On the Bayou

It has been so fun being able to witness the changing of the seasons here in America. In the jungle, seasons are nonexistent. Every day the sun rises around 5:40 a.m. and sets around 6 p.m. The temperature is more or less the same every day (warm during the day and cool at night), and it rains almost every evening. It is easy to get in a routine.

At the present, we are living on a bayou in Florida, so as the seasons change so does the arrival or departure of different types of fish and other marine life. Over the summer it has been amazing to observe everything that goes on in the murky waters of the bayou.

The first few feet from the shore is like a nursery for all the little fish. Croakers and mullet are always swimming up and down the beach, pecking at the sand. Sometimes if we look close enough, we can even find flounder about the size of a quarter lying on the sand, looking for tiny prey. Occasionally we’ll see stingrays or eels. Shrimp are very common but are hard to find during the day. At night they can easily be distinguished by their eyes, which reflect red from the flashlight. Just last night I counted almost two dozen shrimp along our small sandy beach area.

Of late there has been a bloom of tiny glass minnows, which swim in schools of thousands. The glass minnows attract leather jacks and pinfish, which then attract larger predators like trout or red fish. This gets the attention of dolphins and alligators. It is interesting to observe the food chain in action.

We often go for paddles in kayaks or on paddleboards to other nearby beaches and bayous. Some areas are shallow for a long stretch and are perfect for swimming. At places like these, we have seen large schools of cownose rays and even manatees, which are very friendly.

Almost every organism in the bayou has its own special role. In this sin-cursed world we live in, every creature depends on another for survival. The variety of marine life is awesome, and it’s only the handiwork of God that could bring about such a beautiful and delicate ecosystem.