Stump Pass Beach - Englewood - 1-3-2018
September 30, 2019
By: Andy Firk

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January 3, 2018 - STUMP PASS BEACHCOMBING - ENGLEWOOD, FL: I set out early this blustery, drizzly morning to head for the ocean. It's a 45-minute drive from my homestead, Bamboo Grove in Arcadia, to Stump Pass Beach in Englewood, a beautiful, wild park that Timothy Lane reminded me of a few years back. I have been visiting it regularly ever since. My goal was to find and photograph some seaweeds that may have washed up on shore during this heavy wind event for my book on Florida's coastal wild edible plants. There has been some red tide in the area this past week, from Sarasota south to Lee county, so consuming them in a no-no this week. I met up with a fiesty, strong 90-year old woman named Gloria, who became my enthusiastic seaweed-hunting buddy. The shelling was very good, and I found a lovely fossilzed tortoise shell fragment, a flourescent orange finger sponge, many blue iridescent pen shell fragments, nice assorted shells, and some pretty SEA GRAPES. Not the well known Sea Grape fruits that appear on native trees, but rather, some Caulerpa species of edible seaweed. This "edible" seaweed comes with cautions, so do your research. eattheweeds (dot) com has a good article detailing Caulerpa. This is what "SEAWEED SEAGRAPES" look like. See you on the beach sukkas! 
PHOTO: Not mine.