Perspectives

In the winter, Florida has hot springs. Not the kind you find at Yellowstone or those in Iceland - in fact, they are the exact same springs that are present year round… but when it’s 35°F outside, the constant 72°F spring water that freezes your whole body in the sweltering summer heat actually feels much like a hot tub!

Life just above the water's surface at Silver Glen.

An early morning haze on the water and an empty spring greeted me and Danielle when we arrived at Silver Glen in mid-January. Pelicans, vultures, herons, and anhinga abounded at or above the water’s surface, but we truly weren’t prepared for what waited below the sparkling surface.

New Englanders often say that they would miss the change of seasons if they lived in Florida, and I promise, from experience, that you don’t. Seasons do in fact exist in north Florida– and they are most striking underwater. By the water’s edge, the leaves on the bald cypress trees change color and there are fragrant flowers practically year round. Underwater, algae waxes and wanes while macrophytes flower at different times throughout the year. But what is the most magnificent to observe is the organisms who use the springs as a thermal refuge in the winter, hiding from the cold river and lake temperatures just like we hide from the chilly temperatures on land by escaping to the springs.

Seasonal fish visitors at Silver Glen create dizzying distortions underwater.

An anhinga takes advantage of the large winter aggregation of fish as tilapia guard their nests in the background - it's hunting time!

We had both been to Silver Glen in the winter and observed the slender silver ladyfish and (invasive) tilapia in mass quantities, dotted with a few striped bass, (often flying) mullet, prehistoric gar, and friendly sunfish here and there.  But never did we expect a single manatee, swimming elegantly in the main spring boil, parting the sea of fish to glide out the spring run towards Lake George.

A rare sight at Silver Glen (and in general) - a single manatee gracefully parted the sea of fish as we entered the water.

Sighting prehistoric gar in the shallows is always exciting!

Even being prepared for the number of fish in the spring does no good – your heart still skips several beats as your eyes go in and out of focus, trying to distinguish flowing water from fish. Their grayish blue monotones moving as large masses in the distance give the illusion that the whole spring is alive, moving melodiously yet unpredictably - you totally lose perspective immediately upon submerging yourself into this other watery world.

Losing perspective - which way is up? Are we flying? Photo creed for this neat disorienting GoPro shot goes to Greg!

It is this loss of perspective that can be quite refreshing and exhilarating – the landscape is endless in all directions and looking upwards from the bottom, you realize you are being pushed towards the sky against gravity. Fish that darted out of the way to give you a clear path to the distant spring boil below reform quickly overhead like a cloud on a rainy day.

Forecast: blue skies with a chance of fish overhead. Mermaid sightings are rare but possible :)

 This loss of perspective and escape to another world is one of the many reasons I first fell in love with the springs and have been compelled to practice and become addicted to underwater photography. But it was these very photos and long hours spent in the springs, that led me to see that the springs can be captured beautifully, but there is a dark side to the apparent springs fairytale.

There is a dark side to the springs fairytale, visible just below this endless school of ladyfish.

In my blog posts, I usually tell the story of the photo versus the story the photo tells. The story of the photo is the adventure – how we got there, what it feels like to float weightless in space, and what we experienced throughout the day.

But the story the photo itself tells may be a totally different animal – it describes the science, what is physically going on in the picture and the spring, the health of the ecosystem. Inside the frame, the artist shows you something from his or her perspective. Nobody really wants to see a bowl of algae or greenish tinged water. I did take photos of the invasive tilapia, which may spark controversy by calling them beautiful, but all things considered, it is sometimes nice to appreciate the beauty of exotics/invasives or at least choose to see the beauty in the breakdown – I am not ashamed or alone in admitting that while flowing algae makes me feel sick to my stomach because I understand its implications, it does have its own way of looking elegant.

(ABOVE) Inside the frame - torpedo-like ladyfish dance in the sky…
…versus (BELOW) Outside the frame, this is the view 180 degrees from the shot above, only about 10 meters from the elegant ladyfish above. This is a mat of the toxic cyanophyte Lyngbya wollei, which forms dense mats in springs, often outcompeting and replacing native vegetation.

I do not do multiple exposures or layer images or use photoshop, but the photos I take and choose to share often portray the beauty of spring ecosystems that, despite their brilliance, are suffering. This goes to show that often, what is just outside the frame may tell an equally compelling (and in this case tragic) story.  Inside and outside the frame, we see evidence that these marvelous ecosystems are declining – giving us a fair warning that our perspective regarding water (including consumption, pollution, and science) must be changed – we need what Cynthia Barnett calls a Blue Revolution** and we need it now.

Outside the frame: dense mats of Lyngbya wollei just outside the natural well at Silver Glen.

Algae aside, Danielle and I decided that instead of hopelessly trying to convey the fact that our photos didn't do the magic of the springs justice, the best way to share our enthusiasm was to make the trek out to the forest again the next weekend with the Longs, Greg, Val, and Jenna:

(Top)  Greg checks out the spring, (middle left) plays with the GoPro in the sky, (middle right) a school of ladyfish engulf Danielle, and (bottom) Val dives down to check out the shallow part of the basin.

**Everybody should read Barnett’s Blue Revolution (and earlier book Mirage). In Mirage, she eloquently tells the story of Florida and water and in Blue Revolution, she takes a more global perspective – unveiling truths about water and our unsustainable relationship with this resource to which we are so inextricably tied – all while still showing that there is a glimpse of hope if we get our act together. I urge you to read them if you have not done so already J

"Fairy-tails" - views from the eyes of a mermaid

From the eyes of the mermaids, everything is blue. Surrounded by a cool silence, they swim in a relaxing piece of watery paradise, and from below, it appears as if they are swimming in an ethereal azure sky. You may think that mermaids are only real in fairytales, but fortunately life can sometimes be a "fairytail" too.

Mermaids aren't real? After you dive in to this story, you may have to think again...

In the chilly off-season when all of the springs-goers and river tubers have retired to their warm homes and indoor pools on the weekends, other creatures appear in the springs. The secret is that the spring water, emerging from the Floridan aquifer below,  remains a constant ~70 degrees F year round - perfect for mermaiding in all seasons. It is during these quiet times of year that you are most likely to spot a mermaid gracefully gliding just  below the surface.

At this point, you may be skeptical having never seen a mermaid with your own eyes. You may not trust these pictures either, but please wait before you make your final judgement! My childhood dreams (and perhaps that of every little girl who has ever seen The Little Mermaid) came true once on June 18, 2012 when I was transformed into a mermaid for a day while helping at a video shoot held at Rainbow Springs for Eric Ducharme and his mermaids. That night, I wrote "A Mermaid's Tail", which includes "How to become a mermaid (in 10 easy steps!)" and decided that my life would never be the same. And it certainly has not. Call me crazy, but since that day, I have dreamed of having my own tail. Yes, my friend Danielle and I swim in the springs, taking pictures and dolphin kicking around in our long flippers practically every weekend and call this "mermaiding," but for the full effect, tails are necessary. And on October 11, 2013, my dreams came true for the second time, thanks to my very own amazing prince. 

Greg and I at Gilchrist Blue Spring :)
Greg set up a surprise treasure hunt that took me all over the entire Ginnie Springs property on my birthday - and at the end, there was a gift certificate to get my own personalized tail from The Mertailor Eric Ducharme! I sent in a crazy number of measurements (ankle, thigh, calf, and knee circumference, waist, hips, shoe size, etc.), and by mid-November, I received my tail in the mail. Greg, you are truly too amazing.  

My tail arrived mid-week and I anxiously (barely) made it through the rest of the week of school (yes, mermaids have day jobs and for this one, it's being a PhD student - thankfully my field work is in the springs… sans tail, but I'll take it). On Friday, November 22, 2013, while New England was amidst a chilly winter and it crossed nobody else's mind to head to Gilchrist Blue Springs, Greg and I did just that. 

Slipping into my tail on the dock, I lost my legs and became useless on land; I was left with no choice but to slide into the water. With a big breath, a little leap of faith, and a few flicks of my tail, I was off into another watery world.

As I slipped into the water, Greg wasn't far behind with the GoPro. A huge thank you to him for being not only the best boyfriend in the world but also for capturing this beautiful day using the GoPro!

 So what is it like to swim in the tail? For me personally, it's an escape - no matter what is stressing me out or going on above water, swimming in general (and more specifically in my tail!) is a perfect break, just like yoga, exercise, or playing an instrument for others. I'm not the most graceful person above water, but the tail allows me to glide along with the fishes and turtles with effortless elegance as I'm surrounded by my favorite ecosystems in the world - the springs.

Besides being an escape, swimming in the tail is actually a great workout. Usually, I don't last long swimming around in no wetsuit, so when I jump in the water to take photos or go cave diving, I can always be found in a full wetsuit, hood, booties, and sometimes even gloves. Besides the fact that mermaids can't wear wetsuits (and especially not drysuits) or masks, you actually stay fairly warm because of the way you have to swim in the tail. The swimming motion is similar to doing the butterfly stroke or doing "the worm" - it's an undulating motion like a sine curve, similar to how a whale, dolphin or manatee swims. And it definitely works your abs! So, as crazy as it sounds, mermaiding is in fact a workout, not to mention you're holding your breath the whole time. Now open your eyes underwater, don't use your arms to propel yourself forward, and smile for the camera, perhaps blow underwater kisses or some o-ring bubbles and move with finesse - now you're starting to master the art of mermaiding! It's a work in progress, but it's certainly something that's fun to work at while I'm not in class or doing research - any time spent underwater is time well spent.

So next time you're out at the springs and you catch a glimpse of a flash of blue, don't mistake it for a shark, a dolphin, or a figment of your imagination, because mermaids do not only exist at the legendary Weeki Wachee and in fairytales - they are in fact very real and may be swimming in your drinking water - they are perhaps much closer than you think.

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Wait… where did the mermaid go?! Above water, I guess they disappear ;)

Special thanks to "Again and Again" handmade bags (made from recycled sails!) of Gloucester, MA for my fantastic mermaid bag!! You can check out their website to see all of their unique products made of sails using this link.

Manatee Morning

As the minutes passed and turned into hours, I stared wide-eyed at the ceiling. It was one of those end-of-the-semester nights when your mind rushes and and, no matter what you try, it is impossible to will yourself to sleep. The feeling was brought on by a mix of stress and excitement, and it was certainly the closest I've felt to a little kid on Christmas Eve in a very long time - but for very exciting reasons!

I had impatiently waited all day, jumping at any and every noise that sounded anything remotely like a UPS truck. I must have sprung up from my chair at least a dozen times to press my face to the window - both taking a brief study break from an endless term paper and to see if there were any brown trucks in the driveway. Finally, at 8 p.m., I got word that a package had just been delivered to the front office, which prompted me to sprint over in my pajamas and run back to my apartment with a 15 + pound box containing my new camera and housing!!! Christmas came a week early this year :)

It's time to bring the SLR underwater!! A huge upgrade from my little SeaLife, but that camera and I have been on so many adventures!

I spent the next few hours unpacking each individually-wrapped piece and carefully assembling and testing the housing for leaks. By the time I was finished, it was almost 11 p.m… getting closer and closer to the 4 a.m. manatee wake up call. Long story short, I managed to get about 1 hour of sleep between 2:30 and 3:30ish, and by the time 3:45 a.m. came around, I was in some sort of adrenaline-induced haze. Half sleep-walking and half dreaming, we bundled up and drove to meet Danielle and Mark in a pitch dark Publix parking lot, drove 1.5 hours to Crystal River, and jumped on the 6:00 a.m. pontoon boat leaving the dock from Bird's Underwater.

Some things make sacrificing a little bit of sleep 100% worth it. A beautiful sunrise over Crystal River on our way to 3 Sisters Springs.  

After watching a spectacular sunrise over the river, Greg, Danielle, Mark S., Mark L., Annette, and I arrived at 3 Sisters Springs to find dozens of manatees keeping warm in and around the sanctuary. Losing no time and taking advantage of being one of the first two boats to arrive, we all suited up and hopped in the water, cameras in hand.

Chilly 40-something degree air temperatures left a haze on the 70 degree spring water when we first jumped in. 

The minute you submerge your face into the steaming water and the suspended sand clears from view, you are immediately transported back in time. Before your eyes, prehistoric creatures, ancient relatives of elephants, emerge, floating effortlessly throughout the spring. And they are much bigger than they appear in pictures. Some were resting on the bottom alone, others joined to make a big pig pile of sleeping manatees, with one or two slowly rising to the surface at any given time to take in a long, relaxing breath, and then settle back down to continue their nap. It's kind of like that whack-a-mole game - but 100 times the size… and underwater. 

Pile 'o manatee.

Others walk along the bottom using their pectoral fins, making them look like confused hybrid land/sea creatures (and if you look closely, you can see the vestiges of toenails reminiscent of elephant feet!): 

Walking along the bottom - and looking very curious!

Others are more curious and often swim right up to the camera… maybe being friendly or perhaps just checking themselves out in the big dome port that acts as a mirror:

It's as if he is posing for the camera! He swam up within inches of my lens.

Even without a camera, they are extremely affable and curious creatures… especially this baby manatee! He interacted with us for almost the entire 2 hours we spent in the water - even when we would purposefully swim away to give him space, he would come back and play.

They are absolutely amazing animals and are so much fun to interact with in the water, although by the end of our ~2 hour swim, boatloads of people started showing up and I definitely started feeling the effects of humans "loving them to death" (aka too many people crowding or spooking the manatees), which can be seen in this short National Geographic time lapse video called Manatee Madness. Swimming with these majestic, ancient mammals is a special experience that I hope many people are fortunate enough to experience, but as with all human interactions with wildlife, it does require us to be respectful and cognizant that they are wild animals. Crystal River is perhaps the only place in the world where you are allowed to touch the manatees (with one hand, if they approach you) and it is truly a wonderful and memorable experience... I hope that we are able to interact with them in a way that does not disrupt them so we may continue to have the privilege of swimming with them for many years to come!

How could you not love that face?! 

Greg and I smiling through our snorkels - so happy to be swimming with the manatees… can't wait to go back!

The rest of my photos are in my Gentle Giants Facebook album.

Fireside reflections from the north

Wrapped in a blanket and cozy by the dancing flames of the glowing fire, a cup of peppermint tea in hand and candy canes for dessert, and our yellow lab Bessie snoring at my feet - it must be winter break! Leaving the warm days and the springs many miles to the south, I have finally arrived in Rhode Island for some much-needed relaxing after a long but successful semester. It's the perfect time to catch up on not only Christmasy things that don't feel right in 70 and 80 degree weather but also a few Florida adventures dating back to the end of October, including a visit from my Dad, cave diving at Ginnie with Bethy and Kris, and the Santa Fe River Cleanup/Swallowtail Farm Festival.

Post-birthday camping weekend at Ginnie Springs, my Dad made the trek down to Gainesville for a mini tour of the south. I was so excited to have him down, although this year I felt bad since there wansn't a home-game weekend that worked for both of us… but that just meant more time for the springs/exploring :) October 24-27 ended up being a bit of a cold spell (or at least chilly if you're planning on jumping in the water), but it certainly didn't keep us from hitting some springs, the ocean, and a few places in Gainesville, including the Springs Eternal exhibit and Butterfly Garden at the FL Museum of Natural History.

Ichetucknee Spring State Park

We started off the trip with some swimming in the sky. This is my dad "free falling" into Ichetucknee Blue Hole (aka Jug Hole). It's one of my favorites for free diving but always seems to feel chillier than many others, maybe because you're off in the woods in the shade. It's more than worth the short hike out to the spring and being cold for a while!

Dad swimming in the treetops above as I snap some pictures from below.

Dad and me at the headspring. The lighting leaves much to be desired, but this picture makes me happy! We were chilly from swimming out at Blue Hole, so we didn't jump in, but it was beautiful above water too :)

Fall at the Ichetucknee headspring. 

This little 5-legged grasshopper came to visit us during lunch. He's pretty funky looking up close!

Florida Museum of Natural History

After a long walk to Alfred Ring Park for a quick look at Glen Spring and the creek and a trip to the Micanopy Art Festival, we stopped at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the way back into town... no trip to Gainesville would be complete without checking out the Springs Eternal Exhibit! I had fun looking at the exhibit with him and talking about the springs and John and Lesley's photos, but after a while our attention was drawn to the brilliantly colored, diverse selection of butterfly specimens at the back of the museum. I had somehow never been to the Butterfly Garden in the 2+ years I've lived here, so we decided to take a walk through - and I'm so glad we did…

Walking through the doors into the giant, screened room feels like walking onto another continent. You are immediately immersed in a magical, sunny, and extremely colorful world of exotic birds and hundreds of butterflies fluttering about, stopping intermittently to feed on the flowers, hang out on the trees (or museum visitors), or have a feast on the banana and orange slices in the gardens. Knowing basically nothing about butterflies, I could've stayed there for hours learning from the helpful staff or just observing the habits of the different species and soaking in the sun - it's a place where minutes fade into hours, which quickly become afternoons, or entire days. Sadly we only had an hour, but I was able to grab a few pictures as I tip-toed around, scared of stepping on any butterflies that happened to land on the path...

Up close and personal… love the deep pink color of the flower and the butterfly's curly proboscis!

Perhaps one of the most brilliant azure blues I've ever seen.

Flower feast.

Cedar Key Kayaking 

Since this was a weekend for firsts, the day after the Butterfly Garden, we decided to take a trip to Cedar Key to kayak around the islands and spend some time in the refreshing, salty air. As suggested by Danielle, we rented some boats from Kayak Cedar Key, conveniently located right on the beach. We spent 3 hours paddling around, checking out some beaches, and walking on a little trail - Greg wore the GoPro on his head, which was taking a picture every 60 seconds. Here is a mini video of all the photos stitched together… 3 hours of kayaking in 1 minute and 30 seconds:

Pelicans and cormorants galore! These birds took over a huge, dilapidated old pier on one of the islands that used to house a pencil factory. 

After a long paddle, we sat by the beach and had a picnic lunch, watching as the once-choppy ocean became calm and serene (of course after our kayaking trip…).

After lunch, we walked around the little town of Cedar key. There were a lot of beautiful flowers blooming as well as some neat and eclectic artwork, including two mermaids, a tile undersea-themed wall, and a huge fisherman statue catching a fish with massive red lips!

Cave Diving with Bethy and Kris

During the beginning of November, Florida was buzzing with divers from all over the country (and the world), all making their way to the DEMA trade show in Orlando. While I sadly couldn't make it down to the show because of school, friends visiting Ginnie the week after totally made up for it! Bethy and Kris met Greg and I at Ginnie on Monday morning, November 11, and despite the fact that a Monday morning during the offseason would usually be calm and quiet, this day was an exception. It seemed like everyone in town for the show decided to back their cars up to Devil's Eye and Ear and jump in the water - I swear I saw more people hovering around the entrance to the Eye than I saw all morning up until that point. There was a traffic jam when we first dropped down to enter the Eye and when we did finally make it in, it was almost comical. I felt like I was at the space station - but with added flow. The water was emanating from the spring full-force in our faces, so us and about a dozen others were all clinging onto the rocks just inside the cave to let divers exit. At one point, I looked up and there were about 6 divers in all sorts of positions like spiders on the ceiling above me. Others floated below while some hovered at eye level in their astronaut-like attire and bright beams of light, piercing into the dark passageways ahead. 

Greg free dove down around us as we entered the water and swam towards the Eye. He snapped this shot of me holding my deco bottle, ready for a fun dive!

Traffic jam at the Eye! Greg took this photo looking down at Bethy, Kris, and me as we patiently waited to enter the Eye (don't look at the guy entering the cave to the right if you're claustrophobic). Once we got settled in and started our dive, we were pretty much all alone and had a great time being back in the caves :) It was extremely relaxing and such a blast to have fun, chill buddies to share the dive with - wish they were in cave country more often!!

Santa Fe River Cleanup and Swallowtail Farm Festival

The following Saturday (11/16/13), it was time to jump back in the water - but this time, into the river! It was time for the annual Santa Fe River Cleanup organized by Current Problems, starting at Pete and Georgia's house and ending with a cookout and trash compilation at Kim's house. It was another successful year and we were able to remove 1552 lbs of trash from the river (mostly beer cans/bottles along with a few tires… my most interesting finds were some old sunglasses, a deflated tube, and an algae-encrusted sun hat). It was an exhausting but rewarding 2 hour dive, full of not only trash but over a dozen Suwannee Cooters darting about the semi-tannic river. It was an amazing effort by many volunteers who manned the canoe morans, organized people on land, weighed and sorted the trash, cooked a huge lunch, and put the whole event together. See my Facebook album for more photos!

Greg and Debbie roll a big tire towards the trash collection as Tom Morris emerges from the water after a long dive.

On the way back from the cleanup, we stopped by the Swallowtail Farm Festival and enjoyed their beautiful farm, flowers, and music as well as a visit with Kelly and Ian. I was absolutely exhausted by the end of the day but everything was 100% worth it :)