Expect the Unexpected – The Gulf Specimen Aquarium and Alligator Point - Panacea, Florida [April 11, 2023]

 We were driving down Route 98 toward Alligator Point to look for shells on the beach when we saw a sign directing us to turn left to the Gulf Specimens Aquarium.  So we did.  The Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory has been around for about 50 years.  According to Wikipedia, it got its start providing specimens of Gulf sealife to labs and other research facilities.  They also had a conservation and education focus and opened the Aquarium about 30 years ago.  They were the third turtle rescue organization in Florida and continue that work today as one of 23 state permitted captive turtle facilities.

 

Hermit crab in the touch tank

The Aquarium has open tanks that you look down into.  Some of the tanks are touch tanks, so you can pick up and look at various shells, hermit crabs, fiddler crabs, and horseshoe crabs.  These tanks are helpfully marked with green signs.  The sharks, rays, sea horses and other fragile or dangerous animals are marked with red signs – do not touch.  Signs attached to the edges of the tanks tell you about some of the animals living inside the tank.  Large colorful information signs decorate the walls.

 

A "walking" Batfish

We learned about the Batfish, that will “walk” along the bottom of the ocean using its fins.  When a predator comes near, it flattens itself into the sand.  This creature was a new one for us. 80 Kindergarteners and 20 parent chaperones were visiting the aquarium while we were there.  In fact, 12,000 school children visit a year.  It is a great opportunity for them to see the sea animals up close.

The calico crab is sometimes called a box crab because it looks like a box when it folds its legs and claws

 

The tanks use sea water pumped in from the nearby bay.  Some of the tanks are inside buildings and some of them outside under roofing.  The facility is a bit run down, showing its age in the challenging Florida climate with storms, heat and humidity.  In some cases the signage is really great, and in other places only a few of the many animals in the tank are described.  Some of the tanks for the larger animals seemed too small for the animals living in them.

 

Alligator Point Beach

After visiting the aquarium, we continued on to Alligator Point.  We had been told that we would find great shells there.  Alligator Point is a very long, thin, hook-shaped peninsula with houses facing the Gulf and houses facing Alligator Harbor on either side of a central road.  In one case, the Point is wide enough to have more central roads, which is a good thing, because the main road was washed out by a storm.  There is a lengthy, narrow section where there are houses on the Gulf side of the road and their corresponding docks on the Alligator Harbor side of the road.  The road to the end of the point is blocked off.  There are a few public beach access points and parking spots along the way.

 

Walk from the parking area to the beach

We sat in the sugar white sand and ate yet another delicious picnic lunch.  Indeed, there were lots of beautiful shells along the beach to admire and collect.

Lotsa shells