Katrina & Red Tide Update

With the passing of Hurricane Katrina (View hi-res satellite image from NASA), the surf here in the Tampa Bay area has really been kicking up the past few days, and expected to last until Tuesday or so. Reports are that scientists have taken samples from various locations around the bay, and should have a report later in the week, and hopefully the Red Tide will be low, if not gone.

A Day At The Aquarium

We took a day off from beach activity to check out the Florida Aquarium at Channelside in downtown Tampa. It is a great aquarium, and I would rank it as the best I have been to, with the Seattle Aquarium and New York Aquarium coming in a close second and third.

They have an excellent amount of hands-on experiences, and the displays are outstanding that include Bay & Shore, Wetlands, Coral Reefs and native species to the Tampa Bay and Florida regions. We stayed about 6 hours, and loved every minute of it, checking out the numerous animals, from fish, birds, turtles, sharks and alligators. It is a must-see in Tampa Bay.

(Click on the thumbnails for a larger photo)

Shameless Plug

I recently updated the photography web site with some of the more recent images of the Gulf Coast from Tampa Bay, Siesta Key and Sanibel Island at photography.robertlafollette.com. Hope you enjoy!

Dolphin Sightings

While awaiting the sunset tonight, we waded out into the waters at Honeymoon State Park, looking for the usual, sea life, shells and enjoying the warm Gulf waters. We also wanted to test out the underwater camera we got, but the water was not very clear due to the approach of Hurricane Katrina. All of a sudden, just about 10 feet in front of us, a wild dolphin swam quietly by. Excited by the sighting, we swam out a few more feet, but the dolphin headed into deeper waters, so we just watched from a distance.

A little later, he was joined by 6 to 7 more dolphins, just swimming around us and out into the deeper bay at Honeymoon. They continued to swim and break the water for about 30 minutes, then disappearing into the sunset. Made for a breathtaking and majestic evening nonetheless.

Red Tide Update

So far, it has been a very disturbing scene so far around Tampa Bay. Since we arrived, we have noticed the great devastation that the phenomenon know as Red Tide has caused. Siesta Key and beaches south seems to be almost free of the bloom, but around Tampa Bay, from Fort De Soto north to Fred Howard Park, it is very apparent.

Recently, dead and near dead sea turtles have been washing ashore along the gulf coast beaches, along with dolphins and thousands of fish and crabs. Birds are also prone to Red Tide, since they eat the fish, which are infected. Hopefully with the coming of Hurricane Katrina it might push the bloom further out into the Gulf of Mexico (of course hoping that it does little to no damage on the mainland).

Life's A Beach

This is the first installment of what hopefully will become a repository of news, information, photos, thoughts and resources of happenings around Tampa Bay. We will offically have the grand opening September 1st, 2005, but in the meantime, check out some of the places we've gone so far:

Siesta Key
Sanibel Island
Florida Keys
Honeymoon State Park
Fort De Soto Park
Clearwater Beach
Fred Howard Park