Haulover Canal

Looking east, Monday, July 13, 2009, 6:50 PM. Very impressive lightning from these clouds. Not good for the 6:51 pm Shuttle launch. If it launched to the west....
Rescheduled until Weds. at 6 pm. I will not see it- other than from the parking lot at work
But,for the second day in a row, I got the trifecta.

Plus rosette spoonbills.

I stayed after sunset for bioluminescence, spending about 3 hours on the water in the early evening. On arrival, I once again put in directly across from Bairs Cove. I did not put in right away, as thunder was booming. I turned on the car radio, the launch of Space Shuttle was not yet canceled. When I saw a small Coast Guard boat leave Bairs Cove, headed west for the Indian River, I though maybe it will go. I put in, paddling towards Mosquito Lagoon. Now the lightning began- far from me, but very impressive, cloud to water bolts. I paddled beneath the drawbridge and saw boats and kayaks headed my way, lead by the same type of Coast Guard boat I saw earlier. I asked the Coast Guard if the launch had been scrubbed. "Not yet, but it will be, a lot of lighting in the area, you should turn around" I did, the launch was scrubbed.

Great blue heron on the bank of the Canal.

Great egret, Bairs Cove.

A couple manatees were in the Cove, near the boat ramp, another on the edge at the Canal. "Dolphin Cove" lived up to its name. Also in a the Cove, a power boat, with a woman on the bottom of the small ladder acting like she was going to get in the water. Not something I would recommend in the dark water of the Canal and Cove. You never know what may be in there.

I headed out of the Canal in the Indian River and Mullet Head Island. 7:30 pm was the perfect time to visit the bird sanctuary. A rough paddle going out, but once behind the Island, out of the wind the amount and variety of birds was fantastic.

Reddish egret.

Snowy egrets, pelican, ibis, cormorant, and more.




Tri colored herons.

More tri colored herons.

Rosette spoonbills and great blue heron.

Pelican and black crowned night heron.
I paddled back into the Canal, where in "Dolphin Cove" a gator floated.

Wonder if it ate the woman who was going to swim there? I headed to the Manatee Overlook, none there.

Just east of the overlook, several manatees fed along the north bank of the Canal. Gettng to dark for quality pics, although I did post one above to verify the manatee, dolphin, alligator, "Florida Trifecta" The approach of darkness meant light in the water. Bioluminescence, living light. I stopped on the bank where the car was parked to get a flashlight. Kayaks are not required to have lights, but common sense out weighs the law. I made my way over to Bairs Cove, then into Dolphin Cove and out the alternate channel to the Indian River as a school of mullet shot past. To early for the light show. Out into a small bay, the lights of a distant fishing boat bobbing in the distance. I turned back, through the channel, swatting mosquitoes as I went, replying bug spray. Overcast, so the day to night transition was subtle. On prior night Haulover paddles, I would see stars above, then the glow below. On this night, few stars, but then, a glow around my paddle. I placed my hand over the side, the water turned white, flowing through my fingers. Towards Mosquito Lagoon, each stroke creating a brief, glowing wake. Out of the Canal, not into the main body of the Lagoon, but the shallow, narrow bay sheltered by a line of spoil islands. Here mullet flash through the sea grass. A line of light, a leap, splash, white glowing droplets, another line of light. Repeated dozens of times.

The only problem with the night, this time of year, it starts late. So, I headed back. Past a surfacing manatee in the Canal, more manatees, heard, but not seen. The light show gets better the darker it gets. When I stepped out of my kayak on landing, my foot and ankle was enveloped in a glow that spread out along the floating grasses along the bank.

I'll do another Haulover after Dark paddle in September or so when it gets late earlier. The only downer to the evening was when I put the yak on the car. I was trying to do it quickly, the mosquitoes were horrific. Placed an blanket on the back of the car to protect it, than got the yak up on the rack. Too far. It teetered, then the bow rose up and it slid down, over the hood. I thought nothing of it, until I stopped for gas on the way home. In the lights I saw my hood received a nasty scratching from the grit on the bottom of the yak.