By Capt. Chris Thalmann Contributing Writer
Hello and Happy March everyone! I’m new to writing for Coastal Angler and hope you’ll find this column to be an interesting look at what’s happening here in The Palm Beaches and South Florida on the ecotourism side of things.
Eco-tourism is one of those subjects that’s loaded with different meanings for different people. Some love what ecotourism represents because it offers the chance for people to make a living by sharing with others how much nature means to them. Others really dislike what it represents because of the very real chance that ecotourism may end up destroying the same nature that people cherish and want to experience.
As a result, a cottage industry of consultants and experts has developed in the last 30 years or so to help keep otherwise well-meaning people (both tourism operators and the tourists themselves) from gumming up nature’s work.
There are now loads of ecotourism societies, groups and associations you can join, conferences and meetings to attend, guides and best practice checklists to adhere to, actions to take and avoid, classes and certifications to pass – the list goes on and on.
At the center of all this joining and attending, checklists and certificates are actual places where people go to experience the beauty of nature outdoors. Rugged places. Rural places. Places with scenery that can take your breath away. Places with unique geography, animal life, vegetation and culture. Places with incredible biodiversity and places with almost none. Urban and suburban places. Wealthy places. Poor places. Places nearly next-door and places you may never even have heard of.
Living in South Florida checks a lot of those boxes. We’re lucky enough to enjoy year-round outdoor fun without having to winterize our equipment, our homes or ourselves. And by the look of our roads, restaurants, grocery stores and waterways this time of year, it seems like a few other people have figured that out too!
Yet in the crowded chaos of tourist season it’s still easy to experience nature locally. My wife and I ran some corporate sightseeing charters in Miami in early February. Even with all the extra traffic on the water from Super Bowl week events and setup for the Miami Boat Show, we still managed to spot a pod of bottlenose dolphins chasing fish and playing in downtown Miami, just a couple hundred yards from Bayfront Park.
Were we surprised to see dolphins there on that Saturday afternoon? You bet – traffic on the water was absolute chaos! Did the dolphins know we were there and watching them? I really don’t know.
But we knew they were there. And by taking a few extra minutes to let them come to us instead of just blasting right past, our guests were able to see and learn a little about wild dolphins right up close – and in downtown Miami – not too bad a day!
Until next time…get outdoors and enjoy!
Captain Chris Thalmann
Owner/Aqua Adventure Tours, Inc. •aquaadventuretours.com