finding. I’m really looking forward to shifting our focus to the cephalochordates
we hope to find at Apollo’s beach tomorrow!
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| Maria, Emily, and Pete anticipating today's adventure |
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