Take a lead from bicyclists

Cheers to the bicyclists who have apparently taken it upon themselves to open the North Point of Virginia Key -- forging trails in the backcountry of Australian Pine detritus where tons dredge material has sculpted a terrain of ledges and hills perfect to pop some wheelies.   

A story this weekend in the Miami Herald states a bicycle group with a little donated cash and a lot of will power, is carving out the bike trails. 

Maybe this will start a trend: 

Hikers will blaze trails. 
Park enthusiasts will plop down benches.
Kayakers will launch en masse - and proclaim the spot the public boat ramp.  

And a public park island will emerge. 

Cheers to the bicyclists.  Enjoy. 

And cheers to many others who find this island beautiful, rare and wild. And want to keep it that way. 
Take a lead from the bicyclists and forge your own path to parkland.


It may be the only way it will happen.

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Biscayne Bay, Manatees and more at Miami Book Fair

Friends of Virginia Key can get into the conversation about Florida’s wild landscapes at the Miami Book Fair this weekend which features authors discussing books on everything from kayaking across Florida to manatees to an updated handbook on the Everglades. 

The month-long journey included encounters with sharks, pythons and alligators. 

Here’s a session I call “Environment 101.” The authors will speak about their books Sunday, Nov. 21,  12 p.m., Room 7128 (Building 7, 1st Floor) at Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus in downtown Miami. 

Warren Richey -- Without a Paddle: Racing Twelve Hundred Miles Around Florida by Sea Kayak (St. Martin’s Press) is a poignant memoir about Richey’s solitary trip that includes a passage through Biscayne Bay. 

Doug Alderson -- Encounters with Florida's Endangered Wildlife (University Press of Florida) combines natural history with adventure tales while reporting on the fragile environments Florida's indigenous creatures inhabit. 

Tom Lodge -- The Everglades Handbook: Understanding the Ecosystem (CRC Press) explores how the Everglades evolved as an ecosystem and how it has been shaped by natural and man-made forces; features a new chapter on Biscayne Bay.

Craig Pittman -- Manatee Insanity: Inside the War Over Florida's Most Famous Endangered Species (University Press of Florida) provides a history of manatee protection in Florida, including a cast of characters only Florida could produce. Pittman is also the author of Paving Paradise: Florida’s Vanishing Wetlands and the Failure of No Net Loss. 

The Miami Book Fair "Festival of Authors" featuring readings and workshops takes place at the Miami-Dade College Wolfson Campus in downtown Miami Fri., Nov. 19 - Sun., Nov. 21. For more information on all books, fees and directions during the weekend readings, go to miamibookfair.com

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Photo Friday: Kayaking off Virginia Key Beach

Although there is no public boat ramp (yet) on Virginia Key, kayakers can launch off the public beach and explore the island by sea. The Bill Sadowski Critical Wildlife Area is a no-entry zone, even for non-motorized vessels, but everything else is open for exploration. Dense seagrass beds comprised of turtle grass, manatee grass and shoal grass are within wading distance of the beach next to the coastal dune, where a diversity of fish, sponges, invertebrates thrive. These are prime feeding areas for wildlife, including sea turtles, manatees and dolphins.

Kayaking the Key

The Virginia Key “experience” is as much about the waters surrounding the 1,000 acre island as it is the wilderness of its tropical hammocks and dunes.

The island is surrounded by the protected waters of the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve, which includes 67,000 acres of sovereign submerged lands. The Preserve shares the bay with Biscayne National Park, whose watery boundary begins just to the south. (If you’ve ever sailed past Stiltville in Biscayne Bay, you’ve been in National Park territory.)

Biscayne Bay’s shallow, clear waters make it a haven for nature lovers who can peer over the edge of the vessels to see all manner of critters that make their home in the soft sediments of mud or sand or among the seagrasses, including Johnson’s seagrass, a threatened species found only in southeast Florida.

And then there’s the wildlife swimming alongside, on the edges or flying above.

The fact there’s a major metropolis just over the horizon makes the experience even more thrilling and startling:

Siobhan Morrissey, who rows in the early mornings in the Marine Stadium lagoon, paints the picture:

“Perhaps the best place to see the moon over Miami is from a boat that sits a mere six inches off the water and glides silently along with a cityscape for a backdrop.

We also see dolphins breaching above the water. Occasionally a manatee may become intrigued enough to investigate us as our oars silently slip into the water and propel us along.

The lagoon by the rowing club provides a refuge for other animals, as well. On any given day we see blue herons wading at the shoreline, pelicans in formation, pods of leopard rays and an occasional shark or crocodile.
It’s amazing to see such wildlife in the midst of Miami.

TRIP! Experience this watery world of Virginia Key on a kayaking trip sponsored by the Tropical Audubon Society Sat., Feb. 20 that combines adventure with nature photography. Bring your own kayak ($10) or rent one for $35. Reservations and information can be made by calling or emailing Tropical Audubon: 786-543-1926 or tropicalaudubon@gmail.com

More info:
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/coastal/sites/biscayne/
http://www.tropicalaudubon.com


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