Haulover Canal - Visit to Tank Island

Pod of dolphins

As said yesterday my Plan A did not work out. After checking the weather forecast read "smooth in the intra coastal" and decided to pay a visit to Canaveral Seashore. Planned to leave at 7AM after leaving my daughter at school and it looked like a sure thing. Think again...at 8AM we were still at home. Left the house at 9:00. I was upset for the delay and thought about not going anywhere but after reaching I95 thought about Haulover Canal and visiting Tank Island, another bird sanctuary/refuge in the Indian River. After all the conditions were perfect for that paddle.

White Pelicans

Put In/ Take Out: For information about where to put in for this trip please check one of our previous posts on this blog.

White Pelicans at Mullet Head Island

Dolphins at the Indian River

We finally had the yak in the water shortly after 10 and headed west toward Mullet Head Island. My wife said "Come on. I want to see a dolphin" when I spotted a fin to the south, and then another one, and another one. To make the long story short...five dolphins were heading to Haulover Canal and she asked me to wait for them at the west end of it. The dolphins did split. Two of them kept going east inside Haulover Canal and three turned back to the west, one of them had a blue tag on the fin. Tried to find information about the tagged dolphin but did not find a thing. The trio spent some time hunting and provided us a few nice splashes. Had to remind my photographer that we had a long paddle in front of us. Tank Island is approximately 3 miles west from the put in. She reluctantly conceded it so we kept going.

Dolphins

Mullet Head Island's White Pelicans

We did not circle Mullet Head Island this time, as we usually do as part of the YDT (Yak Dave Tour). After starting on the North East end we slowly paddle half of the island. Many cormorants and pelicans. The white pelicans forming a close group with some brown pelicans around them. The cormorants were also forming large groups. My wife was fascinated with the white pelicans and their coordination. If one moved the rest moved and followed the leader. Have to say that it looked pretty cool. The brown pelicans were located at the bushes of the island. Their peculiar sound was all over the place. Sometimes it sounds like a growl. Many small birds on Mullet Island as well. Gulls and sandpipers were wading in the shores.

White Pelican

Tank Island avian life

There is not much to say about this paddle. I forgot to keep track of the time but we explore each and every small island on our way to our destiny so cannot tell you exactly how long it took to us to reach Tank Island.  Once we were there circle it once and then went back to Haulover Canal. Tank Island is smaller than Mullet Head Island, where you can see more variety of birds. The only thing we saw at Tank Island that we did not see at Mullet Head was a flock of four juveniles Black Crowned Night Herons that went hiding on our approach. Not a chance for a pic. We did see a Black Crowned at Mullet Head Island but it was a lonely one. Honestly I do not know if we will go back there anytime soon. It is a long paddle to see the same you would see at Mullet Head. Knowing what to expect now I would rather explore other Haulover Canal areas rather than paddling back to Tank Island.

Caspian Tern

Roseate Spoonbill

On our way back to Haulover Canal we paddle by the south side of Mullet Head Island where my wife spotted one of her favorites: a Roseate Spoonbill. It was the only one we saw. By that time, it was after noon already, the white pelicans made small groups and were hunting in different areas. We were able to observe them for a few minutes. Wifey asked me to go to Bair's Cove looking for manatees. As we entered Haulover Canal one surfaced on its way west out of the canal. It came up one more time and we ended with a not so nice tail pic. Our luck was not much better at Bair's Cove since no manatees were there to be found.


Did You Know That? Dolphins have two stomachs. One is for storing food and the other one is for digesting it. Even when they have 100 teeth the dolphins only used them for grasping their prey, which they swallow. Dolphins can eat up to 30 pounds of fish in a day.

Dolphins

We ended our trip after 1:30PM. While it was smooth and an easy paddle the Sun did hit us hard. Here are more pics of what we saw:

Osprey

Osprey

Snowy Egret

Snowy Egret

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

Cormorant

Cormorant Takes Off

Brown Pelican

Brown Pelican

Brown Pelican

Black Crowned Night Heron

Roseate Spoonbill

Little Blue Heron

Great Egret

Sandpiper

That is all for this one. Here is the link for the slideshow of the pics of this and past trips to Haulover Canal.

Thanks for reading and hope you come back next week for another Views From Our Kayak.

Sandpiper

Sunset at Haulover Canal

White Pelicans' Pod

Saturday September 24th we paid an overdue visit to Haulover Canal late in the day. The purpose was to experience the bio-luminescence that can be seen there. Well...it turned out that the bio luminescence was really slim in a dark night but the rest of the canal was as stunning as usual, maybe better since we saw it as never before.

Bald Eagle

Put in/ Take Out: The usual spot at the end of the dirt road, north and west of the bridge over Haulover Canal. Check any of our previous posts for references. Thought about putting in at Bair's Cove, just because there are lights and we did plan to finish our paddle late in the night, but did not do it. Seems like there is a charge of $5.00 dollars for putting in there. We did not have any cash with us so went to our regular spot. It was around 5:30PM when we finally put our paddles in the water.

Brown Pelican

White Pelicans at Mullet Head Island

The afternoon started with a bang. On our way to the put in I saw what it seemed to be a young bald eagle but was not able to confirm. Then, maybe a mile away from Bair's Cove entrance, saw a bald eagle. This time turned around to take a pic. It was in a dead tree and offered a clean pic shot. To our surprise there was another eagle in another dead tree a few meters to the south. I know this is Views From Our Kayak but since it was on our way to a kayaking trip pics are included. There are no limits in what can you see in the real Florida.

Brown Pelicans

Osprey

We did our usual tour at Haulover Canal. Out of the put in, west to north east Mullet Head Island, around the island counter clockwise, and back to the canal area thru Dolphin Cove. Once in the canal we usually go to Bair's Cove but this time went back to the put in area since my wife wanted to take pics of the sunset. By that time two outfitters were already in the Haulover Canal and more cars were coming in. It is sad up to some point. The forecast called for a 50% chance of rain with thunderstorms. It also called for light chop. We took a chance going to Haulover Canal yesterday. I was counting on the weatherman to be wrong as he always is. He was. Choppy, bright and sunny. As the darkness fell on the area we became more and more excited. We have three bio luminescent lagoons in Puerto Rico. At one one of them the bio luminescence is so intense that if a bug tips the water it becomes bright. We were hoping for the same at Haulover Canal.

Great Blue Heron

Juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron

There were plenty of Ospreys and Belted Kingfishers. Very active both species. As the night fell more kayaks joined us in the water and the dirt road busier. After taking some sunset pics my wife asked me to go to Bair's Cove with the hope of seeing manatees. We still had some light to take pics. But there were no manatees at the cove. No dolphins neither. While in Bair's Cove the sun finally went out and darkness started to fall faster. It was time for the bio luminescence show, or at least we were hoping for that. I have read the luminescence is more intense on the north side of the canal so we headed to a small opening east of the bridge. It looked like the outfitters also knew that since everybody was heading that way. A large group was going east in the south bank as we used the north side of the canal. As we reached the opening we left a  group of kayakers paddle by. We did not want to disturb the outfitters business and stayed away from them. Many more kayakers were arriving and told my wife to paddle to the next opening and get back to the canal. As we paddle mullets, I assume, were jumping all over the place scaring my wife each and every time since it was so dark. But only than a few sparks here and there the bio show was not about to be found.

Ibis

Belted Kingfisher

The bio luminescence was not intense in our trip. It was a dark and ideal for it but for some reason was not as spectacular as we were expecting. The best moment came as we paddled at the east end of the canal, with the wind and the current against us, and some bright spots came from the front of the yak as it broke the water. Also from our paddles came out some magic sparks as they touched the water. A pair of dolphin were hunting in the area and, using a flashlight, were able to see one of them in the darkness. One of the coolest things we have ever seen, an incredible sight. Obviously, no pics to share so we encourage you to visit the Haulover Canal after dark and enjoy it as we did last night. Be sure you carry bug spray with you. You are going to need it. Also have a flashlight and, just in case, those fluorescent lights cartridges. We both had one in our backs. There are no pics of manatees or dolphins from this trip, which is a first for a Haulover Canal trip. But we have eagle and many more pics of the sunset. But before sharing the rest of the pics with you, time for the Did You Know That?

White Pelicans at Mullet Head Island

Did You Know That? The American White Pelican is one of the largest of the boreal birds. Boreal means that it pertains to the north. It can weight 30 pounds and the wingspan can reach 9 feet. The species is in decline due to pesticides, human disturbance and draining of wetlands. The bill can hold three gallons of water and after the fish are caught it pointed downward to drain it. Then the bill is raised and the fish swallowed.

Cattle Egret

Here are a few more pics of what we saw yesterday. Let us start with the sunset pics...

Sunset at Haulover Canal

Sunset from the kayak

Scenes from Haulover Canal

And now some more wildlife pics...

Sea gulls

Sandpipers

Brown Pelican

Cormorants

Sanderling

Juvenile Ibis

Osprey

Little Blue Heron

Scene at Haulover Canal

Snowy Egret

Red Bellied Woodpecker

Belted Kingfisher

That is all for this one. Hope you like the pics. The link, Haulover Canal,  will take you to the slideshow with more pics from this and past trips. Just give me a couple of days before I make the selection. Thanks for reading and see you next week for another Views From Our Kayak.