Fishing on Santa Rosa Island, Florida
Besides beautiful beaches, like the Princess Beach, Santa Rosa Island offers good fishing. I've added a dozen new species to my list after just a few fishing sessions.
Princess Beach on Santa Rosa Island, Florida
Beautiful white sand, crystal clear water, and lots of personal space.
Now the confusing part. The Princess Beach is located on Okaloosa Island which is not the name of the whole island but a part of Santa Rosa Island - a 40-mile (64 km) so-called barrier island.
The Dead Horse Bay
Dead Horse Bay is a small saltmarsh on the southern side of Brooklyn. In the 19th century, the marsh was a site with animal processing plants to where carcasses of dead horses and other animals were brought to be processed into glue and fertilizer. The remains were dumped into the water. This explains how the Dead Horse Bay got its name.
Horses were replaced by automobiles, and until 1930's, the marsh of Dead Horse Bay was used as a New York city's landfill. Since around 1950's the garbage dump started to erode and all the treasures are now spilling out for everyone to see. More #deadhorsebay photos.
Glass Bottle Beach of the Dead Horse Bay
The coast of the Dead Horse Bay is scattered with bottles, jars, vials, and other glass containers. Less abundant are crockery, faience, porcelain, and rubber items. Probably other materials have not survived and completely decomposed. Some items were buried more than a hundred years ago. Recently I've learned that it is nicknamed “Glass Bottle Beach”. More #deadhorsebay photos.
Striped Searobin (Prionotus Evolans)
This is a Striped Searobin (Prionotus Evolans) from the Triglidae family, commonly known as sea robins or gurnards.
Here are a few interesting things about sea robins. They make a croaking sound similar to a toad. Their skulls are fully armored and they have spines everywhere. They have spiny "legs" but they are not for walking. The "legs" are sensory organ used to search for food on the bottom. And look at these pectoral fins that look like wings.
How to catch: Sometimes you wish you knew how to not catch them. Striped Sea robins will take any bait and virtually any hook size.
Portrait of a Smooth Dogfish (Mustelus canis)
Smooth dogfish is the name of this shark species I hear most often. But it also called Atlantic smooth dogfish, dusky smooth-hound, grayish, nurse shark, smooth dog, or smooth-hound.
They are mostly found in shallow waters and often can be caught from shore.
Common Spider Crab (Libinia Emarginata)
Libinia emarginata, the portly spider crab, common spider crab, nine-spined spider crab, or the ugliest crab of the Atlantic coast of North America.
U.S. Navy Deep Dive System Mark 1 (DDS-MK1)
Experimental dive system from 1968. Man in the Sea Museum, Panama City Beach, Florida.
Pond Overflow
After the long drive, we arrived at the campground but there was not much ground to stand on.
Later I met a woman who told me that the evening before there was a heavy rain. She hid from it in her camper until the morning and woke up to discover that the belongings she left around the camper were either underwater or gone. Someone's things were floating around. The next two days people had to move through the water.
Heavy rain caused the campground's pond to overflow. Mexico Beach, Florida.
Shark-bitten in Half Sea Turtle Washed Ashore
Or, perharps, it was struck by a boat propeller.
