Exploring at the Mangrove Estuary

October 31, 2022  

After a good night's sleep we were eager to explore our new surroundings at Bahia Santa Maria.  Once again we inflated the kayaks, and then headed over to what appeared to be an entrance into the most easterly of the two estuaries.  We had packed our kayaks prepared for a surf landing and the possibility of flipping, as this was going to be our first try at landing on a beach in the surf.  With everything packed in waterproof bags and clipped to the kayaks, and with us wearing just our bathing suits, we headed in. 

Jason successfully rode the waves, and steered his kayak all the way into the shallows.  I didn’t have nearly as much luck, as I tried to paddle to steer the kayak instead of using the opposite side of the paddle dug into the water to make the nose come around, the result was that my kayak turned sideways to the waves and I happily bailed into the water leaving my kayak upright.  With smiles on our faces we both made it to shore.  Ah, it is so nice that the water is so lovely and warm; it really makes everything more enjoyable!   

After carrying our kayaks across the small spit of sand that stuck out to form the entrance to the estuary, we went for a swim and then climb into the kayaks once again to begin exploring.  

Seed pod from a mangrove.

 

Inside the mangrove estuary, in 3-6 feet of water, we were amazed at how plentiful the fish life was.  Schools of tiny fish, little fish, medium-sized fish, and larger fish swam beneath us.  Fish of different types were constantly jumping around us, and everywhere that we looked we seemed to see a fish jumping, sometimes only once, but often multiple times.  The water was very clear, so we had a good look at the many types of fish, and we got to see our first species of puffer fish.  They are so cute!! 

Paddling along the edge of the mangroves we also encountered many types of birds, mainly different varieties of heron or egret-type birds, and some of them had the most unusual birdcalls, different clicks or squawks.  As we made our way through the estuary we kept to the left and then branched into a much narrower tributary to the right.  Suddenly, as we rounded a corner in this narrow branch of the mangrove estuary, we saw a wall of white sand in front of us. 

The mangrove came to a sudden end at the start of the sand dunes. 

We climbed out of our kayaks and climbed up the sand dune to find that the estuary of green mangroves was only an island in the sea of sand dunes that surrounded the area.  It was beautiful! 

Back out on the beach we went into the water to play.  Jason took a kayak out with him and played around with different techniques for paddling out through and also coming in through the surf.  He had fun riding the waves while I swam around just out past the break line and watched the fish swimming in the cresting waves. 

After playing in the water for a while we went for a lovely beach walk along the sandy shoreline. 

It was amazing the number of different types of shells that there were on the beach,

and they dramatically slowed our progress as we stopped after every few steps to pick up and look at yet another type of shell. 

Apart from the vast number and variety of shells, there were also a lot of sand-blown sand dollars spread out across the beach.  We noticed that they had holes in them and we commented on how the wind must have sandblasted them so as to give them holes in their weaker areas. 

As we made our way along however, it dawned on us that we had not seen a single one that did not have holes in it, we also started to realize that they all had six holes in them, one larger one, and five smaller ones, which were spaced fairly evenly around the sand dollar.  Upon closer inspection we realized that the holes were not into the sand dollars like a damage hole would be, but rather through the sand dollar with solid sides.  These were not holes that were created after it died, but rather part of how the sand dollar was during its life.  Eventually we found one that was fairly fresh and still had its little black hairs all over its surface and we were able to confirm that yes indeed the holes were there during its life and the insides of the holes were also covered in little hairs.  Apart from these holes they appeared exactly the same as the sand dollars that we were familiar with in BC.  Curious! 

As seems to be the way of things for us, by the time we were ready to head home the wind had picked up and was blowing straight against us.  We made our way out through the surf and then paddled against the wind all the way home.  It was slow progress against the 15-20 knot wind, but we had to smile at how warm we were.  Wearing only our bathing suits, getting continually splashed by the chop, and with the wind against us, we were both still totally comfortable.  Oh, it is nice to be in a warm climate!