aerial sewalls point | Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch

7-28-19

Today, Ed and I document a summer day along the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon without Lake Okeechobee discharges. ACOE, we are grateful! J&E

The Crossroads between Sewall’s Point and Sailfish Point, the confluence of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. Seagrasses returning…

Hutchinson Island south of the St Lucie Inlet, home of the northern reefs. Color- blue not brown!

Sailfish Point at the St. Lucie Inlet, blue and turquoise meet.

Sailfish Point along the ocean with Sailfish Flats and Sewall’s Point in background.

Sailfish Flats east of Hutchinson Island and the Atlantic Ocean. Ed and I could not fly over IRL here due to air traffic, so I could not get up close pictures. But the color certainly looks better!

Turquoise ocean but lots of sargassum weed! Turtles and manatees were present.

Just north of Martin County, St Lucie County’s Hutchinson Island beaches with super density Nettles Island visible in a blue looking Indian River Lagoon.

Hutchinson Island and IRL in St Lucie County

Indian River Lagoon with good visibility as discharge water is not being pushed up north through the IRL in Martin County.

IRL St Lucie County, good visibility and some seagrasses.

IRL St Lucie County looking to the Savannas.

A clearer IRL due to lack of discharges from Lake O. The most suspended sediment comes into the SLR/IRL from Lake O. St Lucie County. As I said earlier the tower would not allow Ed and I to fly over the S. IRL in Martin County due to air traffic. We will have to get it another time.

Back south, looking over Indian Riverside Park and the Penninsula of Sewall’s Point. IRL on left. St Lucie River on right. St Lucie Inlet and the Atlantic Ocean in distance.

St Lucie River, Langford Landings docks, with Roosevelt Bridge and Stuart in distance.

St Lucie River, west side of Sewall’s Point

Wide St Lucie, Roosevelt Bridge, Rio, and Stuart.

Wide St Lucie looking west towards Lake Okeechobee.

Ed and Jacqui -seven years older since the first “lost summer” of photographing in 2013 ~never giving up!

Army Corps of Engineers’ February 2019 operational change press release for Lake Okeechobee and the Estuaries. This operational decision continues to affect operations this summer: https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Media/News-Releases/Article/1764322/corps-takes-action-to-lower-lake-okeechobee-in-advance-of-wet-season/

Sewall Point, Arthur Ruhnke ca. 1950. courtesy of Sandra henderson Thurlow. — Sewall’s Point, Arthur Ruhnke ca. 1950. Photo courtesy of historian Sandra Henderson Thurlow.

This is one of my favorite historic aerial photos of Sewall’s Point; I have used it before. It is on page 11 of my mother’s book “Sewall’s Point a History of a Peninsular Community on Florida’s Treasure Coast.”

Taken in the 1950s, the peninsula is basically undeveloped. The spoil islands, from dredging the Intercostal Waterway, sit to the east of the island lone and unattached…

One very special spoil island is in this photo as well. I think it is the one furthest north: Bird Island, or MC 2, is a small spoil island now off the Archipelago. Comparing the photo above and below you can see the changes to the east side of Sewall’s Point and Bird Island.

Aerial Sewall's Point's east side. JTL 2013. — Aerial Sewall’s Point’s east side. JTL 2013.

I visited Bird Island yesterday with the Florida Wildlife Commission preparing for a field trip for their board who is meeting in South Florida this week. Bird Island was the first Critical Wildlife Area in the state of Florida designated in 20 years in 2014. This was an enormous accomplishment!

Kipp Fröhlich who was aboard boat yesterday said, “Yes it is amazing, we still don’t totally understand why the birds choose this particular island!” This is true. There are many to choose from.

One thing is for sure, the birds and humans love it here! It is a wonderful thing when wildlife and humans can reside together. Thank you FWC!