{"id":191,"date":"2018-02-02T02:35:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-02T02:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.paddlemarco.com\/blog\/?p=191"},"modified":"2018-02-02T03:06:38","modified_gmt":"2018-02-02T03:06:38","slug":"top-10-critters-we-find-on-our-kayak-tours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paddlemarco.com\/blog\/top-10-critters-we-find-on-our-kayak-tours","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 Critters we find on our Kayak Tours"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s always our goal to find as much wildlife as possible on our Mangrove Tunnels Kayak Tour.\u00a0 There are a few factors that come into play when it comes to finding wildlife on our kayak tours.\u00a0 \u00a0The tide needs to be just right, the wind needs to be calm and the sun has to be shining.\u00a0 Below are the top 10 critters that we love to find during our tours and when you’re most likely to see them.\u00a0 All photos were taken by our guides.<\/p>\n

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1)\u00a0 Manatee – Found in the summer during high tide.<\/h3>\n
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Manatee floats by our kayaks on a Kayak Tour.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The West Indian Manatee occupies this part of southwest Florida.\u00a0 During the warmest summer months, we get lucky and see Manatees a few times per week.\u00a0 They are feeding on sea grass in the middle of the bays.\u00a0 Often times, one will swim right up next to our kayaks.\u00a0 They can stay under the water for aprox 15 minutes but usually surface every 3-4 minutes.\u00a0 These gentle giants can weigh up to 1200 lbs and eat 10 percent of their bodyweight in a day!\u00a0 We don’t see them in the winter, as the water is too cold and Manatees do not have a lot of blubber to protect them from the cold… because they are vegetarians!<\/p>\n

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2)\u00a0 Dolphin – Found year round in medium & high tide.<\/h3>\n
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Racing a Dolphin on our kayak tour!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We usually find the Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins on kayak tours that have tidal movement.\u00a0 Dolphins are lazy and love to let the tide push them around.\u00a0 These friendly mammals are often heard before they are seen because of their loud blow holes.\u00a0 We usually find them feeding in the open bays and thrashing fish around.\u00a0 They’ll eat around 25 lbs of fish in a single day!\u00a0 Every once in a while we get one swimming 20 MPH under our kayaks in the mangrove tunnels!\u00a0 It’s the coolest experience ever!<\/p>\n

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3)\u00a0 Batfish – Found on low & medium tide in spring.<\/h3>\n
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The Batfish! Found on our kayak tour.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This bizarre looking fish lays and waits for his food to swim by and he slurps it up!\u00a0 This fish looks like a bat and a frog combined!\u00a0 It doesn’t actually swim up… it has legs that look like pegs and it dances along the bottom with its outer fins allowing it to steer.\u00a0 Get on a tour with Captain Lewis or our Biologist Susan and you’ll probably find one!<\/p>\n

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4)\u00a0 Horse Conch – Found on low & medium tide.<\/h3>\n
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A Horse Conch Snail, coming out of its shell!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The A-Predator of the mudflats.\u00a0 These snails are the biggest in North America and can grow up to 2 FT in length.\u00a0 The snail inside is a bright orange color.\u00a0 These guys will crawl around the bottom and eat other shells and clams.\u00a0 When we find one of these, we are always excited to show our customers… because it’s one of the biggest shells you can find.\u00a0 Did you know it’s also the state shell of Florida?<\/p>\n

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5)\u00a0 Lightning Whelk – Found on low & medium tide.<\/h3>\n
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The massive lightning whelk!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Lightning Whelk is the second largest snail in North America and one of the only shells to open up on the left hand side (also known as a sinistral shell).\u00a0 It’s also the state shell of Texas!\u00a0 These snail’s shells can grow up to 15 inches long!\u00a0 When we find one in the spring, it’s often accompanied by several baby lightning whelk shells next to it.\u00a0 Inside the shell is the snail, which is a shiny black color.\u00a0 Whenever we find one and pull it out of the mud, our customers gasp and everyone wants a picture.\u00a0 Truly a top 5 critter on our kayak tours.<\/p>\n

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6) Ragged Sea Hare – Found on low tide in the spring.<\/h3>\n
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The Ragged Sea Hare and its purple ink!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These weird looking creatures are always fun to find.\u00a0 Poke one and a purple ink will ooze from its body. This defense mechanism confuses predators and clouds their vision under the water.\u00a0 The ink is harmless and washes off easily.<\/p>\n

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7) Sea Star – Found on low & medium tide.<\/h3>\n
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5-Arm Sea Star, right under our kayaks.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before Hurricane Irma, we would find hundreds of 5-arm Sea Stars (also known as starfish) and Sea Urchins on our kayak tours.\u00a0 After Hurricane Irma… we haven’t found a single Sea Star or Sea Urchin.\u00a0 Storm surge and lack of oxygen in the water killed off many of the Sea Stars.\u00a0 Recently, hundreds of 9-arm Sea Stars washed up on shore of Marco Island.\u00a0 Many of them were dead, but it’s important to note that they may be finally crawling their way back into our estuary and that’s a good thing!\u00a0 Jake, our kayak tour photographer also spotted several 5-arm sea stars in the canals; a place where they couldn’t escape the storm surge.\u00a0 Will they be back in the estuary soon?\u00a0 Hope so.<\/p>\n

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8) Raccoon – Found on low tide.<\/h3>\n
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Look up! Raccoon above your head!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Raccoons are always a treat!\u00a0 During the low tide, and sometimes the high tide… we can spot Raccoons running through the roots of the mangrove trees in the tunnels.\u00a0 Sometimes we see them swim right in front of us as they cross creeks to get from one island to another!\u00a0 Their only true predator to the raccoon in this area is a bobcat or alligator.\u00a0 Rare to see either of those, but we never say never.<\/p>\n

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9) Bald Eagle – Found in the spring.<\/h3>\n
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Bald Eagle soaring above our kayak tour!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the spring months, the Osprey are nesting.\u00a0 When the Osprey are nesting… the Bald Eagles appear.\u00a0 Bald Eagles don’t just eat fresh fish… they’ll steal a baby Osprey out of its nest!\u00a0 This is why the female Osprey always stays in her nest while the male Osprey gathers food and fends off the Bald Eagles.\u00a0 It’s always a site to see when a Bald Eagle flies overhead.\u00a0 Often times, an Eagle under 5 years old will be completely brown.\u00a0 Around age 5, they start to develop their signature white head and tail feathers.<\/p>\n

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10) Mangrove Tree Crab – Found all the time.<\/h3>\n
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The harmless mangrove tree crab.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are so many crabs that we find out in Rookery Bay.\u00a0 Mangrove Tree Crabs, Blue Crabs, Horseshoe Crabs, Hermit Crabs, Fiddler Crabs, etc.\u00a0 You are basically guaranteed to see a Mangrove Tree Crab on every kayak tour.\u00a0 They are often confused with a spider because they look just like one!\u00a0 These guys love to scurry along the roots of the red mangroves as we kayak by.\u00a0 If you’re lucky, they’ll jump on your kayak or life jacket and hitch a ride. Don’t worry, they are harmless!<\/p>\n

Those are our top 10 critters!\u00a0 We have been lucky enough to spot other critters such as bobcats, snakes, sharks, stingrays, sea urchins and a huge variety of birds too!<\/p>\n

The best chance to see at least 5 of the top 10 critters is on a sunny spring morning when the tide is going from low to high.<\/p>\n

Book your kayak tour today!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s always our goal to find as much wildlife as possible on our Mangrove Tunnels Kayak Tour.\u00a0 There are a few factors that come into play when it comes to finding wildlife on our kayak tours.\u00a0 \u00a0The tide needs to be just right, the wind needs to be calm and the sun has to be … Continue reading Top 10 Critters we find on our Kayak Tours<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":202,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,1,2,3],"tags":[38,55,52,21,56,22,50,54,8,9,53,51,49],"class_list":["post-191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nature","category-news","category-rentals","category-tours","tag-bald-eagle","tag-batfish","tag-dolphin","tag-horse-conch","tag-kayak-tour","tag-lightning-whelk","tag-manatee","tag-mangrove-tree-crab","tag-marco-island","tag-naples","tag-raccoon","tag-ragged-sea-hare","tag-sea-star","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paddlemarco.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paddlemarco.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paddlemarco.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paddlemarco.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paddlemarco.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.paddlemarco.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":221,"href":"https:\/\/www.paddlemarco.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191\/revisions\/221"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paddlemarco.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paddlemarco.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paddlemarco.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paddlemarco.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}