home, so after carefully placing them back again we set off across the bay to enter the mangrove tunnels and some shelter from the increasing temperatures.
It is noticeable that there are many other people now on the water including other canoe and kayaking groups with a sprinkling of kayak fishermen. We now turn back into the breeze and as I’m now paddling for two, as my son in the front has reverted to sun lounger mode, I’m more than anxious to get a little relief from the sun. Again before entering the tunnels, Bill gives us some information on the mangroves and what we can expect to find when we are in there
asking us to avoid touching any of the wildlife or trees and to stay firmly in the boats.
Straight away the shade of the trees lowers the temperatures and the waters become much more still as the shelter of the trees halts the breeze. One of the attractions of the Mangrove paddling tours is the hope of seeing manatees and dolphins, which can be seen all year round but more frequently in the warmer summer months. One animal you will not see are alligators, which live in the fresh water further inland. Here the water is brackish saltwater with the mangrove trees sucking the freshwater out of the saltwater and providing a unique eco-system that’s now protected all along Florida’s coastline.
Florida fact:
Florida is the only state in the continental United States to have extensive shallow coral reef formations near its coasts.
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