The wildlife of the mangroves, above and below.

The Mangroves is an environment full of life.  At first glance, the trees look spooky and grey, but once you sit in your kayak or stand on your SUP, you will feel the energy of this amazing environment.  Look closely, there are crabs of many different types crawling on all the trees, eating the nutrients released by the mangrove roots.  And soon, a White Face Capuchin will climb down and munch on a crab, eating each leg and then finishing with the crunchy body.  Or a Black Iguana lounging on a red mangrove branch, catching some rays, when all of a sudden he becomes surprised by the talons of a Mangrove Black Hawk and is now the Hawks' dinner.  There are sloths, anteaters, raccoons and monkeys lounging in the trees.  There are Tree Boas and Mexican Parrot Snakes hiding in the bushes.  There are Bare Throated Tiger Herons camouflaged in the roots and little blue herons pecking at the sand bars.  Shore birds run along the beach and Falcons fly to the closest trees.  Pelicans lounge in the river mouth and cormorants dive for fish in the deepest parts of the boca.  But, wait....there's more!  Underneath all of this amazing excitement that you can see above the water, is an entire water world below the water. Most Mangroves of the Pacific are brackish water (murky and not clear), so you can't really see the wonderful life that is living below the trees.  Underwater, oysters and mussels live on the mangrove roots, sting rays, hide in the sand, caiman float in the shadows and fish of all sizes swim through the maze of roots.   A lot of the fish from the ocean raise their young in the roots of the mangroves, taking advance of the protective shadows of the trees and nutrient filled waters.  

Imagine if you had hours and hours to sit in a mangrove estuary and grasp what you can see.  It would be amazing to see what happens all while watching the tide fill up the canals and then slowly empty out.  Anybody want to come and paddle down the mangroves with me?