I have wanted to see nesting turtles and hatching baby turtles for a long time but every time I went to Florida it was never the right season for it. This time it WAS. I had tried Emailing and phoning every possible nature group to try to join a “turtle walk” but they all told me that I was too late, that these groups are booked months in advance. Undaunted I drove over an hour to get to Sebastian Inlet, which is known, for its turtles. When I got to the gate the first time I was greeted by a very unpleasant woman who made me feel like I should not be there… She also pointed out that turtles can only be seen after sundown…and that was several hours away so I left… and decided to try the Brevard Zoo as I had never been and admission was free that day. Unfortunately, several sections of the zoo were closed off…and the majority of animals were nowhere to be seen. I did see this very strange bird…it had the body of an ostrich, the head of a turkey wearing make up and strange prehistoric feet…I still do not know what it is called.
Birds rather than turtles seem to have been the theme of this trip. here is one I saw on the beach and the other at the zoo.
The other interesting sight on the beach was a stingray caught by a fisherman. They are not “pretty”, and not at all colourful, but fascinating in a monstuous, scary kind of way….
A few days later I visited the Merritt Island refuge. This is known for its bird population but most of them flock there in winter so it was rather deserted at this time of year…and it was so hot that even the alligators were hiding.
I did return to the Sebastian Inlet the next night and was greeted by a charming young girl who found me some space on a turtle walk group. I still had to wait a couple of hours so I walked around and got to see some amazing lightning over the water. But try as I may I could not get a photograph of it…I need to learn more about photography and maybe start thinking of upgrading my equipment….
I never did see any turtles but I did get to attend an interesting presentation on them and visit a museum on sunken treasures off the coast of Florida. I will have to try again next year. It seems this year has not been good for loggerheads in Florida. I had a look at a turtle tracking website. It is amazing the distances some of them travel! They are fascinating animals!
So this was not a very successful trip as far as animal viewing goes, but I never tire of the beach, the sights, the sounds, the smell, the waves…