SEBASTIAN — The Florida Park Service invited the public to “get back to nature in the New Year” by participating in a First Day Hike at Sebastian Inlet State Park, but those who responded got more from nature than they bargained for in the form of a good soaking from a steady rain.
By 7:30 a.m. on New Year’s Day, a soft but persistent rain turned Indian River County soggy from end to end with heavier rain over the Inlet.
The rapidly incoming tide buffeted any craft attempting to get out to sea while a lone pelican hitched a fast ride toward the lagoon without moving a feather.
A hardy group of fishermen lined the causeway catwalk and stood along the docks. At the T-Dock, those waiting for the park ranger assigned to lead the First Day Hike stood dripping under rain coats and umbrellas.
A few minutes before 8, a park ranger approached, offering a friendly greeting, only his short-sleeved uniform and ball cap protecting him against the rain, to which he seemed oblivious.
Terry O’Toole has been a ranger for 34 years, coming from similar work in the Keys.
“This is the third year we have offered this,” he said, “We like to start off the New Year with a healthy walk. When the weather is nicer, we have a bigger crowd – 20-25 people.”
A fisherman approached, carrying a large, tangled mass of fishing line, a disgusted expression crossing his face as he nodded to O’Toole.
He placed the wet mess into a wide length of PVC pipe, fastened to a pole. The fishing line is sent to a California company to be recycled and, since the program began, enough has been collected to stretch to the moon and back almost twice.
When carelessly discarded, fishing line is a deadly trap for wildlife, causing numerous deaths among the bird and turtle populations.
O’Toole thanked the man and explained that he is part of the park’s “vast volunteer program,” some 200 individuals who do many jobs necessary to accommodate the 750,000 people who visit annually and keep the park open and running smoothly 365 days a year.
“It’s like running a little city,” he said. The volunteers work alongside the 27 or so park staff, doing much of the routine maintenance and helping monitor the animals, assisting with numerous bird rescues and conducting the popular annual “turtle walks.”
Just as the hike began, O’Toole’s cell phone rang.
“Got a call about an injured bird,” he said, walking toward the rock-reinforced shoreline.
A couple stood on the rocks peering down toward the water’s edge, where a gull sat screeching into the rain, one blood-soaked wing hanging limply.
Carefully, O’Toole descended the slippery rocks toward the bird. The ranger gently lifted the little gull and, in both hands, carefully carried it across the rocks, onto the grass toward the ranger’s station, where he placed it in a cage inside the warm building.
He then called an on-duty volunteer, who would take the injured bird to the Florida Wildlife Hospital in Melbourne.
As the hike got under way, O’Toole described the vegetation and the wildlife native to the park, which, since being designated a national park in 1971, has stretched from two miles south of the inlet, across the causeway, and into Brevard County for another mile north.
He pointed out the gumbo limbo tree, also called the Tourist Tree “because it has red, peeling bark.”
He added that the gumbo limbo is a popular tree from which to create carousel horses.
“You can stick a branch in the ground and it’ll grow.” Where it grows, in parts of Africa and Costa Rica, “there are miles of fences held together by wire, or string, made from gumbo limbo.”
O’Toole pointed out the coffee plant, the round-leafed seagrape “you can eat the grape raw or make jelly or jam.”
Crossing A1A to the ocean side, then following a narrow, sandy path across the dunes, O’Toole gestured to the wide field of low grasses that stretched along the dune line.
“We try to keep the natural ecosystem,” he said. “It is habitat for the endangered southeast beach mouse.”
“A mouse? Really?” someone murmured.
“I know,” he said. “People wonder why we care about a mouse. So here is my pitch: Not everybody makes plans for the future. But the beach mouse does. See this little hole?” He nudged the sand with his shoe. “The beach mouse digs a sloping tunnel through the sand, down to his ‘living room.’ Then, he digs a tunnel straight up to the surface and puts a little slug of sand on top. So if his principal predator – a snake – finds the slanted tunnel, the mouse can smell the snake and escape through the straight tunnel, which had been concealed from the snake by the little slug of sand.”
O’Toole smiled in satisfaction, having allowed the hikers to see the dune mouse in an entirely new light.
On the beach, where the white-capped waves pounded the shore and the rain had softened to mist, O’Toole headed north toward the distant inlet jetty.
“Here’s where we do the turtle walks in June and July. We have the loggerheads, the green sea turtles and the leatherbacks. This is the No. 1 loggerhead nesting area in the Western Hemisphere. It’s ideal for them with the narrow beach and the soft sand.
“The seagrasses are federally protected,” O’Toole continued. “The sea oats have a fine, mesh root system which helps protect and stabilize the dunes.”
Other hardy dune plants include the sea purslane, the railroad vine and the red-tipped waxy succulents, which are all well-adapted to dune life. The farther from the shore a plant lives, the larger the leaves, to allow it to take in more water.
O’Toole pointed out the tiny ghost crab holes, and the graceful black skimmer, so named because it skims just above the water as its long, lower jaw drops down to slurp up the baitfish gathering at the surface.
Passing the Fishing Museum and Gift Shop, he said it is run by the nonprofit Friends of the Sebastian Inlet, and open daily, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The museum offers information on the rich fishing history of the Sebastian area and its pioneer families, such as the Semblers and the Dudas.
Other events the Friends offer include the Night Sounds Concert Series, held under the stars at Coconut Point, and accessed through the South Park entrance.
The concerts are free, but park admission will be collected, as usual. The first concert of 2014 is set for Jan. 17 at 7 p.m., and will feature Atlantic Bluegrass.
Attendees are asked to bring their own folding chairs. The Inlet Grill will sell soft drinks, water, snacks, hamburgers and hot dogs.
Night Sounds Concerts are held September through May, on Friday or Saturday evenings nearest the full moon.
From the museum, the tour concluded, back at the T-Dock. The First Day Hike had been a gray, wet and wonderful way to welcome in 2014 – enjoying one of the Treasure Coast’s most beautiful natural treasures.
“The Florida Park Service is proud to host more than 48 events around the state,” including the Sebastian Inlet State Park, said Donald Forgione, the park service director.
