My wife and I have a pair of stand up paddleboards and decided to go out to Sanibel for an afternoon paddle. We went to Bowman's Beach Recreational area, which has a lagoon between the parking/shower areas and the beach. We have walked over the pedestrian bridge many times to go surfing or swimming in the Gulf. A surfing buddy of mine has even joked that it would be quicker to paddle the lagoon than walk the crossover. There is a kayak and canoe launch on the parking lot side. As we launched, a kayaker was coming out and said he had seen a 3 footer and a 6 or 7 footer. No sweat, I thought, it'll be cool to see a couple gators from afar.
My wife launched before me and paddled up a couple hundred yards. I got in a little later and paddled toward her. Soon, I noticed a silt plume about 10 ft to my right, and something big swam under my board. The plume was being created by something big, moving awfully quickly. I called out to her, thinking the DO NOT FEED THE ALLIGATORS sign might have been ignored. She turned around as soon as I called her name. As she got closer I asked her why she turned around, as I hadn't told her about whatever went under me. She said she ran into a family of gators and that we ought to consider going into the Gulf. I told her she was being tailed by at least 3 gators, about 30 ft behind her! We saw two more gators on the way in.
Beautiful day to be out on the water, though!
My wife launched before me and paddled up a couple hundred yards. I got in a little later and paddled toward her. Soon, I noticed a silt plume about 10 ft to my right, and something big swam under my board. The plume was being created by something big, moving awfully quickly. I called out to her, thinking the DO NOT FEED THE ALLIGATORS sign might have been ignored. She turned around as soon as I called her name. As she got closer I asked her why she turned around, as I hadn't told her about whatever went under me. She said she ran into a family of gators and that we ought to consider going into the Gulf. I told her she was being tailed by at least 3 gators, about 30 ft behind her! We saw two more gators on the way in.
Beautiful day to be out on the water, though!
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