I am excited to share the experience of this walk with you as it was magical. Caspersen beach is dubbed locally as the shark tooth capital of the world because it is so easy to find shark teeth that wash up on these shores. Here are a few of the ones I've spotted walking this beach.
There is ample parking at this beach and we've never had an issue finding a spot here, but sometimes you may have a bit of a walk just to get to the beach at busy times which is most days from 9-4. Today, the front was full by 8am so we had to cross the bridge.
One of the neat aspects of this beach is that it has water on both sides. This channel connects a lake to the canal that was dug to make Venice Island.
The scene that greets you when you do get to the sand is like one you would see in a fairy tale.
Then you get out to the water and are graced by the beauty of the blue-green waters and the wild foliage on the other.
This entire beach is public land and there are no homes for a stretch of 2-3 miles (this is just a guess, the only measurement I have is a pedometer and we walked just under 10,000 steps). We walk from the parking lot to where houses begin again and it's an excellent workout out as the sand is not easy terrain unless you are by the water.
This beach is abundant with beautiful wildlife. We are always excited about what we might see.
These vines have been growing all summer and just started flowering recently.
Here's a close up of this beauty.
You will always see many birds like egrets, brown pelicans, sandpipers, and these black-crested night herons that have a unique personality.
They walk kind of crouched over as they sneak up on the food that they are hunting for on the beach.
Their main dish is another amazing little creature that digs holes all over the beach. They usually scurry back to their holes when they see people, but this crab stayed out to see what we were up to.
Some of the animals you see here will join you for a swim. Who doesn't love dolphins?!
You may have noticed the sticks in the sand in the earlier pictures. Those are put there by people that volunteer for the "Turtle Patrol". They have shirts and log books and a lot of information to share about the sea turtles that nest on this beach. There are two main species that lay their eggs here, the loggerhead and the green sea turtle. Today we were fortunate enough to witness the resilience of one of these babies as they make their way from the nest to the gulf.
They are so adorable. This next image should help you get a feel for their size.
The sea was a little rough this morning and it was getting warm. It was 9:30 local time and they typically are making this trek at dawn. I was able to film this little one as it never gave up on getting to its destination. It inspired me to add some narration. I hope you enjoy watching.
This is the view on the way back towards the parking lot.
The weather is beautiful here even when there are storms. It's sunny on the beach but a storm out over the water produces a grand sight with this rainbow.
Here's a closeup of the rainbow.
Finally, nothing is better deserved than to lay out on the sand after a long walk and some swimming. Have a beautiful day!
See you next week!!