A Week with the Caloosa

Last week, Sanibel Skills campers found ways to link up with the past. We went to the time of the Mighty Caloosa…perhaps more than 250 years ago. We learned about those sophisticated people; we learned to tie Sheet Bend knots (sometimes called Weaver’s knots); just like the Caloosa used to make their seines nets. We made dippers from cockle shells and sticks. We honed our canoe paddling skills in honor of their canoe-paddling tradition. Many of us adorned our bodies with henna tattoos in patterns similar to those of the Caloosa. While paddling, some of us were treated to a long, friendly visit from a Bottlenose Dolphin and her calf.

We went to sites known to have had Caloosa inhabitants and seined just as they probably did hundreds of years ago. While there, we were lucky enough to find some net weights fashioned from clam shells. Doing and finding have a way of bringing history to life – more than one gasp was uttered when artifacts were found and shared.

And, all week we spent time looking for natural objects that might be useful in the lives of our Sanibel predecessors. All this searching paid off on Thursday. That afternoon, we had a large game on the Bailey Tract. After a long hike, two Sanibel Sea School tribes met and traded items of value or utility. Then they went their separate ways and used their collections to make small totems along the paths that would have made any Caloosa’s spirits soar. After a hard decision, the totem judges deemed the Seahorse Tribe as the best totem builders of the week.
But each day, after lunch, we did deviate from the early inhabitants and hopped aboard our fiberglass and foam surfboards for our daily surfboard paddling at the end of Buttonwood ; fun, exercise and spirited competition.

For the finale, parents, families and friends joined us for milk and cookies and a Friday night beach walk and seining on San Carlos Bay. There is just nothing like wrapping up a fun-filled week with a night-time swim down on the east end of our little island.

Next week, we will come back to the present and experience a few things about Manatees.

The Offshore Blues

Some of the Sanibel Sea School staff were recently 35 to 40 miles offshore from Sanibel Island. We were there to explore, experience and collect phytoplankton samples for research conducted at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institue.

In the Gulf of Mexico, being 35 miles offshore is where and when we firmly step right in to the food chain. Radios only work if someone happens to be close by, and they rarely are - cell phones long ago lost coverage. You got yourself there; you get yourself back. A little risk, but the trade-off is immense. A quick trip to our distant planet - the pelagic world. Where flying fish skitter for a 100 yards in the wake of the boat. Where sky and sea blend on the horizon. The wildest of untouched spaces here on our ocean planet. It can be a little scary being alone with the ocean, but yet very re-affirming. We live on an ocean planet, but rarely get the opportunity to go out experience the vast majority of that 70% of our planet. It sure is nice to go out into the wild ocean from time to time - just to know it is still there; still wild and still vast.

Try to do something today to help be a better steward of the planet.

Science and Fun at Sanibel Skills Camp

Last week, Sanibel Skills camp offered by Sanibel Sea School was true to the mission of Sanibel Sea School; it was a blend of science, learning and old fashion fun.

The theme was tarpon week and we learned a lot about one of our locally prized game-fish, the tarpon – sometimes called the “Silver King”. Among the things we learned is how scientists track the movements of tarpon using high tech transmitters that track the locations of fish using satellite technology. We also learned how scientists can determine the age of fish by analyzing growth rings in their ear bones – a process very similar to the one used to age trees through growth rings.

At the end of the week, many of us blended our new science knowledge and a little artistic ability to make models of tarpon ear bones using Sculpey clay and then made necklaces using the cross-sections as pendants. So if you see local kids running around with colorful pendant necklaces of concentric rings, be sure to ask ‘em how to age a tarpon.

We also honed up on our boat driving skills by piloting small boats with electric motors around the waters adjacent to the Sanibel boat ramp. One brave second-grade camper, Sam Gruss even captained his first boat under the Sanibel causeway! And of course, what good nautical drill would be complete without a soaking cannonball and a long swim back to shore. Another waterman skill we practiced was castnet throwing. And, many a mojara were caught and released unharmed during the fun.

Snorkeling skills were a giant hit. The clear waters allowed us to find many fabulous shells on the sand bar system of the east end of the island, and one group was treated with a rare underwater sighting of a large sea trout in the waters off Bailey Beach. One group even went on an epic, long float snorkel, flowing with the tide around Woodring Point – they were treated by giant Lightning Whelks and even the shell remains of a whopping granddaddy stone crab. This is pretty exciting stuff - to flow with the warm summer tide as a part of the ocean world that surrounds us and just discover.

For Doc Bruce, the highlight was our discovery of juvenile Bonefish (Albula vulpes) on the east end of the island. To his, and several Sea School staffers squealing delight, a group of campers caught bonefish in their seines. Bonefish are among the world’s most highly prized gamefish and are very uncommonly found in SW Florida. Amongst the old timers there are only three known records of bonefish caught in these waters. They do occur in the Florida Keys and along the southeastern coast of the state, but have never been recorded by the scientific community this far north in the Gulf. In fact, very little is known about the reproduction and juvenile stages of this species. We collected several specimens for ongoing studies and will ship them to the Florida Wildlife Research Institute for age and genetic analysis. This research is being conducted there in collaboration with fisheries scientists at Mote Marine Lab.

Someone once said that it takes a village to raise a child. We are grateful to the many folks who help us each week put on Sanibel Skills Camp. The Lighthouse Café continues to quench our thirsts with ice, our Gheenoes were provided by the Gheen Manufacturing Company, The Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge loaned us their big seine to sample for more bonefish, and Ralph Woodring allowed our snorkelers access to Tarpon Bay for epic snorkel drifts.

And, by the way, be sure to check out the CBS Early Morning News Show (from New York) between 8:00 and 9:00 am on the 24th of July to see national television news coverage of what our kids are doing down on the east end of the island!