User: Marco Island Real Estate - The Erickson Team
Date posted: Fri, 23 Sep 2011 21:21:28 GMT
Our beloved Coconut Island is back. The sand bar that has slowly been creeping north from Tigertail Beach along Hideaway Beach has broken away from the mainland and created an island separated by a passable channel.
For this who remember, 30 years ago Coconut Island used to block the entrance into the Marco River and boaters had to divert around Coconut to get out into the Gulf. The island was thick with trees, had beaches all around the perimeter and was home to nest...ing Bald Eagles and several species of seabirds. Coconut became a weekend haven for Marco islanders and Naples boaters and offered magnificent shelling, great fishing and ample camping and picnic areas. Between Coconut and Hideaway Beach was a tremendous anchorage for locals and cruising boaters.
As erosion had its way, the island started to recede slowly. But nature was not the only culprit in the death of this barrier island. In the late 1990's, the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve removed all the trees on Coconut, claiming the non-native trees were suffocating the natural foliage. With no trees to protect the sand from wind erosion, the island started to disappear rapidly. Each week there was less and less beachfront. The final blow came in 2005 when dredging equipment, used for the beach renourishment project on the mainland, altered the flow and natural currents. Coconut Island was gone in a few weeks.
But, with the ever-changing coastline and good old Mother Nature, a new island has emerged six years later. Rookery Bay has roped off an area of this island for nesting seabirds, leaving the perimeter beaches for picnics, shelling and fishing. Once again, there is a protected anchorage for traveling boats and a weekend destination for all to enjoy.
New friends on the beach
There were Loggerhead Turtle nests in 758 locations in the area as of August, 2011. This number was virtually the same in 2010. If you have not witnessed the hatchlings birth and race to the sea, it is a moment worth experiencing. Sixty days after the eggs are buried in the sand along our coastal beaches, out pops between 80-100 silver dollar sized turtles. Off they go the sea. The males will never touch land again, the females only to lay eggs.
Food for thought: These little rascals instantly go from birth to self-sufficiency. Some of our children take 30 years. Go figure!
... John Slocum
Our beloved Coconut Island is back. The sand bar that has slowly been creeping north from Tigertail Beach along Hideaway Beach has broken away from the mainland and created an island separated by a passable channel.
For this who remember, 30 years ago Coconut Island used to block the entrance into the Marco River and boaters had to divert around Coconut to get out into the Gulf. The island was thick with trees, had beaches all around the perimeter and was home to nesting Bald Eagles and several species of seabirds. Coconut became a weekend haven for Marco islanders and Naples boaters and offered magnificent shelling, great fishing and ample camping and picnic areas. Between Coconut and Hideaway Beach was a tremendous anchorage for locals and cruising boaters.
As erosion had its way, the island started to recede slowly. But nature was not the only culprit in the death of this barrier island. In the late 1990's, the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve removed all the trees on Coconut, claiming the non-native trees were suffocating the natural foliage. With no trees to protect the sand from wind erosion, the island started to disappear rapidly. Each week there was less and less beachfront. The final blow came in 2005 when dredging equipment, used for the beach renourishment project on the mainland, altered the flow and natural currents. Coconut Island was gone in a few weeks.
But, with the ever-changing coastline and good old Mother Nature, a new island has emerged six years later. Rookery Bay has roped off an area of this island for nesting seabirds, leaving the perimeter beaches for picnics, shelling and fishing. Once again, there is a protected anchorage for traveling boats and a weekend destination for all to enjoy.
New friends on the beach
There were Loggerhead Turtle nests in 758 locations in the area as of August, 2011. This number was virtually the same in 2010. If you have not witnessed the hatchlings birth and race to the sea, it is a moment worth experiencing. Sixty days after the eggs are buried in the sand along our coastal beaches, out pops between 80-100 silver dollar sized turtles. Off they go the sea. The males will never touch land again, the females only to lay eggs.
Food for thought: These little rascals instantly go from birth to self-sufficiency. Some of our children take 30 years. Go figure!
... John Slocum