“By the time we come back you’ll have seen so many dolphins you’ll be sick of the sight of them” said Floridian Elia as we drove into Honest John’s Fish Camp. It’s a simple place, a little ramshackle and full of character set on the water’s edge amongst the oak trees draped in Spanish moss – a taste of old Florida before the condominium developers arrived.
Much of the east coast of Florida is made up of barrier islands connected to the mainland by causeways. This creates an interesting and diverse environment – on one side endless golden beaches of these barriers flank the Atlantic Ocean. On the other, wide rivers form a calmer tidal mix of small islands amongst an expanse of water with the main land on the west side and the coastal barrier on the east.
A shack, serving as a boat hire office, sits on the water’s edge next to two jetties. Tied to the smaller one is our boat for this adventure. We’re greeted by Captain Clark, our skipper and guide for the next couple of hours. Looking out from the shore I could already see the dorsal fin of a dolphin in the distance.
Exploring from Honest John’s
We set out to explore these waters, some of which are no more than a couple of feet deep with sand bars which would be easy to run aground on without local knowledge of these waterways. Our mission to find and photograph the abundant birdlife and the cetaceans. If we’re lucky we’ll get a glimpse on dugongs too, although you really need to be in the water to photograph them properly, unless you are with them in one of Florida’s crystal clear-water springs further up the coast.
Captain Clark from Honest John’s Fish Camp
Near the quay cormorants were basking in the sunshine, occasionally with wings spread. It felt wild and yet with both shores away from Honest John’s flanked by houses and villas at the same time it didn’t. Away from the more easily accessible shores and into the islands the environment was much more nature-based with thick mangroves providing a rich habitat for nature. Mangroves form one of the planets most important but under-rated habitats, both for aquatic creatures and in the fight against climate change.
Snake bird – Adhinga – with a fish and a gull trying to steal it
There’s a snake in the water, or rather a snake bird – an Anhinga. It swims with it’s body fully submerged below the surface and its long thin neck and head above the surface, looking very much like a serpent rising before it strikes. Out of the water it looks more like a skinny cormorant. It’s actually a darter.
Gliding amongst the islands the birdlife starts to reveal itself. Pelicans, great blue herons and roseate spoonbills amongst the species in view, plus numerous varieties of ducks. It was good to see them from the water and we could obviously get much closer.
Pelican amongst the mangroves
So where are the dolphins?
I was just starting to wonder where the excess of dolphins were – I’d so far only seen that fin from the shoreline – when the captain spotted the wave trail and occasional bubbles which indicated dugongs underwater. Patient observation revealed no more than a brief glimpse of a snout and nostril, but even that was more than I’d expected.
Sort on the lagoon and the illusive dugong
One bird which I definitely hoped to see was an osprey. They are nesting at this time (April) with young, hungry chicks still in their nests. Here they nest on the lane marker navigation buoys. We found two nest and as we approached each the parent osprey took to the air in attempt to lead us away from it. They are majestic birds in flight and, despite being on a rocking boat, presented some good opportunities to photograph them on the wing.
Cormorants, great blue heron and cranes
A detour to a small mangrove-covered island afforded an opportunity to see an abundance of native birdlife, both in the trees and onshore or wading close to it. I could have stayed there for hours just observing but eventually time was up and we started to head back to the jetty. The trip had been completely dolphin-free, much to my immense disappointment and Elia’s embarrassment.
Back to shore dolphinless
With the jetty back in sight and the boat trip virtually over, guess what was playing in the water just beyond the jetty? Two Bottlenose dolphins! We docked but on seeing my disappointment Captain Clark agreed to take me out to these dolphins so that I could both enjoy the experience and get the opportunity to photograph them.
Playful Bottlenose Dolphins surfing the bow wave
Luckily they were playful and inquisitive. Having swum near the boat for a few minutes Captain Clark decided to see if they would surf alongside us, so he picked up speed. The dolphins accepted the invitation and swam, cresting the bow waves next us for several hundred meters. It was magical.
Magical moments on the Indian River Lagoon
All images © Chris Coe
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