Like No Other: Everglades National Park

General Information

The Everglades ranks as the third-largest national park in the contiguous United States, following Death Valley and Yellowstone. Spanning 1.5 million acres, it features a mix of tropical and subtropical environments, boasting one of the planet's most diverse ecosystems. While you might anticipate being awed by the park, this might not be the case if you compare it to other U.S. National Parks. President Harry Truman captured this sentiment perfectly in his speech at the Everglades National Park Dedication in 1947.

"Here are no lofty peaks seeking the sky, no mighty glaciers or rushing streams wearing away the uplifted land. Here is land, tranquil in its quiet beauty, serving not as the source of water, but as the last receiver of it.”

You need to appreciate the Everglades for the role it plays in protecting one of the most uniquely diverse and fragile ecosystems on the planet. It is truly a biological national park. The Everglades is one of only three location in the world designated as an International Biosphere Reserve, a Wetland of International Importance and a World Heritage Site.

The Everglades used to span nearly 11,000 square miles in South Florida. A hundred years ago, water traveled down the Kissimmee River into Lake Okeechobee, then continued south through the expansive Everglades to Florida Bay, the final destination of continuous sheetflow.

Courtesy of Managing the Florida Everglades: Changing values, changing policies

In the early 1900s, the Everglades was drained, with water redirected through a network of pumps, canals, levees, and other structures. This process resulted in the loss of half of its original wetlands. The water that once filled the lake and overflowed its southern edge is now diverted to the sea via the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Canals (red arrows), leaving the southern Everglades deprived of freshwater.

Courtesy of Managing the Florida Everglades: Changing values, changing policies

By the early 1990s, it became clear that there were significant issues with the management of the Everglades, prompting both the State of Florida and the Federal government to initiate projects aimed at redirecting large volumes of water back into the Everglades. The question remains whether these extensive efforts can undo a century of human-induced environmental damage in the Florida Everglades. While these programs are yielding positive outcomes, the Everglades remain under stress, posing a serious challenge for the more than 8 million Floridians who depend on this ecosystem for their drinking water.

Often mistaken for a giant swamp, the Everglades is actually a very slow-moving, shallow river. Due to the prevalence of sawgrass marshes, it is commonly referred to as the 'River of Grass'.

This "River of Grass" spans approximately 50 miles in width, with water levels ranging from ankle to knee deep, moving at a nearly undetectable pace of 100 feet per day. Looking out at this expanse makes you wonder, can man and the Everglade's fragile ecosystems coexist in Southern Florida.

Activities covered in this blog include:

• Kayaking Buttonwood Canal at Flamingo Visitors Center

• Walking through Mahogany Hammock

• Walking through Anhinga Trail at Ernie Coe Visitors Center

• Airboat ride in the Everglades

• Biking at the Shark Valley Visitors Center

Day 1

We started our Everglades adventure at the Flamingo Visitors Center, situated 35 miles from the Main Park Entrance. Although many visitors find Flamingo too distant to visit, we decided to make the trip since we had two full days to explore the Everglades.

Flamingo, originally a distant fishing village, is situated at the southern tip of the Florida peninsula inside Everglades National Park. Despite its remote location, the Visitors Center provides numerous services such as campgrounds, boat slips, launch ramps, and a wide range of recreational activities. While operations are currently limited, an upcoming revitalization project aims to restore the Center to its former glory.

We intended to rent a two-person kayak at the Visitors Center and navigate the entire length of the Buttonwood Canal, an artificial waterway that starts at the Flamingo marina. For the initial few minutes in this peaceful setting, everything was proceeding smoothly until ...

... a large crocodile started swimming toward the kayak. It appeared that we had approached too closely to a mother and her hatchlings. Her actions were defensive, and as we paddled away, she went back to the swampy undergrowth.

American crocodiles are the salt-water cousins of the more common American alligator seen throughout the Everglades. The main differences between these two reptiles are:

• Alligators have wider, U-shaped snouts, while crocodile front ends are more pointed and V-shaped.

• Alligators usually have darker, blackish-grey skin whereas crocodiles normally have olive green to brown skin.

• Full grown alligators are typically 11 feet long while full grown crocodiles are on average 19 feet long.

• Alligators hang out in freshwater marshes and lakes. Crocodiles tend to live in saltwater habitats.

• Most importantly, and luckily we didn't know this at the time, crocodiles are more aggressive and more likely to attack at random when something comes near, whereas alligators are more likely to wait until hungry or threatened to attack.

This photo may not be the best, but I couldn't pass up the chance to capture our first encounter. It was truly a mean and aggressive 19-foot-long crocodile! Welcome to the Everglades.

Once the croc disappeared, we continued exploring the canal.

Mangrove trees lined both sides of the canal. Mangroves are a type of tree that is highly tolerant to salt and can flourish in channels, rivers, and tidal waters, where fresh water mixes with salty ocean water. These trees are characterized by their twisted, tangled, and exposed roots, giving them the appearance of standing on stilts above the water.

Everglades National Park contains the most extensive protected mangrove forests in the Northern Hemisphere. These trees serve as a nursery for numerous marine creatures. During the dry months, wading birds gather in the mangroves to feed and nest.

Mangrove roots slow the movement of tidal waters, causing sediments to settle out of the water and build up the muddy bottom thus helping to stabilize shorelines and reduce erosion from storm surges, currents, waves, and tides. Importantly, mangrove forests also hold tight in hurricanes.

Unfortunately, less than an hour into our trip, we encountered a kayaker who was returning to the Visitors Center after receiving a weather alert about a fast approaching rain storm. We considered pressing on, but decided against it when we heard thunder rumbling. We quickly returned as fast as possible.

We made it back to the dock with less than a minute to spare before monsoon rains began. Fifteen minutes later the clouds parted, the sun came out, and the humidity level skyrocketed. Welcome to Florida.

Before departing from the Visitors Center, we noticed several West Indian manatees swimming in the marina. These fascinating creatures have large, seal-like bodies with paired flippers and a round, paddle-shaped tail. Often called 'sea cows,' manatees are mainly herbivores and spend up to eight hours daily feeding on aquatic plants like seagrass. On average, they consume and digest over 100 pounds of aquatic vegetation each day. An adult female manatee can reach up to 13 feet in length and weigh over 1,300 pounds, making it challenging to capture their entire body in a single photo.

We were lucky to spot this young calf playing in the water as the adults fed on algae growing on the marina supports.

Since our kayaking adventure was cut short, we had time to make several stops along the main road back to the Park Entrance. Our first stop was at Mahogany Hammock. A hardwood hammock is a dense cluster of broad-leafed trees that grow on a natural rise of just a few inches above the surrounding wetlands. It takes only 2-3 inches of elevated ground for the hammocks to support some of the largest trees in the Everglades. A drop of a few inches in elevation allows only saw grass prairie to thrive. This delicate ecological balance is what makes the Everglades one of the most unique places on earth.

A boardwalk bridges the sawgrass prairie of the Shark River Slough. Because we were still in the dry season, water was no longer flowing.

Rather than being covered in water, much of the ground was blanketed by a brown-colored sponge mat of algae known as "periphyton". During the rainy season, periphyton floats on the surface and is consumed by fish. In the dry season, it provides habitats for numerous small, burrowing creatures like small worms and insects. Since periphyton absorbs water, these animals can find moisture here even after the prairie has dried up. In the Everglades ecosystems, every organism has a role to play during both wet and dry seasons.

Walking into the hammock, the sawgrass prairie quickly gave way to a wall of trees. The acids from decaying plant life at the edges of the hammock eats away at the limestone underground to form moats which encircle the hardwood hammocks. In addition to providing animals with a perennial source of water, the moats also protect the hardwood hammocks from wildfire, a constant danger in the Everglades.

The intertwining of tree branches and leaves forms a canopy overhead. This dense canopy in a mature hammock provides shade, resulting in temperatures that can be several degrees cooler than the surrounding areas.

Protected from the sun, vibrant vegetation such as ferns and air plants flourish in the humid air of these hammocks.

The Mahogany Hammock Trail's most fascinating aspect is that it is home to the largest living Mahogany tree in the United States. This tree is reported to have a diameter of about 3.75 feet at breast height and stands 70-80 feet tall.

Our next stop was suppose to be the Anhinga Trail at the Ernie Coe Visitors Center; however, we stopped at a random spot along the road and were mesmerized by a flock on Swallow-Tailed Kites zipping around a field performing aerial acrobatics. The Swallow-Tailed Kite is a large black and white raptor with a deeply forked tail. In fact, no other bird in the United States has a tail as long (10-14 inches) and deeply forked as the Swallow-Tailed Kite. These birds of prey are normally spotted soaring above the tree line, rarely flapping their wings as they coast through the air. As their name implies, these kites are fantastic flyers and are often observed seemingly floating in the breeze. Kites continually flick and rotate their tail, switching from a straight course to a tight turn in an instant as it scans for prey. These nimble, aerial acrobats can even roll and dive backwards to catch an insect behind them.

These magnificent birds measure almost two feet long and have a wingspan of over four feet. Although the same overall size of a Red-Tailed Hawk, they are only about half the weight. This slender design allows kites to stay in flight for long periods of time so that they can catch their favorite prey – flying insects. Although this isn't a perfectly centered photograph photo, I love that I was able to capture a low-flying kite before it moved out of the frame. What incredible creatures to watch.

Finally, we reached the Anhinga Trail, a highly popular path in Everglades National Park. It is renowned as an excellent spot for photographing wading birds and alligators due to their abundance and their comfort with people on the boardwalk.

The path begins by crossing the Taylor Slough. The term "slough" refers to regions in the Everglades where the water is somewhat deeper than in the adjacent marshes, and a slow yet noticeable current flows.

Sloughs serve as crucial sanctuaries for aquatic wildlife, particularly in the dry season. Taylor Slough is among the rare waterways in this part of the park that consistently holds water throughout the year, regardless of drought conditions elsewhere. This water presence transforms it into a sanctuary for various wildlife species.

Walking through the slough on the elevated platform made wildlife viewing so much easier. Peering down from the platform, it wasn't long before we had our first sighting.

The American alligator is the animal most closely associated with the Everglades. It's almost impossible to mention Everglades National Park without envisioning an alligator.

Alligators primarily inhabit freshwater swamps and marshes, and are considered a keystone species. Their presence in an ecosystem plays a critical role in supporting other wildlife.

These reptiles are kind of clumsy on land, but they're built for life in the water. As great swimmers, they are equipped with webbed feet and strong tails that propel them through the water. Just looking at this photo makes my heart race. Can you imagine being in the water and see this monster approaching?

Except for an Anhinga bird in the marsh and a Florida redbelly turtle sunning itself on a rock, we didn't observe other wildlife during our walk.

I must address the 'black vulture problem' present in numerous parts of the park. Apparently, black vultures have acquired a liking for rubber. They enjoy eating windshield wiper blades and will pick at the gaskets around the windows and doors of vehicles. It seems someone has taken steps to protect their vehicle.

Day 2

We planned an airboat ride at Gator Park for our final day in the Everglades. While the ride is undeniably "touristy," we couldn't pass up this quintessential Everglades adventure.

Airboats are flat-bottomed vessels driven by large fans rather than traditional motors. When the propeller operates, it moves air to the rear of the boat, propelling it forward. The absence of a motor allows the boat to swiftly glide across the water's surface, a capability unique to airboats. These boats lack brakes and cannot move in reverse. Halting and changing direction rely on the operator's expertise.

Following a short safety briefing, our pilot started guiding the boat into the Everglades. We began with a slow and gentle pace as we moved through a canal leading into the Everglades.

Once we were out on the open water, she accelerated, and we felt the thrill of gliding over water that was ankle to knee deep.

Our pilot stopped the boat several times to talk about the significance of this river of sawgrass in the Everglades. Sawgrass is a slim, tall plant that can grow to over 9 feet high. Besides its grass-like appearance, sawgrass is named for the sharp-toothed margin to its leaf blades: serrations that are capable of drawing blood from a bare arm or leg run across them.

Sawgrass plays a crucial role in maintaining the health of the Everglades. It effectively uses nutrients to support the surrounding ecosystem, and as it decomposes, it forms a rich, organic soil known as peat. This peat encourages the growth of other aquatic vegetation. Additionally, sawgrass offers energy to migrating birds through its nutritious seeds and provides a secure habitat for animals such as alligators.

She maneuvered the airboat down a narrow opening in search of a gator. It wasn't long before she sighted a 'big guy' in the grass.

He was not happy with the boat and began swimming toward it. It was mating season when alligators are more aggressive and rather than irritate him further, the pilot slowly guided the boat away.

Before leaving, we watched a brief educational but entertaining show about alligators. The captive Gator Park alligators have been rescued from state-licensed nuisance trappers who remove gators from situations that could harm people. These "trouble makers" ended up in someone's swimming pool, backyard, or parking lot and had to be removed to keep everyone safe. Florida state law requires nuisance-trapped alligators to be relocated to captivity or euthanized. They cannot be released back into the wild once caught.

The airboat ride was definitely worth the time and money. FYI, airboats are prohibited in nearly all of the Everglades National Park's 2,400 acres. These tours are only permitted in one small section of the park.

Before departing from the Park, we took a brief drive from Gator Park to the Shark Valley Visitors Center, where we rented bikes to explore a path alongside a canal. After spending 24 hours surrounded by alligators, we were eager to observe some 'nonreptile' wildlife as well. Shark Valley features essentially one trail—a smoothly paved 15-mile loop that can be explored by bike or tram. We opted for biking since the weather was not oppressively hot and humid.

The fun part of the ride was spotting alligators along the canal. Some alligators were conspicuous while other were more concealed. But in either case, even riding the bike you have the possibility to be very close to these creatures. But on a serious note, there is a reason the grass at the path edge is mowed - it allows you to easily spot gators that maybe be "too close'"' This beast was hiding in the tall grass not far from the edge of the bike path. If you have an inkling to get close for a great photo, think again. Alligators trick people with their "laziness" when it comes to how dangerous they can be. Just because an alligator is sunbathing doesn't mean it's harmless. Alligators can run at speeds up to 11 mph and can swim at speeds double that. If you run a 10-minute mile, you're running an average of 6 mph. Can you really outrun that alligator? Another fun fact, alligators can also jump up to 6 feet in the air from a resting position. If the photo is that important, maybe you should invest in a zoom lens instead of getting a few feet closer.

An average male American alligator is 10 to 15 feet long. Half of its length is its massive, strong tail. An alligator can weigh as much as 1,000 pounds. American alligators hunt predominantly at night. Alligators will eat almost anything: fish, turtles, small mammals, or birds... and even some larger mammals like deer. If large prey is captured, they drag it underwater, where it is drowned and then devoured. These creatures have between 74 and 80 teeth in their jaws at any given time, and as teeth wear down or fall out they are replaced. An alligator can go through over 2,000 teeth in its lifetime. Once a week is a typical feeding schedule for alligators living in the wild. Excess calories are stored in fat deposits at the base of the alligator's tail. Incredibly, by burning fat reserves, it is possible for an alligator to last more than two years between feedings.

This Everglades ecosystem depends on alligators to thrive and support its biodiversity. Once listed as an endangered species, American alligators were nearly wiped out due to hunting and habitat loss. With protection and the addition of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, their populations were able to rebound. By 1987 American alligator populations were stable enough to be removed from the endangered species list and they continue to thrive today.

We spotted this "baby alligator" in the canal. It was definitely less than 12 inches long. It may have many siblings nearby; a female can lay up to 90 eggs in her nest. These little alligators are carefully protected by their mom so don't consider getting close since she may not be far away.

Although Great Blue Herons are common throughout the Everglades, it was great seeing these stately birds in the wetlands. These birds stand over 4 feet tall and have a wingspan of over 6 feet in length.

Whether poised at a river bend or cruising the coastline with slow, deep wingbeats, the Great Blue Heron is a majestic sight. The heron often stands motionless as it scans for prey or wades belly deep with long, deliberate steps. They may move slowly, but Great Blue Herons can strike like lightning to grab a fish or snap up a gopher.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, we spotted this black vulture - a downright ugly bird compared to the heron. The black vulture gets its name from its deep black plumage, featherless grey-black head, and its short, hooked beak. While it is a relatively large bird with a wingspan of up to 5 feet, it is considered small in comparison to other vulture species. The black vulture has excellent eye sight and sense of smell, and because they often find prey by following other vultures.

All-in-all it was a successful two day excursion into Everglades National Park. We traveled by kayak, bicycle, and foot and we explored the Park by land and water. Lots of memories and photographs for this unique biological national park.