Low Tide Disappointment

   After a more or less sleepless night of worry about family members being in the midst of Hurricane Ian, I grabbed a mug of coffee and headed to the pier.  That is where I can soothe the mind of all its anxiety and find peace in the soul again.  The wind was chilly this morning so I did not even stay to watch the sunrise.  Later, however, I headed back to help Son do some repairs on the small skiff.  Once I figured out that I was more in the way than anything, I meandered back to the end of the pier.  The north wind had blown the water far from the marsh and left mudflats for some thirty feet.  That was not surprising but the next thirty or so was.  Maybe surprising is not the word.  Maybe disappointing is more appropriate.  

  With the water only a mere six to eight inches deep, I could see everything that is normally hidden.  While I knew what was there, I had no idea the extent of it.  As far as I could see there was a mass of weird green, growth.  Never before have we had "grass" under the pier.  This is not truly grass but is a pond plant that was sneakily dumped in the Bay by someone.  It took hold and now has spread like wildfire.  It is clogging all the bayous and now has begun its spread outward from the shoreline.  The stuff makes it almost impossible to throw a net or cast a line.  It also winds around boat propellers rendering them quite useless if not untangled.  It is just a mess.  I am torn between calling it Coontail (which is what a biologist told me) and Hydrilla (which is what Google told me).  Either way, it is highly invasive.

  Like I said, it was disappointing to see that this growth has spread so rapidly.  It is also disappointing that, although reported to the proper authorities, nothing has been done.  The usual "run-around" was given and nothing...NOTHING...has or will be done.  The bay and bayous will continue to become more and more clogged until nothing can survive. It is saddening...disappointing...to say the least.  Rant over...I am tired.

  For any who may be interested, my family members all made it through the hurricane with little to no damage.  I am just so thankful they are all safe and sound.  Hurricane Ian...go away now.

The Giant Bayou Sloth

   Sloths are most notably known for their slow movements and the constant "smile".  The smile is more of a coloration thing but it does make the critter look incredibly happy.  They are also a bit of a curiosity because most are green.  There are just not a lot of green-furred critters in the world and that makes the sloths of the wild quite interesting.  A little lesson here...sloths are green due to algae growing on their fur.  They live in such a warm, humid place that the algae grows on anything that sits still long enough.  Well, sloths literally cannot outrun algae so they become covered with the stuff and appear green.  Nice!

  Well, this morning, Son and I found the Giant Bayou Sloth.  True to sloth fashion, it was not moving and was green due to algae.  To be honest, though, I could not tell you if our sloth is entirely happy or not.  There were no facial features to be found.  

  As Son was bailing out the small skiff, I was poking around in the marshes.  It was in the shallows that I came across a huge mass of algae covered coonstail (an invasive aquatic plant).  Ugh!  That stuff nigh on clogged the Bayou and even the Bay last summer and is making a comeback with the hot weather.  I mentioned it to Son who looked up and noticed something odd about my discovery.  "Looks more like a quadrupedal covered with algae."  This man of few words went back to his chore.  Hmm...yep.  Well, indeed, it did.  It is hard to tell by the photograph but the outline of a large, four-legged critter could be seen.  The fluffy plants had grown in the perfect shape of a sloth!  The algae covered the plants and made the underlying leaves look a lot like long fur.  I had a Giant Bayou Sloth in all its slow-moving, algae-covered glory!  Wonder where its smile went?  Maybe sloths do not like being stuck in marshes.

  The coonstail plants and the green algae will soon fill the entire waterways once again.  Wildlife will struggle simply due to the stupidity of people.  The plants were dumped into the Bay by folks clearing ponds and those and the algae are being fed by runoff of fertilizer from yards.  People never think about the consequences the natural flora and fauna pay for their quest of the perfect lawn.  The price we all pay.