07/02/2013 - Mobile River Loop

Launch: Shirley's (US Hwy 90 Causeway across from Battleship USS Alabama).

Launch Cost: Free.

Destination: Mobile River Loop.

Distance: 21 miles. Included a quick trip into Three Mile Creek.

Paddle time: 6-1/2 hours

Weather: Temp from 72 to 90 degrees, Light winds from the north in the morning and from the south in the afternoon. Sunny. River current minimal in Mobile River but by afternoon there was about a 1.5 mph current in the Tensaw River by the Battleship. Water temperature was about 85 degrees.

A flock of White Ibis headed up into the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta just after launch.

A beautiful sunrise over Spanish River.

The bugs were very dense this morning as piles of them accumulated on the water.

Brushing up against shoreline vegetation would send a swarm of mosquito sized bugs flying.

Yellow Crowned Night Heron.

There was a yellow like pollen on the shoreline of Mobile River.

A closer view of the pollen like substance.

On top of just about every shoreline reed plant was a dragonfly all facing in the same direction.

03/27/2012 - Lower Delta

Tired of padding around in Mobile's waterways, I went elsewhere today and paddled for miles without ever seeing a single piece of litter. When there is no trash, the camera gets to focus on other things seen during the kayaking trip. All the posts in this blog could be trash free if only Mobile's urban waterways and nearby shorelines were kept clean.

Header Image is a merge of several photos showing more Blue Flag.

Sunrise going under the Interstate at Tensaw River.

Welcome aboard on the SS Samual Jonesy. This eco tourism boat does not have the funds to operate anymore. Won't you please raise taxes so SS Samual Jonsey can pay his crew?

Coot having breakfast on SAV (Submerged Aquatic Vegetation).

The further away from Mobile I paddled, the more beautiful the waterways were. Boaters take great pride in keeping the Mobile-Tensaw Delta free of litter and they deserve a pat on the back.

A couple of Osprey Eagles.

 Not sure what kind of birdie this is - maybe a Hawk or Kestrel. One foot was hidden.

It is a good time to see alligators out working on their sun tan.

You can clearly see the alligator's ear in this photo - it is the slit to the left of the eye angling down toward the water.

Insects were out enjoying a beautiful spring day while hooking up with mates.

Butterflies were frequently landing on the plentiful Iris flowers.

Teal ducks playing follow the leader.

Blue iris flowers were dominating the natural landscapes.

Nature's botanical garden is best viewed from a Kayak!

Nature's botanical garden.

We live in a society where pizza gets to your house before the police. That is just wrong.
Littering is Wrong Too!

09/27/2011 - Mobile River

Launch: Shirley's (US Hwy 90 across from battleship USS Alabama)
Launch Cost: Free
Destination: Mobile River to look see the latest status of the Oil Spill cleanup activities.
Distance: 18 miles (round trip)
Paddle time: 5-1/2 hours
Weather: Temp from 77 to 84 degrees, Winds 0-15 mph from the north. Mostly sunny. Rising tide. Current in Mobile River 1-2 mph. Water temperature about 78 degrees.

Header Image - a heron is already fishing at dawn's first light.

Launching about an hour before sunrise to avoid the afternoon heat.

Watching the sunrise across Delvan Bay.

The kayak would glide up on fish and they would startle me by abruptly bolting out of the way.

Still in Spanish River, a fish jumps out of the water as I'm about to pick up an abandoned fishing bobber. The Pontoon Saloon can be seen in the background.

Herons facing off along the shoreline.

A great blue heron awkwardly flies over the water while croaking loudly like a bullfrog with throat cancer.

The forecast called for winds from the southwest. About the time I went under the Cochrane Bridge, a wave of clouds approached and the winds picked up from the Northwest to about 15 mph. It provided a nice tailwind but left the waters choppy. Had to put on a sprayskirt. Current was also running about 1.5-2 mph in Mobile River, well above the forecast.

One of those sandpiper like dowidget sand munching birds.

The cruise ship Norwegian Spirit, out of the Port of New Orleans, carries over 2000 passengers, was getting some work done here in Mobile. Could this be our new cruise ship?

Rear view of the Navy's first Joint High-Speed Vessel (JHSV) christened on Sep 17, 2011 at Austal. The JHSV Spearhead is designed for rapid transport of troops and military equipment. The 338-foot-long aluminum catamaran is fast. I could have paddled under the vessel but I didn't want to go to jail.

A blue-eyed white ibis on the left and a believe this is a juvenile little blue heron on the right.

A juvenile white ibis.

I went down Mobile River to see the status of the Oil Cleanup at Gulf Coast Asphalt. No cleanup activity could be seen and the strong winds out of the northwest made it difficult to take photos near the spill area. No change on the oil caked shorelines - guess they are going to let nature degrade the oiled shoreline. The good news is no petroleum sheens were seen along the east side of the river like I saw last visit. However, at the entrance to Chickasaw Creek (well north of the oil spill), there was some sort of chemical/petroleum sheen on the water. I'm assuming it came from the greased up swing bridge. Unable to trace the source.

On the other end of Mobile River near the entrance to Mobile Bay, another petroleum sheen was seen. There were about a half dozen people working on nearby machinery that overhangs the water at the state dock facility. Unable to trace the source. I'm assuming it came from the machinery. There wasn't enough quantity of spill to justify a call to the National Response Center (NRC). I hope seeing oil in Mobile River doesn't become a regular thing like it is for me in Bayou La Batre.

09/15/2011 - Mobile River Oil Spill Containment Failure

Launch: Shirley's (US Hwy 90 across from battleship USS Alabama)
Launch Cost: Free
Destination: Mobile River to look for birds or wildlife that may have been affected by the recent Oil Spill. Mobile River is back open to the public.
Distance: 12.5 miles (round trip)
Paddle time: 4-1/2 hours
Weather: Temp about 80 degrees, Winds 0-10 mph out of the west. Mostly sunny. Low tide. Current 0-1 mph. It was a beautiful day out!

Note: It looks like Blogger has implemented a new method for viewing larger images.

Header Image of an alligator seen this morning.

I'm posting a lot of photos today because it was an interesting paddle. Sunrise near the Tensaw River.

Birds and people have something in common - one bird works to get the food and the other birds try to steal it.

Young heron having breakfast.

Adult heron having breakfast.

Soon as I rounded Choctaw Pass small sheens of petroleum became visible in Mobile River and this is over 3 miles from the source. Oil was flowing freely down here two weeks ago just like it is today.

Just south of Austal shipyard, an oil boom, coated with oil sat floating in the water while sheens of petroleum emanating from the boom floated freely down stream.

The black on the rocks is a layer of crude.

Here the petroleum band was narrow. See the crab in this photo? I believe these crabs are normally black and this one showed no sign of distress.

Grass coated with crude.

This is the ditch where all the oil came from at Gulf Coast Asphalt. Crews with pressure hoses were spraying the crude covered rocks on the shoreline.

The problem with this oil cleanup operation is there was a gap between the oil boom and the barge (by the big tire), so crude that the crew was freeing up from the spraying, was floating through the gap and down the river.

I don't understand why there wasn't absorbent boom set out in several locations down stream of the oil spill site. Talk about negligent or stupid... Whoever is overseeing the cleanup of the hazardous material needs to be fired! So, I complained to several agencies about the continued release of hazardous materials into Mobile River and Mobile Bay.

A steam of heavier crude floats down Mobile River next to this barge.

I'm really saddened to be kayaking down my favorite river through crude oil.

The shoreline didn't look right but there was no sign of oil on any of the birds that I saw and no oil was on the fingers that I dipped into the sand.

Saw a wild pig today. Looks like someone missed what they were aiming at.

Construction is moving along on the Maritime Museum that has been renamed to "GulfQuest." GulfQuest is scheduled to open in 2012.

The Carnival cruise ships will stop running next month because it is too expensive for them to operate out of Mobile. I'll miss seeing scenes like this.

As I was headed back to the launch, the sentry guard for the Battleship was on duty.

Back near the launch, I shook my head in disgust watching the billboard sign people toss strap down bands into the water. I seriously doubt they'll be going into the water to retrieve those items. The arrow points to the worker and the circle goes around a piece strapping or bungee cord that he just threw which ended up in the water like half a dozen other items he threw down.

I always clean the scum off the kayak with nothing but a wet rag before taking it out of the water. Today the scum would not come off because it was crude oil clinging to the hull of the kayak. Had to use a cleaner back at home to remove it.