 |
| Indian River Lagoon, Canaveral National Seashore, Apollo Beach Area |
Canaveral National Seashore is home to 13 federally-listed threatened and endangered animals species, placing it second in sheltering endangered species among the 380 National Park Service units.
As Major Hurricane Joaquin made its closest pass to our east we went to the seashore to check out the waves. It was a warm and sunny early October day. Aside from the larger-than-normal waves one would have never known a huge hurricane was only a couple hundred miles to our east.
Below: At its closets point to Cape Canaveral, the center of Hurricane Joaquin was near Crooked Island, Bahamas or about 500 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral.
The National Hurricane Center and internet prognosticators had a very hard time predicting the likely path of Hurricane Joaquin which was originally forecast to pass very close to Cape Canaveral on its way to an East Coast USA landfall. The forecasts erred by about 800 miles at 3 days.
Atlantic Shorebirds
There weren't as many shorebirds as normal, likely due to the heavy surf. Below, a sanderling (Calidris alba) runs back and forth with each successive wave, hunting for food in the damp sand.
Up and back, up and back, up and back; with each succeeding wave the tiny sanderling searches for food. Farther on, the much larger willet stands, not minding wet feet. Further up the dune, on the beach above the waves, the orange-legged ruddy turnstone pokes through sand grains and beach "wrack."
These three are the most commonly seen of Canaveral National Seashore's many shorebirds.
Mangrove Seeds
The high surf from Hurricane Joaquin was kicking up a lot of red and black mangrove seeds. Mangroves are the only trees that are capable of thriving in salt water. They form unique intertidal forests at the edge of land and sea.
Mangrove Cold Tolerance
Many species of mangroves do not grow well at our latitude where there is occasional frost in winter, but some species have adapted to grow here (29° N) and even further poleward. In general mangroves need average temperatures of the coldest month higher than 68° F (20° C). Mangroves can tolerate temperatures as low as 41° F (5° C) but their development is affected below 41°. They are not resistant to freezing, which occurs every few years at 29° N. About 80 miles south, around Vero Beach (27.5° N), there is much less chance of freezing temperatures but there is also much less natural habitat remaining for mangroves in South Florida.
Above: A Black Mangrove (Avicennia germinans) seed with hairy root exposed.
Below: A Red Mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) seed. If you plant the red seed plant it as shown with the larger end in wet ground. The tree will sprout from the skinnier end. I've never had any luck growing black mangroves.
Below: Red and black mangrove seeds littered the beach along with
plenty of shells.
Below: A Sanderling (Calidris alba) with trash.
There was surprisingly little trash on the beach, especially plastics, considering the large waves. The ubiquitous trash will likely wash ashore anew after the waves subside.
Above and Below: Two very different perspectives on Sanderlings using different camera lenses. My eye sees something more like the view above.
Often mistakenly referred to in general as "sandpipers," shorebirds include many species that delightfully challenge birdwatchers. Most of Canaveral's shorebirds migrate, using the Atlantic coastal flyway to summer in nesting grounds in northern Canada or Greenland.
When the shorebirds return in winter their plumage is less distinctly colored and patterned, making identification more difficult. Differences in size, habits, and flight behavior help to distinguish species.
Below: A Sanderling takes flight.
Castle Windy Trail
Pre-Historic Castle Windy Trail
Though smaller than Turtle Mound, Castle Windy still is one of the more prominent shell middens in the Indian River area. It extends some 300 feet along the shore of Mosquito Lagoon in Canaveral National Seashore's New Smyrna Beach Area.
Castle Windy is the first Florida coastal midden (ancient trash or rubbish dump) for which we have radiocarbon dates. These indicate that the site developed around 1200 A.D. and continued to be used for 300 years by the same people who lived at Turtle Mound.
This site affords a beautiful walk through Florida’s coastal upland habitat and is located across the street from a great stretch of pristine beach. Proceed down the path until you reach the Lagoon—the mound is located on your right at the water’s edge. It is somewhat hidden within the trees so look carefully and you’ll find it. Know too that this is a wild area and there are snakes, alligators, spiders. . . and other wild beings lurking in the palmetto thicket.
Below: To find Castle Windy Trail stop at the New Smyrna Beach (Apollo Beach) parking area number 3. Look for the one shady spot (that'll be my car behind the one palm tree for shade). Directly across the road is Castle Windy.
Hurricane Joaquin
Hurricane Joaquin, a major October hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean never made landfall in the continental USA, yet it wreaked havoc across the Americas. Joaquin sat just offshore of The Bahamas for several days, pounding the island nation with category 4 winds and flooding rain. Meanwhile, in the southeastern USA, a separate, Joaquin-influenced weather system brought intense rainfall and both inland and coastal flooding to the Carolinas.
Hurricane Joaquin is one of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit The Bahamas as late as October. Winds surpassed 165 miles per hour (265½ kilometers per hour, 144 knots) on October 3, as the hurricane was nearly stationary off of Long Island, Bahamas.
 |
| Hurricane Joaquin's Forecast Track to Europe |
To the north and west, much of the eastern United States was soaked with rainfall for nearly a week, though no state was hit as hard as South Carolina. Meanwhile, in Florida which was very close (relatively speaking) to the hurricane hot and painfully dry conditions persisted.
Fueled by a relentless flow of tropical moisture from warm Atlantic waters and from the fringes of Joaquin, huge rainfall totals in some locales in the Carolinas prompted local officials to begin calling this the 1-in 1,000 year flood. We think more likely this is just another symptom of rapid climate change. The Atlantic waters were record warm; that is the warmest ever recorded.
Below: These are some clips of Hurricane Joaquin at its strongest. Before Joaquin finally dies he will likely become a large windstorm for the British Isles or Spain and Portugal on or about Sunday-Monday, October 11-12, 2015 (see official forecast map above).
Above: As the storm pounded the Bahamas October 1-2, 2015.
Below: As the storm began pulling away from the Bahamas on October 3, 2015
Below: The storm as seen from the International Space Station.
Below: The high seas forecast for waves from Hurricane Joaquin which shows 9-11 foot breakers in the Gulf Stream off of Cape Canaveral on October 3, 2015 when the images on this page were created.
Below: Blogger on a deserted beach in Canaveral National Seashore, Saturday, October 3, 2015 when Hurricane Joaquin was at its closest to Central Florida. Note that the long sleeves and jeans were to protect against biting flies and mosquitoes. It was actually quite warm with temperatures in the mid 80°s F (29° C). A light west wind at the surface was pushing swarms of biting flies and mosquitoes toward the beach from the Indian River Lagoon area.
The map below shows satellite-based estimates of rainfall in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean from October 1-5, 2015 as complied by NASA. These rainfall totals are regional, remotely-sensed estimates, and local totals reported by ground-based weather stations can be significantly higher or lower. The darkest blues on the map represent rainfall totals approaching 31½ inches (800 mm) over the five days observed.
Below: Another perspective of the waves and sanderlings.
Above: Hurricane Joaquin's roundabout path (black line).
Above and Below: The waves look calm or frightening depending on which camera lens is used to make the image. Above I used a 50 mm lens and pointed the camera toward the water. In the image below, where the waves appear much more menacing, I used a 600 mm lens and pointed the camera along the beach so the water appears oblique. The longer lens tends to pull distant objects closer to the camera stacking the waves atop one another. It appears more like what the human eye sees.
We've Read and Watched:
 |
| Rupert Friend, 'Quinn' on "Homeland" and the only real man left for Carrie. |
In the prescient new season of "Homeland" we find everyone's favorite bipolar spy starting Season 5 in a very good place, two years after we last saw her. Carrie has settled into quiet, private life as a security consultant in Berlin. Needless to say the calm of her new life doesn't last. "Homeland" abhors a happy Carrie. But more interesting, perhaps, is Carrie's new love interest (Alexander Fehling, from 'Inglorious Bastards') and Quinn's (Rupert Friend) new hit-man routine. Which lover do we prefer for Carrie? Quinn, of course.
Quinn has perhaps the most prophetic lines when he suggests to a group of assembled American warmongers that they flatten Raqqa, Syria, if they really want to make a difference in the war on terrorism. After this episode aired it was reported that Russia was preparing to send up to 150,000 soilders to wipe out ISIS in Syria. Hummm. . . Does Putin watch "Homeland?" More: Alexander Fehling talks about his new role on "Homeland."
Quinn has perhaps the most prophetic lines when he suggests to a group of assembled American warmongers that they flatten Raqqa, Syria, if they really want to make a difference in the war on terrorism. After this episode aired it was reported that Russia was preparing to send up to 150,000 soilders to wipe out ISIS in Syria. Hummm. . . Does Putin watch "Homeland?" More: Alexander Fehling talks about his new role on "Homeland."
American adventurer Johnny Strange, who scaled the tallest peaks on every continent before he was 18, died in a wingsuit crash on Mount Gitschen in central Switzerland. The 8,245 foot Mount Gitschen has become popular with extreme sports enthusiasts in recent years. Another American wingsuit flyer died on the mountain in July. The list of fatalities due to wingsuit flying is growing much longer in recent years. See the list at List of Fatalities Due to Wingsuit Flying.
Using a Bayesian approach, scientists estimated the probability of past extinctions for certain types of amphibians and reptiles, including frogs, salamanders, snakes and lizards. This research revealed that frogs are the most vulnerable to extinction. Already, since the 1970s, 3% of all frog species have disappeared.
Whenever men's wear designers find themselves in need of inspiration, they turn to the pantheon: Cary Grant, Steve McQueen and Paul Newman.
Snake genomes contain DNA for limb development perhaps because those same genetic elements also control the formation of external genitalia, according to a new study published in the Journal Developmental Cell. Snakes are tetrapods just like people, dogs, and dinosaurs. But like whales, their ancestors lost some limbs. Why? Read the entire study at: Shared Enhancer Activity in the Limbs and Phallus and Functional Divergence of a Limb-Genital cis-Regulatory Element in Snakes.
 |
| Corn Snake (Pantherophis guttatus) watching my every move Biscayne National Park, September 2015 |