www.legendsofamerica.com/fl-fountainyouth/
I have always been a lover of wildlife. Not the drink like a fish and dance on the table kind but rather, I love to enjoy nature's menagerie of ocean beasties and terrestrial beast alike in there full natural habitat. So when I learned my wife was going to a conference in Miami it was a great opportunity to pick her up at the end of the conference and drive to Key West, After all we don't have a barrier reef system in Utah. The barrier reef on the southernmost part of Florida is what makes up the Florida Keys and beyond. The reef extends out to what is now a very remote National Park that Ponce De Leon once named "Las Tortugas". Named after the food supply for wooden shipped mariners who did not have refrigeration. Yes, they ate the endangered sea turtles. The report is that it taste like something in between lobster and pork.
Credit: © StrangerView / Fotolia
A brief history of Ponce De Leon (CLick)
Ponce De Leon's Las Tortugas had a name change to let other mariners know there was no fresh water on the islands. Hence came the current day name "Dry Tortugas". Fort Jefferson was built on the island. The third largest fort built in that day. It's significance has long ran out and the fort was never finished. It was built to protect the middle of the United States of America just after the Louisiana purchase. Through the Mississippi river our country was vulnerable to waring counties and fort Jefferson was meant to be a blockade to protect the middle of a new country.
Credit: @www.pbchistoryonline.org
A brief history of Ponce De Leon (CLick)
Ponce De Leon's Las Tortugas had a name change to let other mariners know there was no fresh water on the islands. Hence came the current day name "Dry Tortugas". Fort Jefferson was built on the island. The third largest fort built in that day. It's significance has long ran out and the fort was never finished. It was built to protect the middle of the United States of America just after the Louisiana purchase. Through the Mississippi river our country was vulnerable to waring counties and fort Jefferson was meant to be a blockade to protect the middle of a new country.
Unnamed Islands
Besides exploring Fort Jefferson there are many unnamed islands in the Florida Keys. Some are so small that a storm can make them disappear and another reappear. The ever dispersing mangrove trees keep these little islands intact. These trees also provide havens for tiny fish along the reef. Once I found myself swimming with thousands of little fish and in a moment I could see flashes of darting fish. I then realized that I was in the middle of a feeding frenzy of a school of barracuda. I then swam out of the frenzy near some giant coral structures only to find a four foot barracuda in my path. I wanted to get a closer look so I did, ooooops, territorial animal. He faced me and I gladly backed off. In my mind I kept getting flashes of a bison that wanted to tear into me on Catalina Island. Same scenario only on land.
It was also exciting to see the large tarpons swimming around me and finding many lobsters hiding under the giant sponges. Also I believe I did see the largest live conch I have ever gazed upon. This is the advantage of getting in remote areas. Life in plentiful!
Maneuvering a kayak through the mangroves was amazing. I was hoping to stumble on to a shark nursery but never did.
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