Quote:
Originally Posted by Moshahin
Ron, thank you for the detailed reply. Probably off beach is what we'll try first, and I will go with your recommendation of Bahia Honda State Park.
Again, great thread and much appreciated
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You are quite welcome, any time. I love snorkeling in the Keys and I'd like visitors to the Keys who want to snorkel to have as good an experience as they can.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sam.basye
Any day you get to collect is a good day!
How long after the front moves through do you head out?
Do you have any trouble getting off the beach with the collected critters or do you go to a beach access that isn't patrolled? Some of the critters are off limits, but does that apply for stuff that washes up?
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Any day I get to do a beach walk or go snorkeling, whether I collect or not, is a good day!
There are several factors involved. How fast and exactly when the wind dies down or shifts directions away from the west after the front passes is most important. And when is low tide is also important. But most of the time I like to get out to the beach at low tide the morning after the front passes. So some times it's still kind of windy, overcast and cold with big waves and other times it warms up as the morning progresses and the wind dies down and sometimes the sun even comes out. My bald head took a beating this last time because I forgot to wear a hat!
I try not to take critters that are protected. But in Florida and in Lee County (some additional rules) and on Sanibel Island (even more rules) about the only thing we find on the beach that is 'illegal' to collect are live animals with shells like clams, scallops and hermit crabs (even though it's not 'their' shell). Gorgonians, crabs that don't have a season (blue crabs & stone crabs), anemones (except condys) shrimp, algae, urchins, sea stars, sea cucumbers, sponges, tunicates and even fish are all legal up to a limit as long as you have a valid Florida saltwater fishing license. My best guess is that if an FWC officer checked my bucket and saw all the critters I was saving from almost certain death and he found a one illegal critter, I'd probably get a lecture rather than a fine. Vacationers who are shell collecting probably get more illegal live animals by mistake than I get on purpose! And in the Keys if you get caught with an illegal coral, even a very small one, you are looking at huge fines. But stony corals almost never wash up on the beach around here. There just aren't very many along the SW Florida coast.
I've never been stopped any authority like FWC or the police (who probably wouldn't know the rules anyway). I was stopped one time by 2 Ding Darling State Park volunteers who heard me give my speech about the octopus to a group of 20 people who were gathered around. They didn't question what I was doing or look at what I had collected. They wanted me to volunteer to work at the park to lead 'beach walks'.
I talked to the volunteer supervisor and found they want every volunteer to do too much office work before they start training in 6 or 7 different specialties (birds, plants, reptiles, marine, environments, history...). You have to learn each specialty which takes weeks and then you don't get to pick which one you want to work in. Well heck, I can do my own beach walks whenever I want and I don't have much trouble gathering a crowd of interested vacationers. And I get to do it when I want, which is when the beach is alive with marine critters.