We visited a couple of Florida's most threatened springs today. Above: An American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) lounges in Fern Hammock Springs in the Ocala National Forest. This spring is one of few in Florida that has been left in its natural state. It is a short (1 mile) walk from Juniper Springs. Juniper Spring was dammed and turned into a park in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps (below).
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Read more about Florida's Threatened Springs at Phillip's Natural World 2.0. In brief, a Canadian businessman has bought thousands of acres near these springs and intends to raise "green" beef. The runoff from his farm will pollute these natural features, but worse, he has applied for a permit to withdraw 13 million gallons of water a day from the area between Juniper Springs and Silver Springs. Florida is likely to grant him a permit. . . . resulting in the destruction of these priceless natural areas.
Above: The mobbed Juniper Springs boil. In my years in Florida I've never seen so many people crowded into a sensitive natural area with zero supervision.
Above: From inside the water wheelhouse at Juniper Springs. The wheelhouse is built atop the dam which creates the swimming area. It also creates electricity for the park.
Above: A slightly distorted 180° panoramic shot of Juniper Spring.
Above: There were few moments of solitude in the forest this afternoon. These images belie the crowds that were found at every turn. This image is of a stand of threatened Needle Palms (Rhapidophyllum hystrix (Pursh) H. Wendl. & Drude ex Drude). Needle Palms are extremely cold hardy and were once found throughout north Florida.
Above: Another large alligator lounging in the relatively pristine Fern Hammock Springs.
While admiring this spot a group of people came up and asked if we would mind if they jumped into the spring. There are many signs posted that this is a no swimming area. The no swimming rule is to protect the flora and fauna of the feature, not to protect the humans from obvious danger from alligators. As we left the spot they jumped into the alligator-infested waters.
Above and Below: The very light blue areas are all small springs on the bottom of the Fern Hammock Spring pond. A couple of the alligators followed us as we walked around the spring area. They could easily have attacked, had they been so inclined. They appeared a little too interested in us for my comfort. Perhaps it was too hot for them to bother today? The temperature was a steady 97° F (36° C) as we walked through the forest.
Below: There are thousands of small boils that are artesian springs where water emerges from the limestone substrate under pressure in this area of the Ocala National Forest. In the image below there are at least 5 small boils in a 3-foot by 3-foot area of the Juniper Creek.
Between Fern Hammock Spring and Juniper Spring it is estimated that 13 million gallons of water per day erupts from the countless boils. Ironically? This is exactly the amount of water that the Adena Springs Ranch proposes to withdraw from the area around Juniper and Fern Hammock Springs per day. The water is needed, they say, to irrigate what will be a bulldozed grassland for "green" cow's grazing needs.
It does not take an environmental scholar to understand that withdrawing that water will destroy these artesian springs.
Below: The St. Johns River Bridge at Astor. I stopped to take some photos of a giant old Live Oak Tree but was disturbed by all the garbage around the tree, so I snapped some shots of the river instead. Here, looking west, there were a few clouds in the late afternoon sky but none that eventually turned into rain-makers for this parched part of Florida. Our last measurable rainfall was a week ago.
