Lover's Key

I really enjoyed being at Lovers Key. I love the beach and being outdoors with the warmth of the sun shining down on me. There is nothing better to me than the feel of sand between your toes and the sound of the waves crashing up on the shore and seagulls yelping as they fly by. The best is when the heat of the sun becomes too much and you jump into the water and feel the cooling of the chilly water. I feel like I should just live on the beach or at least within walking distance of it.

It was very windy which made the sand very even but at the same time gave off a wavy look. It was very soft on top but very hard and wet underneath from the rain. Well when I went there it was around noon so it was not high tide yet, but when you finally reached the sand you were on it for maybe another eight steps and there was the water. There was almost a ledge that you had to step down from that went from the main land to the sand and then the ocean. It was the high tide at night that produced this “ledge if you will.

Now this “ledge” proposed a small obstacle for the turtles that live in the water and lay their eggs on shore. They lay their eggs at night when high tide comes so they have to get rather far on shore to lay their eggs. These turtles have to get past the ledge and lay their eggs just so they will not get washed up by the tide. But once these eggs hatch the babies now have to get over the ledge and they are much smaller than the ones that put them so high on shore. Now as difficult a process this is for the turtles it is very beneficial to the Whiter Tern. The White Tern is one of many species of birds that live at Lovers Key, and they use this dividing ledge and lay their eggs also at the top of the ledge to keep them from predators. Lovers Key sets a parameter around where the birds lay their eggs so people do not disturb them, but the White Tern do a great job of that themselves. These birds are very territorial and several nearly stuck me with a fly by while I was walking the beach.

There were several birds that I both saw and did not see, but they are still well known to be seen at Lovers Key. The ones I was able to see were White Tern, Great Egret, and the White Ibis. The ones I did not see but saw documentation on were the Brown Pelican and Green Heron. Some non-woody plants I saw were the Coastal Sandspur (which I was lucky enough to step on), Railroad Vine, Sea Purslane, Sea Oxeye, and Beach Panic Grass. Trees that inhabit Lovers key are Coconut Palms, Red Mangroves, Mangroves, Dumbo Limbo, and a Jamaica Dogwood.

A unique characteristic of this environment was that it once was only accessible by boat and it was visited by lovers which went to be alone on this remote beach. It then became available to all when boardwalks were put for other to travel on. Another interesting fact is that from May until October the beach has Sting Rays that roam the bottom of the ocean floor, so they warn people to shuffle their feet when waling in the water. Also there are no homes on Lovers Key because it is a protected State Park.

The reason it is protected is because of the fact that it is a State Park. In the 1960s and 1970s the four barrier islands were slated for development. Preparations for development damaged the islands. Mangrove swamps were altered to uplands by dredging a canal through Black Island. In 1983, the state acquired the islands and in 1996, merged with adjacent Carl E. Johnson County Park to become Lovers Key Carl E. Johnson State Park.