I launched from the Chassahowitzka River Campgrounds (on CR 480 below Homosassa Springs) boat ramp into the Chassahowitzka River, which flows through the Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in the town of, you got it, Chassahowitzka. The primitive camping area there is very attractive with lots of oak, palms, red cedar, palmettos and some dogwood. No picnic tables, though.
Several springs in the area make the water on the upper section of the Chassahowitza almost crystal clear. Turning up a little side stream I came to a spring bubbling up from the earth in several places. The water was so blue it reminded me of the Tidi-Bowl man swirling around a toilet bowl on a wave of rich blue water.
Several large schools of mullet scattered as I passed over them, some schools with fish more than 12 inches long. Thousands of what I took to be 2-5 inch fresh water bass could be easily seen through the clear water as could a large number of 3 inch (I assume) striped bass. Live Oak, Slash Pine and Cabbage Palm lined one shore as I headed downstream. The other shore had 6-8 foot reeds extending 20-30 feet out from shore and were backed up by oaks and palmettos farther back. The river is about 75-100 feet wide and 2-4 feet deep. The tide is measured in inches in this area, if you can believe that.
Several small fishing boats zoomed up and down the river so I wasn't expecting much in the way of wildlife. I was kinda counting on the fish and the scenery to keep things interesting for me.
Coming out from behind an island I had been exploring, I got my first real look at a pair of adult river otter. They dove and twirled around in the water quite gracefully. A couple in a small fishing boat came up and said they'd just seen 6 young ones up the river a short ways.
Pretty soon I saw a different set of youngsters. Mom was out near me and dove and came back up chewing on a fish. Three kits(?) about a foot or so long came swimming out from shore right at me. I don't know if they thought I was mom and had food for them or what. They soon realized their mistake and turned and hurried back towards shore. I think I got a couple of good pictures. Several other families cavorted near shore along that stretch of water. One adult came bobbing through the water towards me. Just the way its head bobbed up and down through the water reminded me of a swimmer doing the breaststroke.
I got another good picture of a snowy egret and another white bird its general size and shape. Could that have been a female snowy egret? I dunno. Palm trees had taken over both shores by this time with just a few oaks scattered around.
I'd seen several cars and trucks pulling into the parking lot as I launched. As it turns out they are a local bunch of retirees who paddle somewhere every Tuesday. Today was the Chassahowitzka. They passed me as the river widened to 200-300 feet. I'd passed several creeks flowing into both sides of the Chassahowitzka, changing the clear waters upstream into a typical tannic color.
After 4 miles the river widens yet again, this time to accommodate the many marsh islands leading out into the Gulf of Mexico. The group of kayakers followed the river left so I swung to the right. A hand drawn map I had showed several islands and a couple of creeks in that direction.
I soon heard a small commotion and saw a 4-5 foot alligator drifting out from shore. I also noted a second alligator 2-3 feet long already out in the water.
I followed a few creeks and channels. Many were heavily lined with tall palms on one side and smaller palms and bushes on the other. All of the water was a dark tannic color and anywhere from 1-3 feet deep with the tide (for what it's worth) almost all the way out.
The creeks would get narrower and shallower and either dead end or turn into a marshy channel, at which time I'd give up and retrace my path. Many of the channels would branch off into other channels. I'd taken a couple of key waypoints along the way but wasn't going to get trapped back in these marshy areas by making too many turns that I couldn't get out of.
I heard a grunting noise I took to be an alligator. Fortunately the creek I was on had just widened and I moved to the middle. I didn't want some aggressive female guarding a nest to come roaring out of the marshes at me. Actually it wasn't a very aggressive grunt. More like a horny alligator, or even more, like a satisfied one who wasn't horny anymore. I have no idea what their breeding season is but would assume since much of the animal kingdom is doing it now, in March, they would be too. Farther down stream, a little 1.5-2.0 foot guy was splayed out on a small log soaking up the rays.
Several redheaded coots scooted in and out of the marsh grass. I had also seen a couple of great egrets, one blue heron, some gray herons and a couple that looked a little like blue herons but were shorter and stockier. On the way back in a lone bald eagle circled around looking for a meal.
I was looking to see more otters on the way back. Towards that end I moved back in closer to shore when I saw a hump in the water. And then the hump moved. Could it be? The hump sank into the water and a big round tail came out of the water. Cool! Not only do I get to see my first river otter today, here are my first manatees from the water too. Wow! And I didn't think I'd see any wildlife today because of the fishing boats.
As it turns out there were 2 moms and 2 very large kids. The moms were in the 8-9 foot range and weighed (my guess) 400-5 pounds while the kids were about 6 foot long and weighed maybe 300 pounds. I didn't chase after them or anything. The wind was blowing and I just tried to maintain my position, otherwise I just sat there.
The moms were feeding and I think the kids were trying to nurse. They'd roll around a lot, making big splashes. Then they'd disappear for a minute or so before coming back up for air. Sometimes they'd turn over on their backs and raise their heads for a better view. I would've liked to have gotten a picture of that.
The youngsters would swim over to me and glide under the boat followed by mom. Frequently they would turn around and come back under the boat again. It was really cool to see them with their little heads and flippers and great big bodies under the water. I shot off a roll of film in quick order. Viewing them through the tannic colored water they appeared tan in color. However, when their heads came out of the water to breathe, they were gray. I hope some of the pictures turn out.
Usually they'd just stick their nose out of the water for a second for a quick breath of air so it was really hard to be pointing the camera in the right direction at the right time. Occasionally they would rise and give a couple of long snorts, kinda like an old man trying to clear the boogers out of his nose. You could follow them easily enough as they swam underwater because they would create small eddies over them. I could see where at least one of the moms had been run over by a powerboat. The scars were really ugly. I watched them for well over 30 minutes. Cool stuff!
I no sooner turned away from the manatees than I saw a 5-6 foot alligator floating in the water. I was surprised at how close I was. I had just loaded a new roll of film so shot a picture. While doing so I had drifted closer so I just another one. And another one as I drifted still closer. What was going on? Usually, they sink out of sight at a much farther distance. It wasn't overtly aggressive but it would float higher in the water as if to show me how large it was and then sink back down a little. I wonder if it was issuing some sort of challenge?
We were kinda moving by, keeping an eye on each other. I don't know how things would have ended because about that time some butt hole in a powerboat came zooming over to see what I was doing and the alligator sank out of sight.
A wood stork asleep on one leg and a bunch of wood ducks rounded out my day. All in all I'd have to say, not bad, not bad at all. The good days sometimes come totally unexpected. The Chassahowitzka River is just one I picked from the map because of its general location. I'll do this one again, you can be sure. Even the moron in the airboat didn't detract too much from this great day.