Haulover Canal Manatees

A windy day on the Mosquito Lagoon didn't make for much fun fishing. Coming back from the Lagoon we decided to check out the Haulover Canal area for some possible action.

Unfortunately, the current in the canal was moving pretty fast and my wife and I were not really prepared for that kind of fishing. It probably would have taken at least a 4 oz. sinker to hold bottom, and with the light spinning gear we brought, it was almost impossible to chuck a sinker out that far without busting the 10 lb. lines we were using.


My wife and I drove to the boat launch and were pleased to see at least 20 manatee munching on the sea grasses found there. The weather was cooling down and the manatee were congregating around the seawall and walkway next to the ramp.

Several were sporting prop wounds on their tails and one on it's back. Unfortunately not everyone heeds the slow motor, no wake zone in and around the canal. These were the lucky ones. Every year thoughtless boaters run across the backs of these gentle creatures.

Till next time, tight lines!

February Mosquito Lagoon & Indian River Wildlife

Wildlife photography along the banks of the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon is fantastic when the weather first warms up in February.

This collage was produced using Picasa 3 from the photographs I took this past weekend.

All the pictures were taken around the Peacock Pocket area of the northern Indian River and the southern most part of the Mosquito Lagoon along the Bio Lab road dirt drive towards Playalinda Beach.

The pictures were taken with a Nikon Cool Pix 8700 camera with effective 8.0 Megapixels and Zoom Nikkor ED 8.9-71.2mm 1:2.8-4.2; 35-280mm 8X Optical Zoom w/ED glass.

I got a super deal on my camera that I bought on the Ebay auction site from a guy in California. It was in new condition and came with an extra battery, charger and 4.0 GB San Disk card.

No tripod was used for the photographs, mainly because I forgot to bring the darn thing, and some of the photos were slightly out of focus due to this and the need to take quick opportune shots.

I thought the above movie might better show you the abundance of wildlife my wife and I got a chance to appreciate over the week end. When you drive around the swamp and lagoon areas in central Florida, you never know what you might run into. 

A great example is the alligators we took pictures of from the Bio Lab road. 

These guys were HUGE and looked like they could eat a horse. Now that I think of it...they probably would.

Enjoy!!

July wildlife photographed with a Nikon Coolpix 8700