Earth logo

Capture the Wild

No Wake Zone

By Kay BurnettPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
Like

It was a warm, sunny day in the spring of 2020. Three months after my open-heart surgery I was strong enough to go boating with my husband.

He stocked our 22 foot, center console craft with fishing gear, buckets for gathering sea shells, and a cooler filled with bottles of water and sandwiches for lunch. Together with our two standard poodles we headed toward a marina an hour's drive south of Naples, Florida.

While the rest of the nation was closing down due to the Carona virus pandemic, Florida kept its boat ramps open so people could follow safety guidelines and enjoy the gorgeous open waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Andy launched our boat in the channel and the dogs and I climbed aboard from the dock. Our pups lay beneath our feet at the wheel, their heads up to feel their ears flapping in the fresh, salty air.

We motored out through Coon Key Pass toward the Ten Thousand Islands, passing numerous little sand spits of mangrove trees with water birds on limbs and occasional boaters anchored alongside to leisurely fish the aqua waters.

Marine life begins in the mangroves. Nature's nursery is in the snarly roots that spread and form anchors for little islands and refuge for fish and birds.

We passed a gliding porpoise as we entered the Gulf, a baby porpoise followed with copy-cat leaps from the water; seagulls screeched at white pelicans feeding on large schools of fish.

Riding the gentle waves of the day we arrived at a small sandbar where the Morgan River intersects the incoming tide of the Gulf. It is a part of Kice Island, which is a part of Cape Romano, founded by Calusa Indians centuries ago. It is host to mounds of shells washed ashore.

Andy quickly beached the boat at the open end and we scuttled barefoot onto white sand, shell buckets in hand. Roxy and Rip jumped onto shore and romped down the tiny strip.

I gathered a bucket of treasures from the shoreline while Andy threw a cast net along the water's edge for bait. He too, filled a bucket with the minnows.

Hot and thirsty we soon re-boarded with the pups for refreshments under the shade of the boat canopy. Roxy and Rip drank nosily from their water bowls as Andy and I enjoyed homemade sandwiches and cookies, scraps of which the dogs likes too.

We returned through Snook Pass where we anchored near a cluster of island mangrove trees for Andy to fish using the bait from his cast netting. Very quickly he caught a keeper Red Fish and put it on ice.

Salty and sunburned, we motored back toward the docks. I kept my smart phone handy for taking pictures. We slowed in the No Wake Zone of Coon Key Pass where I captured a passing photo of an Osprey bringing food to her young in a nest built atop a Mile Marker in the channel.

"How long will these beautiful creatures be here?" I wondered, recalling the DDT poisonings of another era that almost made ospreys extinct.

"Now the threat is Red Tide."

Red Tide is a common name for harmful algal blooms that turn the water a brownish red. It can become a threat when enlarged by natural events such as hurricanes. But in the past three years it has become severe and mostly caused from regional runoff containing fertilizer and livestock wastes. The wastes transport too many nutrients to the seawater, which stimulates bloom events.

"Why should we care?" I questioned. And reality hit: Red Tide kills wildlife and harms humans.

The density of red tide organisms during a bloom can exceed tens of millions of cells per litre of seawater.

Where red tides occur, dead fish wash up on shore for up to two weeks after a red tide has been through the area. In addition to killing fish, the toxic algae contaminate shellfish. Shellfish consume the organisms responsible for red tide and concentrate it in their tissues. Ingestion can cause paralysis within 30 minutes.

Simply eating dead fish on the beach or drinking the water can also affect birds that don't eat mollusks. Toxins released by blooms can kill marine animals including dolphins, sea turtles, birds, and manatees.

Humans are affected by the Red Tide species by eating improperly harvested shellfish, or just breathing the air along the beaches where dead fish have washed ashore. Reports of skin irritation after swimming in the ocean during red tide are common.

"Oh, my!" I thought. "It took great efforts to ban DDT from poisoning our environment. What will it take to ban the human causes of Red Tide?"

We reached the marina docks again and we prepared to trailer our boat home; tired, happy, and freshly aware of our need to be good stewards of the land we so love.

###

Nature
Like

About the Creator

Kay Burnett

A fellow at Stanford Graduate Scool of Business (EPLN), founded Marfa Public Radio in far West Texas. Retired from newspaper industry. Author of two self published novels.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.