Florida Ecosystems Class Trip - Day 8, Blue Springs

Day 8 found us waking up in the backyard of my former adviser's graduate student who is now a bear biologist in the Orlando area.  We met up with him shortly the night before, as he was handling the first unprovoked attack by a black bear in the state of Florida.  He graciously let us camp in his backyard.

We birded a bit in the morning, but spent the majority of the afternoon at Blue Springs State Park.  Blue Spring is the largest spring on the St. John's river.  We waded up to the blue hole and I dove down to the entrance and managed to kill my underwater video camera, but not before I got a few pictures.

Jim, Nathan, and Marie underwater at Blue Springs State Park

After Blue Springs, we headed to the Ocala National Forest and set up camp for the night.  We celebrated St. Patty's day with a campground full of fine central Florida rednecks.