One of the things about paddling a boat in the sea is the ability to enjoy all the natural features around.
As I enjoy the serene environment and beautiful water, I also come across lots of wildlife.
I cannot talk about all the sea creatures, but we will talk about the kind of aquatic creatures you will see in the seas of Florida.
Let me begin with the bigger ones and those that are more dangerous.
I will begin with
alligators and crocodiles because they are the aquatic animals Florida
is known for.
You will usually see them on the shores of rivers and lakes, so expect to see them anytime you are in such places.
The species of sharks that
live in Florida
is over 50, but you will never come in contact with any of them unless you go into the deep water.
What Lives in Florida Canals?
Florida has started to record frequent cases of unprovoked shark attacks
, so there is a need for you to have adequate information about your environment.
However, what happens in the canals?
What lives in Florida canals?
Mayan cichlid, Turtles, Oscars, Bluegill, and Redear sunfish are some animals living in
Florida canals
.
In addition,
Florida is also home to about 45 different kinds of snakes
.
What Lives in Florida Canals?
Although snakes are rarely seen in the state, you must know the deadly and non-deadly ones in case you see them anywhere.
Let us look at the deadly ones.
Florida is home to most aquatic creatures in America, lots of them are frogs and toads.
Lizards like wall geckos are very rampant in Florida.
You will always see them around.
Although turtles and tortoises are not rampantly seen like lizards and frogs, paddlers see them more often, especially paddlers without engine boats.
There are four kinds of turtles and 16 kinds of traditional turtles and tortoises in Florida.
Having talked about the aquatic wildlife in Florida coastlines, other wildlife like otters, deer, armadillos, and raccoons can be sighted on the coastlines as well.
By chance, you can see manatees in some places.
The waters of Florida are also home to more than a hundred kinds of fish and insect species you can only find in the state.
Respect the home of any animal you come in contact with, and do not disturb them.
Do canals in Florida have alligators?
Yes.
You will see
alligators in fresh and brackish waters like lakes
, rivers, canals, and golf course ponds in Florida.
Florida has about 6.
7 million acres of water where alligators can live in.
The story of alligators in America was a successful one.
The creature was on the list of endangered species until the late 1980s.
It nearly went out of existence.
It has now so repopulated that there are millions of them all over Florida, and have now become another problem.
Alligators presently comfortably live in swamps and wetlands in the southeastern side of America.
The University of
Florida in Gainesville
uses the reptile as its mascot.
If you go to the
vast Everglades
which are wetlands that run across southern Florida, you will see the real alligators as they are sunbathing on hillocks.
What You Should Know About Florida’s Alligators
The skins of alligators are highly treasured.
These hefty lizards with bulky eyes, noses, and teeth once nearly went out of existence.
Poachers massively killed them, and their habits were daily encroached into by the building of houses and road constructions.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission records say that Florida now has about 1.
3 million alligators.
Most of them can be seen around the canals in Southern Florida.
Many others can be seen in people’s backyards attacking their birds,
dogs
, and other domestic animals.
As they swim in water, they look like a piece of log.
When they chase prey offshore, they will run at a speed of about 11 kilometers per hour.
I can tell you that Alligators look deadly.
Their length can be about four-and-half meters, and some can weigh about 450 kg.
When they catch prey offshore, they will drag it into the water, rolling and twisting it until it draws.
Each year, some people that went switching, dog-walking, or stepped too deep in the water have been attacked by alligators in like manner.
This is why these ugly-looking cold-blooded creatures are the first to be introduced to tourists.
The most dangerous-looking alligators were wrestled with by native Seminole Indians in Florida and hefty young men in
theme parks
like Sunken Gardens in Saint Petersburg.
They lifted the alligators from a tank, and tourists took photographs of them.
Alligators are not very intelligent, their brain size is as small as a big bean, but they are rated as smart when compared to other reptiles.
What creatures live in the canal?
You can only find water beetles and water boatmen in deeper waters of the canal.
Likewise, you will see freshwater mussels and water snails in the mud in canal beds.
Different species of fish love to live in canals and rivers.
Lazy water is the best habitat for Perch.
Do you know that the first caecilian ever to be caught in America was by the Florida Fish and Wildlife biologists at the Tamiami Canal in Miami?
Shrimp eels, and Caecilians, pronounced “Sicilians” are not the same.
Caecilians are aquatic creatures without limbs, that looks like a noodle.
I bet you don’t know that they were older than dinosaurs on earth.
The Rio Cauca caecilian, the species that can only be seen in Colombia and Venezuela was spotted in Miami.
They are known as reclusive creatures.
They are obscure creatures that live a good part of their lives in the ground.
They have a problem with seeing.
Some species are longer than others.
Their length is between some inches and five feet, subject to the specie.
You will see them in southern Mexico, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
The Florida Museum of Natural History scientists said it was not yet the time to predict the local ecosystem effect of Caecilians.
However, not much is known about Caecilians among wild creatures, but they are not harmful and do not look like predators.
Maybe they feed no other smaller animals and are prey to bigger animals.
These creatures may not be native to South Florida.