Journal 2 - Six Miles Cypress Slough

     This previous Thursday, I had the pleasure of visiting the Six Miles Cypress Slough in Fort Myers. This was my first time being there and before visiting I thought it would be like the typical natural trails much like at our school. However, it was so much more and quite the beauty to look at. Another misconception I had before entering, was thinking that the actual hike was six mile miles long. However, once I got there our tour guide let us know that its called six mile slough because once travelers reach the slough, they know that they got six miles left to reach the city of Fort Myers.

    We started our journey at the welcome center and headed towards the alligator pond. When we began walking is when I learned what a slough is. A slough is a drainage channel in a wetland. It was filled with cypress trees which are skinny trees that have a wide thick bottom. The bottom is thick because it keeps the tree sturdy against strong winds and any physical force. The water surrounding the trees appears to be brown also like tea. This is because the cypress trees drop cypress needles which are like leaves and give it that color. Once we made it to the alligator pond, there was a quote that our professor had us read and jot down. It read, "We don't inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children" from Chief Seattle. 

    While heading to our next stop there were many other points along the way that struck my attention. One being air plants that live on other plants are trees and prosper when it rains and the water runs down the tree and onto the plant. We also learned about ecotone which is the area in which two ecosystem meet. Our next stop would be wood duck pond which is where we learned about aquaphor and the three different types of ponds. Aquaphor is when water is being pulled out during drying season. There is rain, fire and alligator ponds. For alligator pond, during drying season (winter) alligator build holes that forms an unique ecosystem. There was a another quote that read, "If there is magic on the planet, it is contained in the water" from Loren Eisley. 

    We then went to the otter pond where we saw some turtles and birds. Many of which looked alike. For example, anhingas and cormorants are diving birds that look very much alike. The real many difference between the two if their bill. Anhinga have a pointy bill and the cormorant have a double-crested bill. We can say the same about the great and snowy egrets where they main distinction between them are the color of the beak. 

Walking back I took another picture of a quite that read "Ones happiness depends less on what he knows than on what he feels." Walking back to the main area where we started made me appreciate nature in a different light. It made also think about my ecological footprint and how important it is to be more sustainable because there is nature all around us depending on us to do right.