Econlockhatchee River

I was in my kayak, trying to spot a manatee.  I looked back, and one had bumped my sister's Clare's kayak.  Almost knocking her out of the yak, but she recovered.  Then I woke up.  Yes, I dream about paddling.  Looked at the clock. 8:00 already ?  I had kayaking company coming at 8:30.   Good thing I showered at the beach yesterday.  I put the second kayak on the car, Stephanie arrived, and we drove, in to cars to the Seminole County Road 419 bridge.  Carried the yaks to the water, then drove both cars to the takeout at the Snow Hill Road bridge.  Locked my car, back to 419 in Stephs car.  Unloaded the gear, and I thought, I don't need my keys, I'll leave them under the mat.    I know.  I'm an idiot.

We were in the water at 10:00.

Saw to gators in the first two minutes,  still cool enough to be out of the water.

 I usually don't post vulture pics, but there were a lot out today.  The reason, catfish.  Dead catfish.  I would say in the hundreds. Floating, on logs, in the many log jams on the Econ.  Native fish, not the exotics black sailfins.  Outside of the long freeze two winters ago, I've never seen, or smelled, so many dead fish. Anyone know about this?   I sent an email to http://www.seminole.wateratlas.usf.edu/Macro/Waterbody.aspx?wbodyid=1006    I'll let you know if I find anything out.

I do this every time I paddle the Econ. Look for the eagle's nest to soon.  But, nothing wrong with paddling more of the River.  Empty nest, we did see an eagle on the wing before we got to the nest.

Other than the dead fish is a nice day.  Two guys in a canoe with a motor, 1 hiker, 2 biker, two other kayakers.

And photos of a bald eagle.

Just before we landed, we saw a large group on the bank, more than we had seen all day.   One more flying bald eagle.

Another fine day on the water.  Until, in sight of the Snow Hill Road takeout, I thought., "My keys are in the other car"  I was going to walk the near 5 miles to the other car.  The smart one with me called a cab.

Took a while for it to arrive, but gave me a chance to smell the flowers.

Although she had to wait here for long time

Stephanie has graciously provided the above photo of my car, loaded with nowhere to go, and these.

Tuesday, 8-16-- I got a reponse from me email to Seminole County on the fish kill.

"Thank you for reporting the fish kill in the Econ that you observed. Seminole County, FWC and DEP have all received similar sightings of dead fish in the Econ, both in Orange and Seminole Counties over the past few months. The cause of this fish kill is not certain but it is believed to be caused by natural circumstances brought on by the increased stormwater runoff, high temperatures and low oxygen levels in the water. I have not had any reports or suspected illicit discharges or spills in this area.

I have attached a link to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission website specifically for reporting fish kills. You can report your observations on this site but also search to see if there have been other reportings. It's a very useful and interesting site.
http://myfwc.com/news/news-releases/2011/july/19/fish-kills/
Please continue to send us an e-mail if you see anything suspicious during your kayak trips in Seminole County. We really appreciate reports from our residents and folks recreating in the waterways of the county. We typically do not see that stretch of the Econ where you were kayaking so your observations are even more helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

I followed the link to the FWC (which I messed up cutting and pasting) and reported what I saw.