Exploring LagoonFest in West Palm Beach

The first ever LagoonFest was a smashing success at the West Palm Beach waterfront Saturday. Various vendors showcased the restoration work more than two decades in the making and costing more than $76 million for this large estuary, often mistakenly called the Intracoastal Waterway.

The estuary is known officially as the Lake Worth Lagoon, which is about 20 miles long and up to a half-mile wide. I know this because I used to supervise the environmental reporter at The Palm Beach Post. And he taught me about all things eco-related.

I was ready to explore the vendor area and take a water taxi to the South Cove Natural Area. I didn't, though, expect to see a pig in my walk through the exhibit area:

Man squats down to pet pig brought by a woman and he asks
the question I was thinking: "Why a pig?"

Exploring Snook Islands in Lake Worth

Little blue heron with fresh catch atop limestone boulders

Friday morning, before I went to the local grocery store, I took a detour to the other side of Lake Worth and stopped to explore the Snook Islands Natural Area.

The islands are man-made, created to help clean the Lake Worth Lagoon and provide a fish habitat. I read about the $18 million project that involved 28,000 tons of limestone boulders installed to stabilize the 11 acres of mangroves planted and the 1.2 million cubic yards of sand that filled the deep trench along the city's golf course.

But I wanted to see what the area looked like for myself. I longed to walk on the relatively new boardwalk to the gazebo and satisfy my curiosity about the type of wading birds attracted to the area. I once was an avid nature photographer back in the days when cameras still used film.