For the last 8 days we floated in the Gulf of Mexico. The big, beautiful, 90+ degree turquoise water held us all day every day of our vacation. The weather was beautiful, the company, even better.
We saw a lot more wildlife this trip than in years past. Occasionally, there would be a dolphin or a manatee siting over the week, but this time we saw several every day. These dolphin (photo by Michelle) were so close we could have touched them right off the beach.
The manatee were out as well, and on the last day one came up and nudged us rather creepily while we were hanging out in the water. I ran up and got some cabbage we took out to feed them and the two big ole walrus's ate it up in a few minutes while we watched. Scrapping the Asian salad we were going to have for dinner was worth the show.
We ate dinner late every night so we could watch sunsets from Shark's Tooth Beach. This is one of my favorite things on the planet. We found hundreds of teeth this trip, and even saw some sting rays in the water. FIsh were abundant and so were the turtles, shore birds and pelicans.
I'm not sure if the oil spill had anything to do with the abundance of wildlife we saw this year or not, but it certainly reminded us all of what we stand to lose from this disaster. This was our 6th trip to the island, and I can't imagine what the 7th will look like if things don't change soon.
So I leave you with what it looks like today--unspoiled except for the visitors like us who get to enjoy it.
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