Sebastian Inlet

September 29, 2018









Sebastian Inlet

The second day of our drive back to Key West found my dog Jack and I traversing the East coast of Florida, opting to get off of I-95 and take US 1 and A1A instead to enjoy the beautiful beachside drives and parks along the route. We made a few stops most notably at the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge, Melbourne Beach, and at Sebastian Inlet State Park.





Jack



The Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge stretches across 20.5 miles between Melbourne Beach and Wabasso Beach along Florida's east coast in Brevard and Indian River Counties. The refuge was established in 1991 and was named after the late Dr. Archie Carr, Jr., in honor of his extraordinary contribution to sea turtle conservation. The Refuge is a direct result of Dr. Carr bringing attention to the world's declining turtle populations due to over-exploitation and loss of safe habitat.









The incredibly beautiful stretch of beach was designated to protect habitat for what is the most significant area for loggerhead sea turtle nesting in the world, and the most significant area for green turtle nesting in North America. This represents 20-35% of all loggerhead and green sea turtle nests in the US. It also serves as a minor nesting area for the leatherback sea turtle, which is one of the world's largest and rarest sea turtles. The long stretches of quiet, undisturbed sandy beaches, with little or no artificial light, are essential to the reproductive success and survival of the 15,000 to 30,000 sea turtles nests that can be found there annually.












Just down the beach from the Archie Carr refuge is another of my favorite spots in Florida, the wonderful Sebastian Inlet State Park.  The 755 acre park is located along both sides of Sebastian Inlet where the Indian River Intrercoastal Waterway opens to the Atlantic Ocean. It is at once the preeminent surfing spot in Florida as well as the best fishing that is found along Florida’s East coast. A huge fishing pier juts out in to the Atlantic at the point of the inlet and it is constantly packed with fishermen.











While we were there, we got to watch some guys taking to the waves and surfing and see the many fishermen along the pier catching snook, redfish, bluefish, and Spanish mackerel. We also saw a couple of manatees frolicking in the surf and saw a couple of the large land tortoises that make their home in the park. I kept Jack firmly leashed so not to disturb the tortoises who live in huge burrows that dot the landscape of the parks interior. There were tons of birds around as well, ospreys, seagulls and pelicans as well as many smaller shore birds.








I just love that area of Florida, I spent a summer in the area while I was in High school taking classes at the Florida Institute of Technology and I still have great memories of my time there. The natural areas located in and around Melbourne are some of the most beautiful in the state and the diversity of wildlife is really something special. It is so great that areas like the refuge and state park have been able to protect these places from being developed and managed to maintain small pieces of natural Florida.









From our stops there, back to Key West was a smooth and easy trip with very little traffic and no issues at all in getting back to Key West in time to attend one of the coolest events of the year, the 72 Hour Film Challenge at the Tropic Cinema. The brainchild of my friends Michael Marrero and Juliet Grey, this year marked the fifth installment of the annual event.



Juliet and Mike

It calls for amateur Key West filmmakers to create short films (up to about 10 minutes) in a 72 hour time frame which are then screened at the Tropic. About eighteen entries were featured this year and the screening is a truly fun event. The films ranged from incredible, with about 4 or 5 truly excellent entries to almost unwatchable, but all should been given credit for putting themselves out there.





The good certainly overwhelmed those that were not so great and they all were fun to watch seeing the creative talent of the island and having so many friends involved, either on screen as actors, as directors, filmmakers or producers it was another great evening of entertainment and a great way to be welcomed home after being away.

Film by Mark Hedden for 72 hour film challenge