Just 10 minutes south of The Famous Sponge Docks and Restaurants of Tarpon Springs, Sutherland Bayou is a beautiful protected shallow cove of Mangrove and Oyster Islands in Palm Harbor.
We’ll start paddling into shallow waters filled with sea-life and sea-birds in a majestic sanctuary cove. Sutherland Bayou is a small nature preserve which has a variety of fish and bird species. Depending on the tide, you may see the predatory fish species such as Redfish and Snook. Small Houndfish are prevalent, and you’ll see them swimming along your kayak sometimes using your kayak lights to hunt minnows. We’ll look for blue and stone crabs along the way and sometimes see conch shells or Hermit Crabs as well. Stingrays are sometimes seen buried in the sand and scatter as we paddle by them. Mullet, which are a vegetarian fish that jump out of the water on occasion run in large schools along the flats and you’ll often see them scattering as we paddle through the Bayou.
We’ll paddle around Mangrove Islands and beautiful Oyster Shoals as we make our way to our fish feeding grounds! In some areas you’ll see Herons and Egrets wading in the shallow waters hunting for minnows and we’ll sometimes see Pelicans resting in the Mangrove trees. After feeding fish which is fun for everyone, we’ll paddle back to our launch site to end a magical night on the water.
