Eco-tour of Florida’s Treasure Coast

When Nancy Beaver’s marriage ended she didn’t plot revenge or decide her life was over. Instead, she got her captain’s licence and bought a boat. Now, she takes people on ecotours of the Indian River Lagoon near Port Salerno, in Martin County, Florida. Her mission is to promote a healthy, sustainable environment for all coastal and marine wildlife through research, education and preservation.

Sunshine Wildlife Tours

After three days of driving Florida’s I-95 from Palm Beach to Jensen Beach, I was happy to get away from the superhighways and onto the water.  My hope was to see a manatee or two. I’d seen plenty of signs but no actual manatees.

Watch for manatees

I met up with her at the Port Salerno marina where she’s moored outside Finz restaurant, a local sailor hangout, where they happen to make fabulous Stoley Doleys, a fresh pineapple and vodka punch. Before long Captain Nancy and I were out on the water.

Looking for manatee in the Indian River Lagoon

Captain Nancy explained that the Indian River Lagoon and the St. Lucie River are one of the most diverse estuaries in North America. It’s home to bottlenose dolphin, sea turtles, sting rays, otters and manatee. One island is home to 14 species of birds and there are even oyster beds.

“Each adult oyster  bed cleans 50 gallons of water a day,” she explained — which got me to wishing I hadn’t eaten a dozen raw oysters at Finz the previous night. She also explained that the estuary is under assault from development which has destroyed 80% of the mangroves, pesticide and fertilizer run-off and dredging to allow large yachts better passage into the marinas.

Dredging operation

Complicating things is that the water is only three feet deep in spots which means marine life can’t exactly dive deep and escape the propellers of speed boats and mega yachts.  Posted signs asked boaters to restrict their speeds but so far I hadn’t seen anyone slow down. Except for us. Sunshine Wildlife Tours  chugged along at a sea turtle’s pace while every other boat seemed to be going full throttle. When I learned manatees have poor hearing and couldn’t hear the boat coming, I forgot about my manatee quest and began to hope they’d all ditched to a quiet cove.

Of course, that’s when the marine life began to appear. First it was a trio of bottle nose dolphins, including a mother and baby. Then, it was a pair of manatee. They lumbered about in the shallow water, not exactly cavorting  more like rolling, like big waterlogged tree trunks. They also had a habit of rolling directly toward the boat traffic lane. Before long, I was a nervous wreck worrying they were going to be hit by one of the speeding boats.

Pelicans, dolphin and manatee live in the estuary

“Many do,” said Captain Nancy, never one to mince words. “There were once 3,000 manatee in the estuary and now we’re not sure what the population is.”

Good news is on the horizon, mangrove restoration projects are underway, several counties have passed ordinances restricting the use of fertilizers and responsible tour operators like Sunshine Wildlife Tours are educating people about the fragility of the lagoon ecosystem. Now if they could just ramp up controlling those speeding boats I’d be a lot happier the next I spot a manatee.

Want to see a slideshow of my trip? Take a Tour of Martin County onYouTube

If You Go

Where to Stay: The Inn at Tilton Place, an eco-hotel offering locally-sourced, seasonally cuisine and organic wines, is a 20 minute drive away in Jensen Beach, Florida.

Sunshine Wildlife Tours: Contact Captain Nancy Beaver at 1-800-517-7207 or by email at captainnancy@sunshinewildlifetours.com.