Spring Facts:
Hrs: All Florida State Parks are open from 8AM to sundown, 365 days a year. Full-facility camping, canoeing, and swimming. There is 7,000 acres of wild scenery of how central Florida looked when the Timucuan Indians lived there. The spring pumps an amazing 42,000,000 gallons per day. The Indian word "Wekiwa" means "spring of water" or "bubbling water." Springs most commonly occur along each side of the Florida central ridge.
The first time we went to Wekiwa Springs (We-ki-va), it was my birthday. We came to try out my new snorkeling kit which I received from my grandparents. I was pretty excited when I got in the water! After a while of snorkeling I decided to go over to the spring head with Joseph, my brother. There we met some people who found fossilized sharks' teeth at the bottom. Believe it or not, there is a fossil "graveyard" for sharks and sting-rays down there.
I went down about ten feet and got a handful of silt at the bottom. I searched through it and found a sting-ray's jawbone, a fossilized Indian bead (Indians were buried with their bracelets and necklaces, which contained beads) and a medium-sized shark tooth. I was pretty proud of my first pile!
That was when we realized that a wild raccoon was rummaging through our beach bag! We got a few pictures before he went back into the forest, the bold little creature!
The second time we went to the spring was with my 7 year-old cousin, Connor. Joe had just turned 10 and our grandparents had given him a green version of the snokeling kit they had given me, and he was eager to try it out. This time I was able to go down to the very bottom of the spring head! At first I couldn't go to the very bottom because my ears were pounding and they couldn't acclimate. So I tried clicking my ears (the same thing that you do when riding on an airplane at high altitude). I heard a high-pitched whine in my ears and immediatelly felt normal.
It was pretty creepy down there with all the reflections underwater. Once, I was returning to the surface with a double-handful of silt to look through, I hit my head, HARD, on an overhanging ledge! Bubbles exploded from my mouth. I was genuinely scared that I was going to black out, for I was seeing little black spots pop around in my vision. But somehow I made it. Mommy made me take a break for 5 minutes, but as soon as the time was up I was right back in there!
2 comments:
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Thanks for your great account of the springs. I hope to take my two sons 10 and 11 there in a week and your description was very helpful. We are home-schooled also and love to go on adventures. It looks like you guys have a great time together!
Thanks again,
Michelle Rothmann
Matthews, NC
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