East coast of Florida - how often do you see Dolpins?

[tuffr2]

Were the dolphins playing in the boat wake or just off in the distance?

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[JasonS]

We were sailing North at about 5.5 knots in 3-4foot swells. Bottlenose dolphins came right by the boat, but didn't stay with us today. Some days they'll ride along the wake for a long time.

[Seighlor]

I generally do my own bottom cleaning. Summers, the manatees can be a nuisance, coming alongside and wanting to rub up against me. The first time this happened... years ago, it scared the dickens out of me. Water was too dark to see the big critter. Now, I sometimes use my scrubber to scratch their backs. They love it.

[timbenner]

Originally Posted by David Hughes

No Manatees anywhere near Daytona.....


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Manatees are there, they are just in the river, not the ocean.

[cruisersfarm]

I caught a couple dolphins snacking on the sea lettuce type growth on the bottom of my tender about a week ago in Melbourne FL. I was at anchor.

[sailnow2011]

Dolphins are so frequent they are not really special anymore.

[tuffr2]

Kinda the same for manatee on the west coast of Florida. Especially in January when there are probably several hundred in a realtivly small area.

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[david knowles]

lots of dolphins both inshore and off shore. Have scene manatees close to shore at the beach. Saw eight beach them selves last summer. They took off when the crowd came to see them

[DavidLGCrawford]

We have been seeing many, many dolphins and manatees while onnthe ICW between Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale. You should check out our blog at SailQuest.ca, and click on the article "The oceans are wild". It was our first day "outside" and we saw lots of cool animals.

[tuffr2]

DavidLGCrawford - if not too much trouble could you quickly list the animals/fish/birds that you saw? No need to list seagulls.

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[DavidLGCrawford]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

DavidLGCrawford - if not too much trouble could you quickly list the animals/fish/birds that you saw? No need to list seagulls.

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The Ocean is Wild!

Written by Captain David
Created: 16 March 2016

We did an amazing trip today. We left Boca Raton for Palm Beach via the open ocean, our second time out. We were making such great time that we went right on past Palm Beach and came in at Jupiter Inlet. We then continued along the ICW for another 8 miles and are anchored back in gorgeous Peck Lake.

The ocean trip was amazing, not just for our speed, but for the wildlife we saw. Unfortunately every sighting was so quick that we weren't able to get photos.

Dolphins. Not just swimming or breaching the surface, but jumping clear out of the water.
Flying fish. We saw a few to begin with, and they were being chased by...
Dorado (aka Mahi-Mahi). Man these fish can MOVE! He was chasing some Flying Fish and he was fast and agile.
More Flying Fish. we hit a wave and it erupted with about 40 Flying Fish that flew for over 100 feet before going back into the ocean.
Sea Turtle. While sailing along we saw what looked like a palm leaf floating on the surface ahead of us. As we got within 10 metres we realized it was a Sea Turtle, over a metre in diameter. It swam to the side of us then as it came along side dove down in the clear water.
Flying Sharks. Well, not flying, but jumping! We came across two small sharks (1-1.5 m) that were swimming near the surface that then jumped clear into the air, gave a twist and nosed back into the water. No mistaking them when they are clear of the water, they were sharks!
Manatee. Yes, we've seen them before but this was the largest one yet. In clear water it was right ahead of the boat while Kyle was standing at the bow and we went right over top, giving him a great view.

Today we travelled for 9 & 1/4 hours, over 56 miles. This was by far the longest single day distance.

We are back in the very small, very lovely, Peck Lake. Anchored close to shore this time so we are a few minutes dinghy ride to the beach. This is the place where there is then a trail through the woods to the ocean beach. Where we are anchored we can hear the ocean waves crashing on the beach.

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[tuffr2]

Wow...way cool. I did not even think of flying fish plus a sea turtle!!!

I am now in the mid west and far from the ocean. Next month at this time I will be on the east coast of Florida ready to explore the ICW and Ocean.

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