My brother Todd took a family fishing expedition on Saturday, June 28, 2020. 119 miles! His journey may not have revealed many fish out in the deep ocean, but there was tremendous visible life in the Indian River Lagoon and nearshore ocean. Good to see!
Todd:
“Beautiful flat day. 119 miles and only a barracuda, but it was fun.
Saw hundreds of Pelicans diving on the silver minnows near the power plant. That is probably to most Pelicans I have ever seen in one place locally, including bird island.
Also in all my life I have never seen the fin of a shark at the sandbar. After looking at my photos, I am pretty sure is was a little Scalloped Hammerhead. I cropped a comparison from the online guide and a link to the entire guide. I couldn’t see the head but the fins seem to match. The few people who saw it thought it was a Bull Shark but I didn’t think so. A Bull Shark fin isn’t as sharp.”
Below are photos of the hundreds of happy brown pelicans and also photos of the juvenile scalloped hammerhead shark. Don’t be scared! It’s just a young shark. The estuaries are their home. These and all sharks are protected species and many like the scalloped hammerhead, globally endangered due to overfishing. Mostly for shark fin soup! Awful.
Well, there’s nothing like a day on the water! Fish or no fish. 119 miles is never for nothing around here!
Most likely a Bonnet shark, looks like a Hammerhead but isn’t, only grows to 3 feet +/- and is very common in inshore shallow waters and is harmless. We have lots of them in the Keys
Keep up your excellent blog and aerial photos
Captain Eddie Wightman
Islamorada
Very much appreciate your comment. I will read up on Bonnet sharks. All the best Captain Eddie Wightman from beautiful Islamorada.
Out fishing is always an adventure for me. Just the thrill and wonder is what I enjoy. Catching fish is a bonus. I was out on a Saturday when all the glass minnows were offshore with fish crashing into them. Mostly bonitas. I so so cool to see the ocean alive. Always thrilling for me. Let Todd know thanks for sharing his adventures. Thanks Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch.
Thanks Mike. Those glass minnows are just incredible. I had never seen like that-so many before. Glad you had a good day out with the bonita. I will tell Todd! 🙂