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Media Contact: Gentry Baumline
Hayworth Creative Public Relations
386-677-7000
gentry@hayworthcreative.com
Year 2008
Natural Wonders: The Gulf & the Great Outdoors
The serene gulf waters of Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key are known for washing away the frenetic demands of the outside world. Time and again even the most beleaguered fast-trackers find themselves slowing down, breathing deeply, and soaking in the calm, beautiful, natural world of Florida’s Gulf Islands. Beaches, parks, restaurants, resorts – they all make the most of the lush native landscape, warm sunshine, and shimmering green Gulf of Mexico, capturing and showcasing the area’s natural wonders in an uninterrupted stream of Florida magic.
The main road into the islands, Gulf Drive, is one of America’s most scenic byways, stretching from northern Anna Maria Island down to the southern tip of Longboat Key. A leisurely drive along this picturesque thoroughfare reveals some of the best views of the Gulf of Mexico, Intracoastal Waterway, and Coquina Beach. With windows down and salty breeze blowing, visitors enjoy a rolling preview of colorful vegetation, local wildlife, quaint towns, and heavenly views of the gulf’s great outdoors.
Put it in Park
Off the eastern tip of the Bradenton coast, just off Terra Ceia Bay, lies Emerson Point Preserve, where a lacework of winding trails and wooden boardwalk lets visitors take in the landscape of this 200-acre state park at their own pace. This diverse nature preserve is home to numerous ecosystems, including salt marshes, beaches, lagoons, grass flats, mangrove swamps, hardwood hammocks and semi-upland wooded areas. The paths make it easy to discover and appreciate the park on foot, but visitors can also bike, fish or canoe their way through.
For a true insider’s look at a coastal barrier island ecosystem, Joan M. Durante Park in Longboat Key is the place to go. This unique wetland system features an incredible collection of exotic trees, including live oak, banyan, red cedar, sabal palm and more. Mangrove forest, salt marsh lagoons and ponds teem with busy local residents such as fiddler crabs, sea horses, and ducks.
Gleaming tidal lagoons, lush landscapes, rustic footbridges and boardwalks grace the pristine, 17-acre water habitat of Coquina Baywalk at Leffis Key. To the peaceful sounds of wildlife and wind, visitors can explore high tide lagoons that come alive with blue crabs, whelks, ragged sea hares and many types of fish. At low tide, fiddler crabs and wading birds appear, making this spot one of the many popular stops along the Great Florida Birding Trail.
The nearby Myakka River State Park, one of Florida’s oldest and largest state parks, surrounds a beautiful stretch of the Myakka River, one of only two in the state designated as a Florida Wild and Scenic River. A unique canopy walkway through the treetops provides ideal wildlife observation, revealing alligators, wading birds, shore birds, bald eagles, osprey and sand hill cranes. A quiet canoe trip is perfect for spotting more native wildlife along the undisturbed banks of the Myakka. Adventurers can enjoy 39 miles of hiking and biking trails, and virtually endless waterways to explore. Air boat tours are offered daily, as well as seasonal tram tours, and Saturday morning ranger-guided walks.
The area’s state parks and local beaches make visitors of any age feel like a kid again. While strolling Coquina Beach, Holmes Beach or Longboat Key, beachcombers and shell collectors are bound to spot treasures from the gulf, such as spot calico scallops, crown conchs, polished paper mussels and other delicate shells. For those who prefer some guidance, the area has more than its fair share of outdoor experts who can help enhance your exploration. Local outfitters can coordinate a variety of excursions to help visitors experience the abundance of rich coastal and marsh wildlife. Whether you’re snorkeling with manatees or kayaking through the Intracoastal Waterway, it’s an experience you won’t soon forget.
Watching Wildlife
There is simply no better way to truly appreciate and respect wildlife that in its own natural setting. For wildlife-watchers, the area offers a rich mix of wildlife to be spotted. A little known fact is that Florida’s Gulf Islands are home to the largest population of bottlenose dolphins in Florida. Manatees, the dolphin’s heavier and funnier-looking cousin, can be found ambling through the brackish inland waterways. A protected endangered species, these gentle giants can reach lengths of 13 feet and weights of over 3,000 pounds. For an up-close view, visitors can enjoy time at the South Florida Museum’s Parker Manatee Aquarium, home to Snooty™, the oldest manatee in captivity.
The Florida Gulf Islands are also renowned for nesting loggerhead turtles. Every year the advent of spring and summer marks the arrival of hundreds of female loggerhead turtles. Mother turtles are intent on reaching the shore to lay their eggs along the sandy beaches of
Anna Maria Island. A huge conservation effort by the beach community has spawned the Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch, ensuring that a secure area is provided for nesting turtles and the surrounding beach environment. Guided night tours are available for those hoping to witness the miracle of baby turtle hatchlings making their way to the ocean.
Birders will delight in the colorful array of feathered friends that inhabit the shoreline and inland waterways. Frequently spotted favorites include spoonbill, cormorant, flamingo, brown pelican, laughing gull and snowy egret, just to name a few.
As any vacationer to Florida’s Gulf Islands will tell you, the area’s most amazing natural wonders make a daily appearance to an ever-appreciative audience. From balconies and hammocks, in pools and kayaks, off piers and at restaurants, or simply sprawled on the beach, visitors let out a collective sigh as Mother Nature brings down the house with another brilliant, blissfully Florida Gulf sunset.
For travel information, visitors can call toll free (800) 462-6283, direct at (941) 729-9177 or visit www.floridasgulfislands.com. An information kiosk is located in the Manatee Courtyard of the Prime Outlet Mall in Ellenton (one quarter mile east of exit 224 on I-75). The kiosk is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
-Florida’s Gulf Islands -
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