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 …
"Whale Sharks Are Our Friends" at Guy Harvery Outpost
13 Aug 20147:41 PM
Plankton eating Whale Sharks do not have the teeth that give some sharks that “Over Bite” reputation. These gentle giants grow to 40 feet long and have a sense of curiosity. They have been known to hang around and almost study divers and snorkelers.
On some levels Whale Sharks may be the most “User Friendly Sharks:” big, no teeth, warm waters, frequently at snorkel depth, and curious enough to interact with divers. There is still much we do not know about them but one thing we do know is that they can be seen by Guy Harvey Outpost divers at the Iguana Crossing Galapagos, Bimini Sands, Bahamas, but almost guaranteed at Hotel Playa Media Luna at Isla Mujeres, Mexico. For more info on our Whale Shark Encounters at Isla Mujeres (scroll to the bottom of the page).
To learn more about our Whale Shark Encounters call our Reservations line at 800-513-5257 or reservations@guyharveyoutpost.com
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![](mailto:?subject="Whale Sharks Are Our Friends" at Guy Harvery Outpost&body=Plankton eating Whale Sharks do not have the teeth that give some sharks that "Over Bite" reputation. These gentle giants grow to 40 feet long and have a sense of curiosity. They have been known to hang around and almost study divers and snorkelers.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/whaleshark2-large.jpg"><img class="wp-image-2140 size-large" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/whaleshark2-large.jpg?w=660" alt="Isla Mujeres Whale Shark Photo: Guy Harvey PhD." width="660" height="418" /></a>
On some levels Whale Sharks may be the most "User Friendly Sharks:" big, no teeth, warm waters, frequently at snorkel depth, and curious enough to interact with divers. There is still much we do not know about them but one thing we do know is that they can be seen by Guy Harvey Outpost divers at the <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/beyond/isabela-island/property-overview.html">Iguana Crossing </a>Galapagos, <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/bahamas/bimini-bahamas/bimini-sands-bimini.html">Bimini Sands</a>, Bahamas, but almost guaranteed at <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/beyond/isla-mujeres-mexico/overview.html">Hotel Playa Media Luna </a>at Isla Mujeres, Mexico. For more info on our <a href="http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/destinations/beyond/isla-mujeres-mexico/dive.html">Whale Shark Encounters at Isla Mujeres</a> (scroll to the bottom of the page).
To learn more about our Whale Shark Encounters call our Reservations line at 800-513-5257 or reservations@guyharveyoutpost.com https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/whale-sharks-are-our-friends-at-guy-harvery-outpost/){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.
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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}
![](mailto:?subject=BugFest Underway; Lionfish Also on the Menu!&body=<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/image1.jpeg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-2841 alignleft" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/image1.jpeg?w=225" alt="image1" width="225" height="300" /></a>Post-dive lobster barbecues are going to be a lot more sumptuous than usual during this summer's two-day, Florida-wide lobster mini-season July 29-30. Extra lobsters will sizzle on the grill, accompanied by tasty fillets of exotic lionfish. That's because the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission is allowing divers to take an extra lobster over the bag limit each day for harvesting ten or more lionfish. It's a special incentive program to help control the burgeoning population of the exotic, peppermint-striped invaders from the Indo Pacific with venom-tipped fins.
Here are some tips to help you catch your limit of bugs while taking as many lionfish as you want:
-- In the Atlantic, lionfish and lobsters are often found together in dark caverns and beneath coral ledges in depths ranging from 15 feet to more than 100 feet. You'll find plenty of lobsters in shallow water, but more lionfish in 60 feet or deeper because of local culling efforts at heavily-visited inshore reefs. In the Gulf, artificial reefs hold lots of lionfish, but lobsters may be hit-or-miss. Best times to harvest both are dusk and dawn.
-- While spearing lionfish is legal, spearing lobster is not. Use your tickler stick, or a lasso-like 'bugger', net and catch bag to take lobster. The most efficient way to take lionfish is with a three-pronged pole spear. Nail the fish in the body, then pin it to the sand while you use kitchen shears or 'sea snips' to cut off the spines. Most, but not all, are venomous, so go ahead and cut them all off for good measure. Wear puncture-proof gloves.
--If you don't want to take the time to cut off lionfish spines underwater, then bring a ZooKeeper catch bag. Available at dive shops, it's made of durable PVC and has a one-way chute that allows you to insert the speared lionfish, then pull out the spear. Do not store an un-snipped lionfish in a mesh catch bag; even dead, the spines are venomous.
--If you do get stung, soak the affected area in hot but not scalding water for 30 to 90 minutes and seek medical attention. No one has died of a lionfish sting, but pain and swelling can be severe.
--Check regulations for the area where you will be diving. For example, some areas of the Keys prohibit spear fishing--even for lionfish unless you have a special permit. Mini-season lobster bag limits in the Keys and Biscayne National Park are six per person per day; the limit is 12 elsewhere. That means you can take seven or 13 if you produce proof you harvested ten or more lionfish.
--Looking for tasty lionfish recipes? Check out "The Lionfish Cookbook" available at dive shops and at reef.org. https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/bugfest-underway-lionfish-also-on-the-menu/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Walking in Darwin’s Footsteps on Guy Harvey Outpost Galapagos Expedition&body=When you embark on Guy Harvey Outpost's Galapagos Islands photo expedition May 4-12, you will be the envy of scientists from all over the world. Visiting five different islands in this remote eastern Pacific chain about 600 miles off Ecuador, you will observe and capture images of species found nowhere else on earth such as the Galapagos sea lion; Galapagos tortoise; and the marine iguana.
The unique animals that inspired naturalist Charles Darwin to lay out his world-changing theory of evolution in "On the Origin of Species" in 1859 are still revealing themselves to science in 2017 and you could be there as these revelations unfold.
In 2015, scientists discovered a new species of giant tortoise on Santa Cruz Island. For more than 150 years, the long-lived land animals on the eastern and western portions of the island were believed to be the same species, but genetic studies found the two populations were distinct. The eastern population became the 15th known tortoise species in the Galapagos, four of which are extinct.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DSC_1201.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4618" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DSC_1201.jpg" alt="DSC_1201" width="5008" height="3032" /></a>
One prominent geneticist who is itching to conduct DNA research in the islands is Dr. Mahmood Shivji, head of the Guy Harvey Research Institute at Nova Southeastern University near Fort Lauderdale. Shivji visited there several months ago on a trip with Guy Harvey Outpost President Mark Ellert and the company's Ecuadorean development partners. The scientist discussed possible avenues of research with officials of the Galapagos National Park.
"We hope to study movement patterns and migrations of a variety of animals-- sea lions, land tortoises, boobies, frigate birds, white marlin--in collaboration with the Galapagos National Park Service and scientists from the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in the Galapagos," Shivji said.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DSC_8051.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4620" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DSC_8051.jpg" alt="DSC_8051" width="5008" height="3336" /></a>
There are lots of procedures to undergo for anyone wishing to conduct scientific research in the Galapagos; proposals must undergo several levels of government review before any permits are issued. And park officials expect scientists publishing their findings to share them with the park.
Shivji, who has made some breakthrough genetic discoveries surrounding sharks and billfish, can hardly wait.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DSC_7083.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4619" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/DSC_7083.jpg" alt="DSC_7083" width="2100" height="1095" /></a>
"DNA contains an amazing amount of information on the current and past status of species and populations. There's still lots of discoveries to be made," Shivji said. "In addition to generating basic knowledge of how animals evolve, that information also is essential in helping the Galapagos National Park inform their policies for conserving these amazing iconic species in this unique place."
So it's possible that as you hike and snorkel around these islands taking photographs with your guide, Sports Illustrated veteran Ron Modra, you could be capturing images of a bird, reptile or mammal destined to up-end modern science.
To book your Galapagos expedition, go to <a href="http://www.GHOGalapagos.com">www.GHOGalapagos.com</a> or call our reservations desk at 800-513-5257.
PHOTO CREDITS: Ron Modra https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/walking-in-darwins-footsteps-on-guy-harvey-outpost-galapagos-expedition/){kind=link}
![](mailto:?subject=Winning Photos: It’s a Simple Formula!&body=We are hosting our very first <a title="Contest web site" href="http://www.OutpostPhotoContest.com" target="_blank">Guy Harvey Outpost Photo Contest</a> and, since I'm not eligible to win, I figured I would pass on a suggestion or two on how you might take home a prize instead! You will note from the pictures below there are some common elements - a great fish, or perhaps a wonderful smile - and certainly a nod to the Outpost's spirit of adventure, discovery and exploration.
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/julia-shriver-16-permit-bimini-211.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image" id="i-1622" alt="Image" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/julia-shriver-16-permit-bimini-211.jpg?w=650" /></a>
<a href="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/935538_10151461806695966_1467169053_n.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image" id="i-1625" alt="Image" src="https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/935538_10151461806695966_1467169053_n.jpg?w=650" /></a>
Be advised I am not one of the judges nor are these the rules. But, If you have two of these elements then you are probably in contention, and if you have all three there's a good chance you will catch the eye of the judges. The competition might be tough but anytime a fish and a pretty girl smile at you like that, you're already winning!
Don't wait - start uploading your photos now at the <a title="Contest web site" href="http://www.outpostphotocontest.com" target="_blank">contest web site</a>!
Capt. Ned Stone
Director of Programs, Guy Harvey Outpsot https://guyharveyoutpostblog.com/winning-photos-its-a-simple-formula/){kind=link}
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