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Watch the Reef Do the Wild Thing Live
10 Aug 20179:06 AM
With coral reefs around the world in peril from pollution, ocean acidification, disease and other threats, watching these animals reproduce is an exciting, exhilarating, and uplifting experience.
A mass spawning of large boulder corals, such as the brain and star species, is expected to occur after dark on Aug. 13-14 –the week after the full moon– in the Florida Keys. And you can reserve a front-row, underwater seat to witness this spectacular event.
A few hours after sunset on one or both nights, coral polyps all along the reef tract are expected to release millions of eggs and sperm that resemble tiny white BBs into the water column. When the gametes unite, the larvae drift around with ocean currents for days or weeks before settling on the bottom and forming new coral colonies.
Meanwhile, this explosion of new underwater life attracts predators ranging from little silver pilchards to large tarpon that flash like a Fourth of July fireworks display in their quest for food.
The annual spawning event depends on a variety of natural factors and cues such as lunar cycles, water temperature, rainfall, and tide. So it’s never exactly the same from year to year and there are no guarantees it will happen as predicted. If it does go off, it will likely be between 11 p.m. and midnight.
Reserve a spot with Captain Slate’s Scuba Adventures, a Guy Harvey Outpost Outfitter, in Islamorada by visiting www.captainslate.com or calling 1-800-331-3483. Reserve a room for your dive at the nearby Islander Resort, a Guy Harvey Outpost by calling 1-800-513-5357 or visiting www.guyharveyoutpost.com.
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![](mailto:?subject=Dead Sharks Distort Reality&body=<img title="Tiger shark at Tiger Beach, Bahamas. Photo courtesy of Bill Watts." src="http://guyharvey.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/tiger.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="197" />
The following commentary was written by Doug Olander, Editor-in-Chief of <a title="SFM web site" href="http://www.sportfishingmag.com" target="_blank">Sport Fishing</a> magazine. The article appeared as Doug's editorial column in SF's April 2012 issue.
Let me cut to the chase:
1. If I never see another billfish or shark hanging dead for bragging rights and glory photos, it will be too soon.
2. I absolutely, unequivocally see nothing wrong with keeping a shark to eat — preferably a shark of modest size, taken aboard a boat to be shared among anglers and crew.
Too many anglers want to jump to the conclusion that a statement like No. 1 must come from a PC fish hugger who thinks no angler should ever keep any fish. Far from it.
But that sort of thinking seems to be the basis of comments left by an angry fisherman both on <a title="SF's Facebook Page" href="http://www.facebook.com/SportFishing" target="_blank">SF’s Facebook Page</a> and <a title="SF web site" href="http://www.sportfishingmag.com/" target="_blank">web site</a> after reading a Quick Bites news item in February on the <a title="SFMI web site" href="http://www.sharkfreemarinas.com/" target="_blank">Shark Free Marina Initiative</a>.
The reader is upset that the item cites as good news four species of sharks added to Florida’s prohibited-species list. Then he asks, “Why do you feel that the prevention of offloading a legally caught species is a good thing?”
I would ask a different question: Why does anyone need to kill sharks such as hammerheads and tigers, whether legal or not? They’re not food fish, so what’s the point of killing them?
Beyond that, even if killing a big shark for the glory of a snapshot in your smartphone is legal, does that make it right?
A <a title="Rosie O'Donnell shark story" href="http://www.eonline.com/news/rosie_odonnells_dead_hammerhead_shark/285827" target="_blank">news item about Rosie O’Donnell, shark slayer</a>, resurfaced recently, proudly posted on the website of her skipper. Based in Miami Beach, he’s made a reputation for killing sharks (and as long as he could get away with it, anything else including sailfish). Included was a photo of a dead hammerhead (killed long before it was illegal to do so), swinging from a crane as Rosie and her small children smiled for the cameras.
<a href="http://www.sharkfreemarinas.com/"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-1186" title="Shark Free Marina Initiative" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/sfmi-banner-logo.png" alt="" width="495" height="140" /></a>
I think hanging up dead sharks in a marina is wrong, but more important, I think doing so is just plain stupid. It’s a point I’ve made before and sadly, probably will have to again: Anglers and captains like Rosie’s do nothing but damage the image of our sport, and hurt you, me and all real sport fishermen. A nonfishing public, seeing dead sharks gathering flies at a dock, more easily accepts a distorted reality where sport fishermen are pigs with no respect for the resource.
And this comes at the very time more and more green groups would be happy to see all recreational fishing banned. Do we need to help their cause? If the purpose of those who agree with Rosie and her skipper is to put further restrictions on our sport, they’re doing a bang-up job.
That doesn’t mean I think no shark should ever be killed (see No. 2 above). A smaller mako or common thresher, neither of which is considered overfished, can be shared by anglers and crew for meals (with no need to leave ’em hanging dead at the dock). A blacktip can offer inshore anglers some fair filets. I’ve even sampled the common bonnethead and found it pretty tasty.
And yes, even across the board, the recreational take of sharks has to be a small fraction of those killed commercially. But the public seldom sees that carnage, versus one shark left to hang at the sport docks. No wonder many of the powerful environmental groups clamoring to close off the ocean no longer try to make any distinction between commercial and sport fishing.
It’s because of skippers like Rosie’s that I join <a title="Guy Harvey Inc. web site" href="http://www.guyharvey.com" target="_blank">Guy Harvey</a> in supporting the Shark Free Marinas Initiative — to avoid just such repulsive photo-op scenes.
The fact that the <a title="Humane Society web site" href="http://www.humanesociety.org/" target="_blank">Humane Society</a> and <a title="Pew web site" href="http://www.pewenvironment.org/" target="_blank">Pew</a> support the initiative doesn’t automatically make it bad for recreational fishing. That said, I’ve come to the point where it makes me uncomfortable to be on the same side of any issue with Pew.
But in this case, the mind-set and actions of Rosie and her captain just don’t leave me much choice.
https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/dead-sharks-distort-reality/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=September Highlights for Ocean Lovers: Lionfish Safari and REEF Fest&body=Harvest, eat, win cash, and learn about exotic lionfish in the Lionfish Safari Sept. 9-11 at Guy Harvey Outpost, a Tradewinds Beach Resort in St. Pete Beach. The Outpost, in conjunction with the non-profit Reef Monitoring, Inc., will award $600 for the most lionfish and $600 for the heaviest lionfish, plus other cash prizes in the weekend-long, family-friendly ocean bash.
The hunt for the exotic predators from the Indo Pacific will take place all day on Sept. 10, with no boundaries and no time limit. Entry fee is $35 per diver. Weigh-in festivities and a family fun day will follow on Sept. 11. Chefs from the Outpost's RumFish Grill will cook and serve the harvest on the beach after researchers from Reef Monitoring take samples for scientific research.
One of the teams to beat will be led by Captain Scott Crawford, owner/instructor at Rock Bottom Divers near Tarpon Springs. Crawford, a U.S. Air Force veteran, and eight other vets-- four of them amputees--will employ their formidable combat skills in the campaign to mow down the aquatic invaders.
For more information and to register, go <a href="http://www.reefmonitoring.org" target="_blank">HERE</a>. Guy Harvey Outpost will offer a Florida Resident Special rate during the tournament.
Then from Sept. 29 through Oct. 2, Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) will host REEF Fest 2016 in Key Largo. This celebration of marine conservation in the Keys will feature educational seminars by scientists and diving greats, exploration dives and snorkeling with the experts, eco-adventures such as paddle boarding, kayaking, and glass-bottom boat tours, and evening social gatherings. For more information and registration, visit the <a href="http://www.reef.org/REEFFest" target="_blank">REEF web site</a>.
<a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/dive-packages/"><img class="aligncenter wp-image-4200 size-full" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/ad.jpg" alt="ad" width="737" height="301" /></a> https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/september-highlights-for-ocean-lovers-lionfish-safari-and-reef-fest/){kind=link}
 to double black diamond (most difficult). Instead of a guide clipping your cables and demonstrating each element, you do everything yourself. If you have a problem or a question, just call out to a staffer for advice or --if you're really too scared to swing through the trees--someone will climb up and escort you down.
Even though I stuck to the green and yellow courses during my visit, I found the experience exhilarating and fun. I could understand why a 12-year-old from the neighborhood who the staff calls an unpaid intern visits here twice a week for his three-hour workout.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Treehoppers3-e1492097028812.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4675" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Treehoppers3-e1492097028812.jpg" alt="" width="3264" height="2448" /></a>
After airborne exercise, I headed back to Tarpon Springs-- stopping en route for a little refreshment at the Florida Estate Winery in Land O'Lakes, not far from TreeHoppers. It's a popular waypoint for many wannabe Tarzans and Janes.
For more information about TreeHoppers, visit <a href="http://www.treehoppers.com">www.treehoppers.com</a> or call 813-381-5400.
On the day after my swing through TreeHoppers, I visited a very different kind of park--Key Vista Nature Park in tiny Holiday near Tarpon Springs. This quiet, 100-acre reserve of mostly sand pine uplands is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico and Rocky Creek, inviting visitors to fish, swim, hike, and picnic. I walked most of its 1 1/2 miles of trails and climbed the observation tower for a scenic view of the lighthouse at Anclote Key Preserve State Park.
Key Vista is best known for bird watching; with more than 220 documented species, it's a must-stop on the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail.
Save for a nesting osprey cheeping in the pines, I saw few birds on my afternoon walk, but I did get to eavesdrop on an amorous gopher tortoise trying to get lucky with its partner in the scrub.
For more information on Key Vista Nature Park, call 727-938-2598. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/a-tale-of-two-parks-near-tarpon-springs/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Spring Into Adventure with Mermaids and Manatees&body=<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3422" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/12698307_10154157285116756_9106479937438679828_o.jpg" alt="12698307_10154157285116756_9106479937438679828_o" width="1280" height="853" />By Sue Cocking, Guy Harvey Outpost staff writer
scocking@guyharveyoutpost.com
[Weeki Wachee, FL--] Sitting in a subterranean amphitheater watching through clear glass as young women wearing glittering mermaid tails swim gracefully more than 16 feet deep underwater can almost make you suspend disbelief in the supernatural.
"There's Ariel!" a little girl in the audience shouts in delight, and nobody in the audience scoffs. Indeed, we all start applauding.
We are watching one of the live daily performances of "The Little Mermaid" at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park on central Florida's west coast. Here, since 1947, generations of young women (and a few young men) have delighted audiences with their unique stunts and choreography-- all executed while taking intermittent breaths off free-flowing air hoses scattered around the spring that serves as their underwater stage.
It takes considerable skill to do this. Wearing neither buoyancy compensation devices nor dive masks, the mermaids must control their depth by the amount of air they inhale and exhale from the hoses-- all while dancing, miming and staging mock combat for the audience watching through the glass. Often they must deal with surprise intruders in the spring that threaten to upstage them-- manatees, turtles, a snook that just won't leave-- and several times-- drunken patrons from the adjoining Buccaneer Bay water park. Unflappable does not begin to describe their demeanor.
The Weeki Wachee mermaid shows were the brainchild of Newt Perry, a champion swimmer, diver and attractions promoter. In their heydays of the 50s and 60s, they drew large crowds, and fans included the late Elvis Presley and other celebrities.
Attendance suffered after Walt Disney World opened, but the shows still went on, albeit to smaller audiences. Buccaneer Bay was added in the 1980s, and the attraction also includes an animal show, gift shop, restaurant, riverboat tour, and kayak rental. It became a state park in 2008.
The spring itself is dazzling. Bubbling up from deep within the earth's core, more than 110 million gallons per day of fresh, clear, 72-degree water form a narrow river that flows west from the mermaid theater for about 7 1/2 miles to the Gulf of Mexico near Bayport.
A friend and I paddled a five-mile section of the river, renting from the <a href="http://www.weekiwacheekayakrental.com" target="_blank">Kayak Shack</a>. It was a fun, relaxing, non-strenuous three-hour float from the park to the shop's headquarters over water so clear it appeared invisible. Surrounded by cypress and shady oak, we glimpsed schools of bass, mullet and bream as well as heron, ibis, turtles and at least five resting manatees. Gorgeous.
Visiting Weeki Wachee is but one of many fun outdoor adventures to be savored around Florida's Springs Coast. Visitors should also make it a point to explore nearby Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park where they can see a hippopotamus, a Florida panther, and a black bear as well as other mammals, reptiles and birds --and view fish and manatees in an underwater observatory. Dr. Guy Harvey and fellow marine artist Wyland painted the colorful mural that decorates the outside wall of the visitor center in 2000.
Bicyclists will enjoy pedaling the Withlacoochee State Trail-- a 46-mile-long former railroad track that's been turned into a multi-use path. A good place to start is the Inverness trailhead and bike either north or south.
All this activity tends to stimulate an appetite. Here are several recommendations for après-adventure food and drink in or near Crystal River, FL:
-West 82 Bar and Grill at the Plantation on Crystal River
-Peck's Old Port Cove Seafood Restaurant
-Vintage on 5th
Here's to happy trails-- paddling, hiking, biking-- and to putting a spring in your step.
***************
Sue Cocking chronicles the Guy Harvey Outpost travel and adventure experience in regular blog posts on GuyHarveyOutpostNews.com/. For 21 years, Cocking covered the full spectrum of outdoors adventure opportunities in South Florida and beyond for the Miami Herald, including fishing, diving, hunting, paddling camping, sailing and powerboat racing. She is a certified scuba diver and holder of an IGFA women's world fly fishing record for a 29-pound permit.
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Share your photos, videos and experiences with Guy Harvey Outpost by hash tagging #OutpostAttitude to all of your social media posts. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/spring-into-adventure-with-mermaids-and-manatees-2/){kind=link}
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