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“They’re barracuda”

“Barracudas are corays and shted as well,” Drake tells us

“There aren’t many trees, and I don’t see any birds either,” I mutter aloud

“Bird life isn’t as abundant here as some of the other wetland areas in the country, but the far western side of the lagoon can have a large nuulls, terns, and some herons at times”

“The water is so clear,” I say, amazed

“The water is extremely shallow here, under five feet If you look toward the center of the lagoon, you’ll see a dark spot That is the wreck of a twin engine plane”

After a few minutes, Chase comes up behind me “Do you want to look some more, or are you ready to move on?”

“No, I’m ready”

We drive down the road a bit further and make a left, then wind up on a dirt road Drake stops at a small beach across from Chalk Sound Reminds me of a very small version of Fire island, ater on both sides

“This is Sapodilla Bay It’s a nine-hundred-foot stretch of sheltered beach The water here is very shallow, calm, and clear The sand is a bit more silt-like and finer than many of the other beaches on the island Just up this hill is the Sapodilla Bay Hill Rock Carvings”

We follow Drake up a s all over them “This is so cool,” I whisper

“These rocks represent sentiments left by shipwrecked sailors and travelers as they waited for their ships The inscriptions found here include names, dates, sye of these carvings range from somewhere around the hteen-hundreds There were more, but due to theft and vandalis a preservation project”

“That’s terrible,” I say to Drake “Who would want to ruin history like this?”

“Some tourists don’t know any better”

We take a quick tour of what’s left and make our way back down the hill I look out over the water once again, and murmur, “I wish the water was this blue back hoht behind me