I believe it may have been a Sheepshead Porgy, which is a loner. I could be completely wrong and it may even be a Cichlid of some sort. Shoals of Tetras and Gambusia holbrooki were my other companions in the canal. Could the lack of fish have something to do with these critters?
[IMG:450:357]http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/5209/iguana2kv6.jpg[/img]
They were everywhere. What was more striking is that they seem to becoming opportunistic feeders, from my observations. If meat is available, they will eat it, including these critters:
[IMG:450:403]http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/5889/brown1za8.jpg[/img]
[IMG:525:357]http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/7238/green1wn3.jpg[/img]
As I made my way to Sanibel Island, I was happy to see there is less construction and more signs for wildlife refuges coming in the near future. Sanibel already has a number of refuges so this is good news. I went to the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge and spent the day. I saw some birds on the threatened list, including many Plovers. A few Manatees were out with their calves. It was fun to watch the vegetation disappear from the surface! I found an estuary packed with juveniles of many species. Netting was not allowed here(fishing is allowed at one small bridge):
[IMG:900:675]http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/5363/estuar1zz5.jpg[/img]
This juvenile gator seemed to have a full stomach. The juvenile fish were swimming all around his head, yet he remaind still:
[IMG:525:313]http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/6682/gator3sx1.jpg[/img]
Local folks were asking me,"Why are you interested in this stuff? It's common." If they only knew!!!!I wished I could have explored more but I ran out of time. Back to reality!
Amanda