A Couple More Things We Did In Florida...

 

We went to the Lee County Manatee Park Visitors Center.

During the cool winter months (November through March) the temperature of the Gulf of Mexico and local rivers drop below 68 degrees F. The endangered Florida manatee seeks refuge from the cold waters by swimming into the warm water discharge canal of the Florida Power and Light plant. This non-captive manatee sanctuary provides a winter haven for these warm-blooded native mammals that live, feed and raise their young year round in the fresh, brackish or saltwater coastal areas of Florida.

 

 Sun Harvest Citrus is Mommy's favorite place to buy oranges when we visit Florida

Homeade orange ice cream and free juice samples make it even better right? :)

There Red Navel Oranges are the best!!!

 

 One morning we drove through the Ding Darling National Wildlife Preserve.

This 5,200 acre refuge is named in honor of pioneer conservationist and political cartoonist Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling.  "Ding" headed the U.S. Biological Survey (forerunner for the Fish and Wildlife Service) and is also credited as one of the key people in the development of the National Wildlife Refuge System.

 

 



Alligators!!!

Thursday, our last day in Florida, we drove along Rt. 41 and looked for alligators!!
We saw over 100 alligators sunning themselves in the Florida afternoon sunshine.

 A large adult American alligator's weight and length is 800 pounds and 13 feet long,  but can grow to 14.5 feet long and weigh over 1,000 pounds.  The largest ever recorded was found in Louisiana and measured 19 feet 2 inches.  Alligators have an average of 75 teeth.

We were all looking at the bird when we saw the alligator sneaking up behind it...it looks like fresh bird might be on this alligator's dinner menu!  :)

 We stopped in the Big Cyprus National Preserve along the way to see some more alligators.

 We had to keep a hand on the younger ones...don't want them falling over the railing!!! :-O

 We also stopped at Shark Valley and took a short walk.
 Shark Valley is in the heart of the Everglades.  It stretches 100 miles from Lake Okeechobee to the Gulf of Mexico. Wildlife is plentiful here where animals share a freshwater ecosystem of sawgrass marsh and tree islands.

 Orchids

We went for a little .4 mi walk through the marsh

 "Daddy, are there alligators in here?"  :)

The Thriller

One afternoon we went on a Dolphin Watch Tour around the islands of Sanibel and Captivia on the Sanibel Thriller!  With twin diesel engines putting out 1,000 horse power this 55 ft. jetboat was a thrill to ride!!!

 Our first pod was a nursery group!

 The baby dolphins were so cute to watch!!

 Our tour guide told us that the dolphins ride the wake behind the boats like we would ride the waves on a surf or boggie board.  The dolphins love to hitch a free ride whenever possible, they will even ride the wake behind whales!

At one point three pods were following the boat riding the first and second wakes, left and right, they were jumping everywhere!!!

This was an amazing boat ride!!!

Here's a short video clip...