Harrison crew
Yesterday’s article in the Naples Daily News about Man Helping Manateeby Elysa Batista was certainly an inspiring one. In south west Florida we share our waterways with the wondrous manatee, often called the sea cow. As the waters cool with the passing of summer and the start of fall the slow moving mammals to find their way into the warmer shallows, often boating channels or salt water shallow flats. In the case of the big guy this morning, his lumbering speed didn’t get him out to deeper waters in time for the low tide retreat and the forming of a sandbar at Clam Pass just south of Pelican Bay. Luckily for him (her), a couple out for an early morning stroll spotted him and alerted the Collier County Sheriff’s department and Cpl. Carmine Marceno, along with Collier deputies, Collier parks rangers and Pelican Bay District staff worked feverishly to create the pathway that led the manatee out to deeper waters. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologist Denise Boyd said the stranding was just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
This story, a happy ending for sure, reminded me of our local author Randy Wayne White and his character Doc Ford, another marine biologist. As far as my husband and I are concerned, we are a couple of the growing cult following Randy and his writings since his first book dating back to 1990. Randy was a light-tackle fishing guide at Tarpon Bay Marina, Sanibel Island for 13-years, did more than 3,000 charters, and draws heavily on those experiences for his novels about Dr. Marion Ford and friends at Dinkin’s Bay. Since the area that he writes about is the area that we boat in most often, we truly feel we are living characters of his writings. His words bring to life the area waters, beaches, and local characters like no other I know, aside from John D. MacDonald and the Travis McGee series.
We are blessed in south west Florida to have calm waters most of the year and can easily run from Naples to Key West or north to Sanibel, Captiva, Boca Grande and Useppa. The waters are the most gorgeous aqua to deep Safire blue and even margarita lime on the occasion. Wildlife abounds with manatee lumbering, dolphin playing and sea turtles flapping their way.
As my husband Tom, along with our Yorkies Sophie and Sadie enjoy our boating trips this fall, I will be writing in the ships log (my blog) to share, as best I can, those gems we come across in our travels along the coast of south west Florida.
