Kayaking on the North Side of Bahia Honda Key

     Kayaking just off of the mangroves to the north of Bahia Honda Key there are several areas of very shallow waters that contain oodles of very interesting life.   There is an area of jelly fish and other unusual living plants and animals that you rarely get to see except at low tide and in a kayak or paddle board.

     This week we headed west once we crossed under the Highway 1 bridge and entered into the Gulf of Mexico.  Traversing just off of the mangroves you immediately start seeing unique birds and marine life beginning to appear.  Several nurse sharks, crabs, yellowtail, parrot fish and mutton all swam by.  There are a number of unusual what I refer to as plant/animals, like the sponges that grow in these warm shallow zones.

     We went ashore at one place to find what

looked to be a desolate desert zone, where there were skeletons of trees that had been bleached by the sun and wind.  Even here there was very special and beautiful life moving about.  we saw signs of raccoons and birds that inhabited the zone.  There were butterflies and beautiful dragonflies that would light on the sparse number of flowers there.

  Right between the "desert" and the water we found a group of aloe plants flourishing.  This was a real surprise, as the less that 100 foot distance separated the these zones what a difference in what was found living there.

Aloe Plants

     The bird life through out the key is always interesting and
spectacular.  Looking a little closer, you see species that you don't see on a regular basis. Today we saw the usual Osprey, Tern, and Frigate Birds, but this little brown and golden colored bird caught my attention.  It had a beak that was made for cracking seeds, but nothing that had seen before in the keys.  Always great to run across something new that nature can offer you up as you glide through the habitat.