Wildlife Around Every Turn

As you paddle the Great Calusa Blueway, you’ll come across all sorts of wildlife, from 1,200-pound manatees to elegant roseate spoonbills. Each has a favorite ecosystem or part of the area they call home.

Manatees

The Florida manatee is an endangered species. Habitat encroachment, boat collisions and red tide have claimed many of these gentle giants. These slow-moving creatures live in and around Estero Bay's waters primarily during the summer months. During these warm-water periods, they spend their days feeding and resting.

Manatees reach an average size of about 10 feet and 1,200 pounds. Their distant relationship to elephants can be seen in their grayish-brown skin and the toenails visible on the edges of their flippers. Like all mammals, manatees have lungs and must surface to breathe, something they do every five minutes or so when active. While resting, manatees can hold their breath for up to 20 minutes.

Although they are solitary creatures by nature, it's possible to see groups of manatees swimming or feeding together. These groups are typically small, numbering four or five. Larger groups of a dozen or more are sometimes spotted.

During the winter, most of the bay's manatees migrate to warmer waters, making their way to Manatee Park, located near the warm waters of the Fort Myers Power Plant. Some of the larger males have enough natural insulation to withstand the colder winter temperatures, however, and remain in Estero Bay year-round.

Dolphins (Information Kindly Provided by Project Pod)

The Fort Myers area is home to the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, a type of small, toothed whale that inhabits warm, salt and brackish waters. Dolphins belong to the order Cetacea, a grouping that includes the large baleen whales as well as their smaller cousins, the porpoises. The dolphins in the bay are coastal bottlenose dolphins. They ply the waters of the bay itself and the near-shore coastal waters. Farther out in the Gulf, you might encounter the larger bottlenose dolphins that represent a distinct population seldom if ever seen near the coastline.

These coastal dolphins are an average of nine feet long and weigh in at approximately 500 pounds. They have distinct home ranges: areas of water in which they spend most of their time. Consequently, the individuals you see in the bay live here year-round.

Explore the various ecosystems and take note of the different species that gather in each one.

Mangroves

Animals found in the mangroves include (mammals) rabbits, raccoons and bobcats; (birds) frigate birds, roseate spoonbills, pelicans, cormorants, egrets and herons; (fish) tarpon, snook, snapper, killifish, mosquitofish and mullet; (invertebrates) mangrove tree crabs, fiddler crab, blue crab, oysters, shrimp, snails and mosquitos.

Rookery Islands

Birds that nest and raise their young on area rookery islands include great blue heron, tri-color heron, little blue heron, brown pelican, white ibis, reddish egret, roseate spoonbill, great white heron, great egret, snowy egret, magnificent frigate bird, anhinga, green heron, cattle egret and cormorant.

Tidal Flats

Birds found in and around tidal flats include brown and white pelicans, herons, ibis, plovers, sandpipers, sowitchers, gulls, terns, skimmers, American oystercatchers and falcons.

Oyster Bars

Animals found in the oyster bars include barnacles, shrimp, crabs, worms and mussels. Birds and predatory fish such as redfish and snook inhabit these areas at high tide.

Hardwood Hammocks

Animals found on coastal hardwood hammocks include oppossums, raccoons, gopher tortoises, eastern indigo shakes, garter snakes, blacksnakes and mangrove fox squirrels.

Tips for Photographing Wildlife

It has never been easier to capture images of wildlife from a kayak than it is on the Great Calusa Blueway Paddling Trail.

With more than 300 species of birds living here or migrating through, the plumage and colors are amazing. The trail’s route passes through habitat that varies from mangrove tunnels and sandy shorelines to banks of cypress, cabbage palms and moss-draped oaks.

Back bays teem with wildlife and photo ops. Dolphins often playfully approach kayakers; manatees surface at your stern and sometimes rub their hairy noses on your paddle blade.

Get the Shots

For best results as a shutterbug from your boat, consider these tips garnered from professional photographers and avid kayakers:

• Attach a bungee cord or strap to your paddle. When you’re absorbed in your camerawork, your paddle could slip away.
• Observe wildlife from a safe distance. Use your lens to improve your view. Watch for signs that birds and other animals are getting agitated.
• Carry a towel or a shammy cloth to keep your lens clear and dry.
• Consider bringing a monopod to keep your camera steady.
• Bring a small anchor or a stake to keep your boat in place while you shoot.
• Carry a dry sack. When paddling, keep gear handy with the camera ready to pull out quickly.
• Paddle in early morning or near sunset for better light and more wildlife sightings.

What You'll Find

Any creature can be enchanting in a photo, from still oysters to darting dragonflies. Here’s information and how-to’s for often-photographed wildlife on the Blueway:

Dolphins: Southwest Florida is home to one of the highest concentrations of bottlenose dolphins in the world. Flipper most likely will find you before you find him. Spring and summer offer exceptional times to photograph mothers with their young. Adults can be seen teaching the youngsters how to round up fish.

Best bet: Open water in Pine Island Sound and Matlacha Pass 

Manatees: These lumbering sea cows are experts at appearing and sinking below the water’s surface so quickly, you miss the shot. They also are difficult to see because their color matches the tannin of our mangrove-laced waters. Tip: Wear polarized sunglasses. You’ll have a better chance to see the manatees before they rise to the surface, so you can have your camera ready.

Best bet: Orange River and inland Caloosahatchee River during cooler winter months

Ospreys: These fish hawks love to nest atop channel markers and other pilings. Their young’s fuzzy heads start appearing in spring, offering Hallmark shots. Tip: If you’re shooting a nest atop a channel marker, take care to not drift into the powerboat channel.

Best bet: Just about anywhere

Pelicans: Brown pelicans live in Lee County year ’round. White pelicans migrate in for winter and spring.

Best bet: Fishing piers and pilings for brown pelicans – the white-headed ones with touches of yellow are males; the brown ones are females. White pelicans can usually be seen in January, February or March. They are not solitary like brown pelicans and can be seen in flocks of 30 or 40.

Herons and egrets: Low tide is the time to go if you want to see these birds feed. Name it and it probably lives here – yellow-crowned night herons, black-crowned, great blue, little blue, green and tricolored.

Roseate spoonbills: These elusive blush-colored beauties are sensitive to humans, so if you stumble upon one, keep a farther distance than you might for other birds.

Best bet: Sunrise or sunset in Matlacha Pass area