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Spontaneously Saving A Life

Writer's picture: Becky WagamanBecky Wagaman

This past week has been lovely! We've FINALLY been getting small glimpses here and there of the Florida we know and love.  We've spent the past 2 winters in the Keys, so maybe this is normal weather for this part of the state at this time of the year , but for us, this winter has been abnormally chilly compared to what we're used to!


On Monday at lunch, Dustin met a guy on shore at our mooring field and purchased a foldable bike from Facebook Marketplace. Shortly after picking it up, we left the Jensen Beach Mooring Field and did a quick drive by of Manatee Pocket on our way to anchor at Peck Lake so that we could properly compare the two options for future reference.

Here are our findings: Jensen Beach Mooring Field is right along a wide open stretch of the ICW, so it can get bouncy there due to all of the boat wakes, whereas Manatee Pocket is very well protected. JB has a gated dinghy dock with access codes and an actual bathhouse with private showers. MP has an unsecured dinghy dock and trailer style mobile restrooms (coded). JB offers a laundry room. MP does not have laundry and the closest laundry facility is about a mile away. There doesn't seem to be a large dumpster at either facility, but JB has regularly serviced trash cans throughout the park. JB has a parking lot where guests can park, MP has street parking only and not much of it. Neither location has a deliverable address to receive packages. JB has a Publix and fresh produce farmers market nearby, along with several restaurant options within a walkable distance. MP has several restaurants with waterfront patios and live music. MP is loaded with marinas (gas and diesel), but none seem to offer a pump out (Mariner Cay does, but it's currently out of service). JB has a marina nearby suitable to fill up dinghy or generator gas (small dock). Both mooring fields have a Martin county pump out boat that will come once per week. Both fields are reservation only rather than first come first served. JB has a boat launch nearby as well as a designated dock for patrons only. Both fields have spots to refill water. JB is a little more spaced out whereas MP had pretty tight quarters. JB is next to the causeway, so there is some car noise. MP is near a small airport and there is some noise from the planes flying over. We're told MP is the preferred mooring field to most due to it being more protected, but we decided that we actually prefer JB due to its walkability to town, having laundry on site, having a little more space between neighbors which means we don't blast people while we run our generator each day (we don't have solar yet), and there is a very cute area called Ocean Breeze that we'd like to check out a bit more. It's also only a 10 minute bike ride to the beach! Don't get us wrong, we really like the Manatee Pocket area for a quick stay and even saw 2 manatees while we were there! Very aptly named  Jensen Beach just suits our needs a bit better for a longer stay.


After circling through "the Pocket" as locals call it, we continued on to Peck Lake anchorage, which is near Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge. Some friends of ours had recommended the spot so we decided to check it out. The anchorage was along a narrow section of the ICW and offered great protection, while offering excellent proximity to the ocean on the other side of the mangroves.


The day we arrived was sunny, warm, and gorgeous out, but sadly the weather for the rest of the week was calling for wind and rain. We decided to use a little PTO and leave work a tad bit early that day so that we could go check out the beach for a couple of hours before the sun set.


We took the dinghy to shore and pulled it up on the beach. There was a short tunnel through the mangroves that opened up to a beautiful, expansive, sandy beach along the ocean. This anchorage really offered the best of both worlds!

We enjoyed just walking along the shoreline, collecting shells and soaking in some much awaited vitamin D! It was so nice to finally feel the warmth of the sun on our skin!

Peck Lake anchorage near Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge in Florida! Just a short walk through the mangroves to get to the Atlantic Ocean!

Pretty soon, I saw something out in the ocean near the shore. At first, I thought it was a Bald Eagle because it was a large bird with a dark body and white head. It initially caught my eye because it was behaving kind of erratically! The waves were a decent size that day, and as they crashed onto the shore, this bird did not fly away, but was taken under in the waves and became victim of the rolling current more than once. We realized something was wrong and as it got closer to shore and saw something tangled around its mouth.

We walked out into the water behind it to try and nudge it into moving towards the beach rather than keep going out to sea. At this point, we were worried that it might drown if it kept going back out into the waves, because it seemed too exhausted to fly.


We finally managed to get this bird far enough away from the waves to get a better look. It had a very long, sharp beak and some fishing line or trash of some sort had gotten wrapped around the lower part of its beak, obstructing its mouth. We figured this bird likely hadn't eaten since this happened and had become weak from the entire situation. Dustin took off his shirt and used it to try and protect his hands but also to wrap it around the bird to get it further from the water so that we could try to help it.

A close up of the trash stuck in this poor bird's mouth
A close up of the trash stuck in this poor bird's mouth

Just as we were assessing how best to do this, another man walked by and seemed concerned as well so we enlisted his help. The bird was very nervous and kept squawking and snipping at us so Dustin used his shirt and quickly wrapped it gently around the bird's eyes so that he couldn't see us coming and the other man helped hold him still. I suddenly remembered that I had a pocket knife in my backpack, so I took it out and gave it to the guys to try and cut the line in the bird's mouth. Unfortunately, the knife was too small and dull, but the man helping us had a larger one and they were able to cut the line and free the bird from its entrapment.

Dustin then carried it up onto the dry sand and into the sun so it could dry out and relax. The bird had a look of pure relief and it was heart warming to know that we all were able to give this bird a fighting chance to survive.  

I Googled this bird and we determined that he was likely a Northern Gannet, which is one of the largest sea birds on the east coast!! Neither of us had ever seen this type of bird before. Unfortunately, these birds feed on fish and shrimp, and we were miles away from the boat, so we didn't have anything to offer the bird for food, but instead we prayed over him and asked God to protect him and restore his strength so that he could hunt and get well!! Because of this, I believe he made a full recovery and I definitely think he had a good chance since he did not seem to have any other injuries. I'm so glad that we had decided to leave work early that day because we were able to save a life!


I also ended up with quite a nice shell haul, and it was just an overall very satisfying afternoon!


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