Monday 9 October 2017

Hurricane Nate Sculpts & Cleans Our Beach

Hello Nate!
Well I spoke too soon. Temperatures in the 90s F (~33C) are back and it is very muggy & sticky. Ah well, we still have a little breeze. I have been waiting to see if the tide goes under our building into the parking garage - let me explain.

Things were pretty quiet on the beach . ..  a fair number of people out, sand washed back in from Hurricane Irma; life was  . . . well dull.


The biggest excitement was this cherry picker with caterpillar tracks moving down the beach and a silly silly woman feeding the birds looking like the pied piper as they followed her on her sandy stroll . You can see in these photos the Gulf of Mexico looks as calm as a small pond.


Our impact from Hurricane Nate, arrived Saturday the 7th October.

surfing with a float!
Over the past few days we had onshore to offshore winds that pushed water away from the beach.  We also had a full moon and hence a high Spring Tide.

The winds and waves bring out the kite surfers, body surfers and the kid in all of us. Saturday afternoon the water approached our under building parking . . .

These two things - wind blowing offshore and Spring Tide - combined with Hurricane Nate travelling through and stirring up the Gulf brought back the water pushed outward. Hence the groynes were totally submerged and hidden. The size of the waves and the height of the tide on the beach has waxed and waned over the past day.


See how the dunes protect the beach -- except where there aren't dunes . . . and hence water comes close to our under building parking.

Monday morning I can see Nate has re-sculpted the beach flattening out the storm scarp and the cliff edge created by Irma. He removed a bit of sand (like Irma) so more groyne pillars are exposed, but I expect that sand to return over the next week.

The BBC weatherman forecasts the remnants of Nate will help bring up southerly winds and warmer temperatures for my London friends later this week.


Taken Sunday morning, there is still lots of debris from Hurricane Irma to be picked up.

And here's some more fun dolphin shots sis' took on her recent visit. I got a scope and tripod for my big birthday, so hopefully soon I can take these myself!




Thursday 5 October 2017

Dolphins Hide & Islands Divide in Hurricane

Yami with Yukon by Ann Weaver
Ever wondered what happens to dolphins and sand in a hurricane?  Well Irma gave us some good clues! If you think the answer is dolphins dive deep, well that is part of the answer - see the detail in this article by Ann Weaver, our local dolphin researcher.

Ann says in an earlier article that this is mom Yami with baby son Yukon born 2016. She believes they were playing a tickling game last August when she took this picture.













Source: Science News for Kids
Here's a video that shows how Shell Key had a 'breach' across the island; it started out as two islands, grew into one, and has 'breached' several times since.

Hubby and I did a whole presentation of 'Shifting Sand' for our FMNP course last July. It's hard to show as a single snap shot in time how barrier islands change, but the picture above is a good example of Assateague,Maryland which once was just 1 island! Now the southern end - a nature preserve - is moving inland while the developed northern end cannot shift due to man-made barriers.

September was the most hurricane active month on record. After Irma, we had Jose, which tracked off the East Coast, Kati, which hit Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, while Lee stayed out in the Atlantic ocean, and Maria devastated Puerto Rico, but missed Florida. Now Ned is likely to make landfall this weekend in Louisiana.  Jose, Maria and Ned all were forecast at some point to come our way - but didn't.

In the meantime, work continues here to clean-up from Irma. There is still lots of yard debris to be picked up and signs and building siding to be replaced. Hubby is fixing our little leak.

one tired beach biker
Sis arrived for a visit and for fun we tried out beach bike riding, but these balloon tires, instead of making it easier, actually were exhausting!

We went to the annual autumn start of the local Corey Market and found some Chinese Noodle Beans to try - yummy, just saute.

hatchling by CMA

pretty close in to shore!
My turtling for the season is about over as the last nests that survived Irma are hatching.



But the dolphins came out to play around our boat trip in the Boga Ciega Bay as well as outside our window. The dolphins are attracted inshore by a schools of bait fish which also bring out the pelicans for a dining feast.





heron on right below man
We've had some pretty hard rains which has left water on the beach . . . including enough that the tide has stranded some fish and made a tasty treat for this heron. A cold front passed through a couple of days ago and hallelujah, after a really hot, humid and sticky summer, it seems "autumn" has arrived with temperatures in 80s, a BIG breeze, and slightly lower humidity!! I can go outside without turning into a sweat ball.

At long last, I finished my Roseate Spoonbill fabric and stuffed a few more charity pillows with the help of friends.