The Florida Bay
June 28th 2007 17:56
The locals here joke that the Bay is so shallow you could wade all the way to Mexico from Key Largo. That's not too much of an exaggeration; maximum depths at high tide aren't more than 9 feet deep anywhere close to land.
The Bay teems with life for the observant; early in the morning you can see 6-foot sharks wriggling on the exposed tidal flats. The first time I saw this, I tried to help--thought the poor thing was beached! He was too big and thrashy of a fellow for me to move on my own. While I was knotting pieces of rope together so I could tow him back to deeper water, though, the tide came in and my "poor bugger" swam easily off in a few inches of water. I found out later that the sharks feed often in this way, swimming in onto the flats before the tide recedes and stuffing themselves on crabs and shrimp, then catching a ride out with the incoming tide.
Wild dolphins also abound here, hunting in the shallows around the small mangrove keys in the evenings. Huge, gentle manatee can be spotted coming in close to shore looking for a drink of fresh water from someone's dock hose. Ospreys (also known as fish eagles) float high above the mirror-calm surface of the Bay, making lazy circles in the still, hot air. Cormorants stand on channel markers with wings outstretched, as if in welcome. The deep, fecund smell of mangroves and marsh intensifies with the damp night air.
I love it so much; the Florida Bay is the very womb of Mother Earth. If you really want to know the meaning of life, it's all there for you; the age-old and ongoing tales of birth, struggling life and inevitable death on a miniature scale. The gentle and inexorable flow of tides and moon phases like a heartbeat more felt than heard.
Those who have shut themselves off from life come here and want to dredge away the life-giving mangroves and replace them with trucked-in sand and non-native palm trees; they wrinkle their noses at the smell of the tides and the rich silt flats and go indoors to breathe cold,conditioned air that's been breathed over and over again and again. They mow down hammocks and buttonwoods so they have a view from their windows. They come here to stay for a week every few months with their huge gas-spewing motorboats and their boomboxes and their gold chains and expensive fishing rigs.
They hate the Florida Bay for what she is; they want to make yet another Miami Beach clone out of her and chase those of us who love her for what she is out for their condos and mansions.
But there are a hundred Miami Beach clones in South Florida already. And a million beachfront condos and mansions.
Sometimes I wonder--does one have to be a jerk to be wealthy, or does being wealthy make one a jerk?
Life isn't very fair sometimes...
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Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
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Fat Cult
Techbreak
It is a beautiful part of America, and I was shocked to see how quickly they're trying to ruin it. The rangers look so tired and overworked!
Comment by katyzzz
Photography Tips
Health Focus
Poetry Lighthouse
MS Paint Art
I love the tranquility of those murky depths that beckon me and your silky words that entice me.
Well done and a lovely photo, so calming.
katyzzz
Comment by James Rickard
unlucky_ fishermen.com
Angling Fish
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Comment by Ash
Australian Traveller
Flashes of memories
Now it is being developed and over populated, cement roads taking over the trees....
I hope there will still be some untouched places for my kids to visit one day
Comment by Winston
Small Thoughts on Big Questions
Comment by D. Armenta
The Florida Keys and Everglades
The Black Sheep Chronicles
What constitutes bad manners?
The male mystique
Debate Fan
Better make it soon though, before the developers cover it all with cement and fake landscaping...
Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
Wow, sounds amazing!!! Looks gorgeous too. Why do people always want to take areas like these and completely ruin them by urbanising them? A waste.
Kylie
Comment by charles
FanFootball
ZCars
Ponderous
Charles.
Comment by Fingertip Titans Unite
Idiots Among Us
Fingertip Titans
Your post brings back memories of home. sorry to ramble
Comment by Lilla
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
HAHAHAHA - right there with you rescuing that shark ((belly laughs))... he was one lucky fellow *chuckle*
I am also situated on a bay in s.e. Queensland, Oz - Moreton Bay ... not as splendid as the Keys but very relatable ... and more or less identical weather, I guess.
I have always wanted to drive the keys bridge since I saw that movie, True Lies. *chuckle* that is some bridge!
I can almost see myself starting a movement there to stop them planting exotics (non indigenous trees) and trudging up to their multi-million doorways to issue restraining orders ... *scream* ... we too live in the fastest developing part of Queensland and the beaches are slowly overshadowed by skyscrapers and every other crap, the natural mangroves and rainforest dissapearing quicker than it takes me to prepare breakfast (or rescue a shark). But at least trees of any nature attract clouds and rain, so we shouldn;t grumble... concrete yards and astro-turf are much worse and really get me steamed...
The "paradise" long gone. I guess the Eagles were right there. Call it Paradise and you can kiss it goodbye, huh?
I REALLY enjoyed the balmy feel of this ramble ... and the sound of the water rippling to shore in the warm, salty, humid afternoon breeze.
I think I'll go fix a 'Majito.'
Lovely.
Lilla ...