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Everglades Solo Gone Wrong

No.
Gators are not in that area. it is brackish water.
Gators do not chow on humans of adult size
Why he did not simply hail one of the hundreds of passing motorboats in the area is beyond me. The biggest problem is cut feet from oysters. He was somewhere on the Lopez River which is a couple of hundred feet wide and well traveled. Bigger problem from boat props than gators.
The various accounts of the story make no sense.
He was not in the backcountry north of Cross Bay which can be confusing. He was in the river.
Anyway here is a video of the rescue. I suppose a medical emergency could have been the proximate cause.
https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2020/02/lost-virginia-kayaker-rescued-everglades-national-park
 
Tremendous to see various members of the wildlife, parks and sheriff's office work so well together to safely extract this paddler from harm, a really good outcome and a credit to them all.
It is indeed distressing to see a recreationalist, regardless of their chosen way of getting away from it all, fall victim to sudden changes in circumstance. Let's all hope for a full recovery.
 
Gator attacks are for sure rare, but the idea that they won't attack, kill, dismember and eat human adults is not true. There are lots of adults on the list of fatal attacks in the U.S. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_alligator_attacks_in_the_United_States

If you take a close look attacks were on the small things that humans were towing. Dogs aka gator bites. And others were defensive attacks if indeed that is an attack. You can't corner any wild animal without consequence. Alligators are by nature shy and reclusive and will flee if they can. Even if you hit one paddling it sinks instead of rearing up.
Now in mating season all sense of any thought process in the three olive size brain does go away.

I had a friend last weekend have a myocardial infarction while paddling. Medical mishaps do happen ( but don't know if this was the cause of this accident). Without prompt help the outcome would have been different..

The water is pretty warm but you can become hypothermic in any water if immersed long enough.. I went snorkeling in St Lucia last week for a couple of hours and the water while warm by our standards was getting pretty cold!
 
Yellowcanoe, I saw where there were a couple of attacks where dogs were involved and maybe some were provoked. But others were unprovoked predatory attacks. Incidentally, one of the victims on this list was the adult daughter of someone I know professionally. It was an unprovoked predatory attack while she was swimming.
 
Gators have brains the size of three olives. And when its March and mating season I swear the brain is the last thing on the gator functioning. I had one bluff charge me as I rounded a point. Gators hate surprises. And I surprised it.
Lopez River is one I have traveled some dozen times and there are no gators. Back toward Sunday Bay yep but the river is too saline.

Gators are much like bears. Mostly silent and retreating.
Geez I am going to the desert soon and miss the annual Everglades paddling trip.!
 
If I ever solo again in the glades, I won't take boges. He doesn't play well with reptiles. I was thinking this guy may have had a pup along, contributing to the capsize. I've seen kayakers with small dogs in their cockpits. If anyone gets this guy's story, please post it so we know wat went wrong.
 
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If I ever solo again in the glades, I won't take boges. He doesn't play well with reptiles. I was thinking this guy may have had a pup along, contributing to the capsize. I've seen kayakers with small dogs in their cockpits. If anyone gets this guy's story, please post it so we know wat went wrong.

If he did he broke the rules. Not only does common sense say that dogs do not belong in this environment having a dog along broke the NPS regulations which are quite clear. Common sense says that your dog needs room to run. When your campsite is 12 x 12 and surrounded by water that is really hard.

I have been flipped but not in the Glades. A couple of manatees got poed at me and came up under the canoe..
 
. I went snorkeling in St Lucia last week for a couple of hours and the water while warm by our standards was getting pretty cold!

She's no like me or you, is there anythin she cannae do.

You are so hard core YC.
 
I have been flipped but not in the Glades. A couple of manatees got poed at me and came up under the canoe..

White bottomed hull?

The times I have had manatee get boat frisky have been in white or white-bottomed hulls.

PO’ed or attracted? I wondered if they are thinking “Oh, baby, look at that sexy momma, just floating all come hither on the surface”.

Guy got lucky, whatever the hazards.

EDIT: Got curious

The overall consensus is that manatees have poor sight, tending toward nearsightedness [source: Mote Marine Laboratory].
 
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I have watched manatees in heat and believe me when it is sex time nothing interferes and they are FAST. Not usually when you are watching but they make one heck of a wake. The rest of the time when they lie around they are lying..

Been chatting on FB from a kayaker who had the hapless victim in her camp during her trip. He seemed disorganized and planned to to to Flamingo yet got lost the first day out and slept in the boat tied to a mangrove.. She was in Lopez campsite and when he pulled in at dark he was hypothermic and seemed utterly unprepared. I suspect that the lessons may turn out to be :carry a communication device other than cell phone, have good charts on you , have a radio on you , be dressed for the cold., stay hydrated and fed and always know where you are.
 
Been chatting on FB from a kayaker who had the hapless victim in her camp during her trip. He seemed disorganized and planned to to to Flamingo yet got lost the first day out and slept in the boat tied to a mangrove.. She was in Lopez campsite and when he pulled in at dark he was hypothermic and seemed utterly unprepared. I suspect that the lessons may turn out to be :carry a communication device other than cell phone, have good charts on you , have a radio on you , be dressed for the cold., stay hydrated and fed and always know where you are.

Wow a first hand account, it sounds very plausible. It sounds like he had hyperthermia on day two and survived three more days, the last two in the water. He's lucky to be alive.
 
Wow a first hand account, it sounds very plausible. It sounds like he had hyperthermia on day two and survived three more days, the last two in the water. He's lucky to be alive.

She said she was not in a position to speculate on what happened but that she had been in camp with him at some time before. Only he can tell the real story I suspect. He was in a Mad River Explorer a pretty capable and sleep possible in it craft
 
The person who met him said he was in a Mad River Explorer. I was not there.
As far as Fake News that is an unnecessary comment. Papers usually don't get everything correct.
Can we lock this thread.. It is becoming insane.
 
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