On Thursday, Linda, Tammy and I visited the John N. "Ding" Darling Wildlife Refuge which takes up over half of Sanibel Island.  It is home to a wide variety of native plants and animals.  Born in Norwood, Michigan in 1876, John Norwood Darling, whose nickname "Ding" is short for his last name (Darling) was a political cartoonist who became the president of the  U.S. Biological Survey, now the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Later that day, John, Linda and I took a sunset cruise on Tarpon Bay aboard the Estero Queen, a 36-foot pontoon boat. Once home to a great deal of sport and commercial fishing, the bay is now all protected waters.

A man-made reef created by dredging has become an oyster bar, which is feeding ground to thousands of birds.

Mangrove islands on the oyster bar have become rookeries, safe places for thousands of birds to spend the night safe from predators such as panthers and raccoons.

St. James City, across Tarpon Bay from Sanibel on Pine Island, was once a famous fishing resort.  Wealthy men would come from as far away as New York to fish the bay.

This house was ordered in the 1920's from the Sears, Roebuck catalogue!  It is now home to a (locally) well-known artist.

Captain Sean saw a manatee in the bay, but it ducked back underwater before the rest of us could see.  Manatees are endangered and are frequently injured by boats, however this year their numbers increased slightly for the first time in years.  They are very sensitive to water temperature, and frequently congregate where a nearby hydroelectric plant discharges warm water into the river

More sunset pics!