Spooky stories: Mystery in South Florida

October 25, 2017 by

floridaHalloween is right around the corner, and the Everglades region has plenty of spooky stories of its own. Here are just a few!

–The Ghost Ship of the Everglades has been haunting Florida’s south coast since the days of pirating marauders — its phantom crew cursed to sail the seas for all eternity, after giving chase to a merchant ship and getting lost in the twisting channels of the Everglades’ swamplands. The story has been told in one form or another for hundreds of years.

–The story of Edgar Watson is a strange one: No one knew where he came from, but he built a cabin in the Everglades over 100 years ago and largely kept to himself, until a fisherman found the gutted body of a woman floating in the Chatham River. Authorities eventually found dozens of human bodies buried on Edgar Watson’s farm, and a former farmhand reported seeing him take lives ritualistically. The property is thought to be haunted to this day.

–It’s not clear what happened to the Calusa, an ancient tribe of Native Americans that resisted incursion by the Spanish and fatally injured explorer Juan Ponce de Leon in 1521. The Calusa practiced human sacrifice and believed their leaders had supernatural powers. The mass remains of their civilization were found hundreds of years later in the form of human skulls. Piles of them!

–Numerous planes have disappeared in the Everglades over the years, never to be seen again. In December 1972, Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 was headed to Miami from New York, but due to an electronic failure and pilot error, it crashed in the Everglades, killing 96 of 163 people onboard. Paranormal events were soon experienced on other Eastern Air Lines planes that used parts cannibalized from the wreckage of Flight 401. The odd occurrences were documented in the 1976 book “The Ghost of Flight 401,” and the airline eventually replaced all of the parts salvaged from the doomed flight.

In May 1996, a fire broke out on ValuJet Flight 592 shortly after takeoff from Miami. The plane plunged into the alligator-infested water and very little of it was ever found; all 105 passengers were killed. Some consider it to be one of the most baffling airplane mysteries in modern aviation history.

No one knows the Everglades like Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours in Everglades City, Florida. To book a tour, visit our website or call 800-368-0065.

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Clouds: A predictor of changing weather

October 18, 2017 by

airboat everglades tourOne of the most overlooked aspects of Mother Nature can be found right overhead. Look, up there in the sky!

Clouds can tell us a lot about the coming weather, and when you’re out in the Everglades, it’s important to know if a storm is on its way. The movement of clouds can tell you the direction that a change in weather is originating from.

Here are a few cloud types to be familiar with.

–Cirrus: High-flying cirrus clouds, usually above 18,000 feet, look like delicate strands or tufts of hair, or a wispy patchwork of cloud fingers. Cirrus clouds hold ice crystals, and they’re often cast by yellow or red hues just before sunrise and just after sunset. They’re often fair weather clouds, but when they thicken, it usually means that a warm front is on its way and precipitation is on its way within a day or so.

–Cirrocumulus: Like cirrus clouds, cirrocumulus clouds are high-flying and hold ice crystals or super-cooled water droplets — but are often wavy or rippled in appearance. They can even look grainy. Cirrocumulus clouds are a predictor of a coming warm front and possible rain within a day or so; in tropical regions, they’re often a sign that a hurricane is coming.

–Altocumulus: These mid-level clouds, between 6,000 to 20,000 feet, have several visual varieties, but those indicating a weather change look like a patch or sheet of irregular clouds (especially if they’re thick or layered). Like cirrus and cirrocumulus, they hold super-cooled water droplets. They may herald that a thunderstorm is approaching quickly; if they’re observed on a humid summer morning, rain should arrive by the afternoon.

–Cumulonimbus: Cumulonimbus clouds, which can appear near ground level and up to 50,000 feet, are classic storm clouds. They’re heavy and dense, and look like a looming mountain or tower. Cumulonimbus clouds can produce hail, lightening, and tornadoes. When you see cumulonimbus clouds, it’s time to take cover!

Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours in Everglades City, Florida, is your source for outdoor exploration in the Everglades. To book a tour, visit our website or call 800-368-0065.

 

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Everglades Plant Spotlight: The Ghost Orchid

October 11, 2017 by

ghost orchidThe Ghost Orchid is one of the Everglades’ most rare and endangered plants.

Known in the scientific world as Dendrophylax lindenii, the Ghost Orchid is prized for its delicate, white flower petals. It gets its name from the nocturnal movement of the flower, which resembles a ghost.

Ghost Orchids enjoy conservation protection in Florida, and it’s illegal to tamper with or collect them. As of December 2016, it was believed that only about 2,000 plants remained in the wild. Poaching, as well as human development, continues to threaten its existence.

The Ghost Orchid can be found locally in Big Cypress National Preserve, along with more than 30 other types of orchids.

Visually, the plant appears as a leafless, tangled mass of green roots hugging the trunk of a host tree. It’s often found in deep swamps of cypress, pond apple, and palm trees, and can be distinguished from other orchid varieties by thin white markings on its root system.

The Ghost Orchid requires very specific environmental conditions to grow: high humidity, mild temperatures, shade, and the presence of mycorrhizal fungi. It can also be found in the Bahamas and Cuba, but thrives under a different set of conditions than those in southern Florida.

The Ghost Orchid’s flower blooms in June and July, and it’s pollinated by the giant sphinx moth, which typically visits more than one plant in its nightly travels. The sphinx moth’s tongue easily reaches the plant’s pollen; other insects have difficulty getting to it.

The popularity of Ghost Orchids grew after Susan Orlean’s 1998 book, “The Orchid Thief,” which was later turned into the 2002 film, “Adaptation.” Researchers at the University of Florida in Gainesville recently developed a way to culture the seeds, grow the plants in greenhouses, and re-introduce them into the wild.

Want to go hunting for Ghost Orchids? Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours in Everglades City, Florida, can show you many of the flora and fauna found in the Everglades. To book a tour, visit our website or call 800-368-0065.

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