Here is just one of many alligators we saw up close while we were in Florida. I was surprised because I felt a lot more comfortable around them than I thought I would. I found these wild alligators quite beautiful. We learned that alligators are smaller and less aggressive than crocodiles and that they have very small brains.
Great White Egret:
This guy chose me to kiss this big slimy toad! What the?!
This is an Anhinga. They are smooth, sleek swimmers. We saw one spear a fish on the end of its beak. They have to spend time drying out their wings before they can fly again. We saw many of them resting with their wings spread out like this:
Look at the alligators in the background. The sign has blocked them, but there were four in a row next to the one in the picture.
Female Anhinga feeding her chicks! This was one of my favorite things.
See these baby alligators? Their mom was resting on the other side of the bank. One baby alligator we saw was nicknamed "godzilla."
This is a Key Deer! We really lucked out because this species is nearly extinct. They are just a bit bigger than a small dog.
We saw this iguana swimming in the ocean!
This house, in Key West, was used by President Truman as a vacation home, though I'm sure he still did plenty of work here! This house is still protected by secret service agents. Do you know any facts about President Truman?
Golden orb weaver spider:
The southernmost tip of the continental United States, located on Key West, Florida:
This alligator was sunning itself right next to the sidewalk!
Very close to this spot we thought we saw a shark fin circling the water. It ended up being a spotted eagle ray. It was curious about the iguana that was swimming close to shore.
Bahia Honda State Park:
These dolphins were trying to talk to us! (they especially loved my kids) They would lay sideways in the water so their eyes were looking directly at us and they would respond to us with squeaks and clicks.
This is called Seven Mile Bridge and it connects some of the islands or "keys."
We saw lots of pelicans like this one.
This is at the Dolphin Research Center on Marathon Key. Here scientists observe dolphins.
We saw this iguana swimming with the dolphins! The trainers said iguanas are not native to (meaning they didn't start out here) Florida but they were introduced by a person and their population has grown.
A yellow bellied slider turtle in the Everglades.
We just missed the manatee. Manatees are called sea cows because they are large and slow and feed off plants on the bottom of the ocean.
The Florida Keys are a chain of islands off the south coast of Florida.
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