Sun
Navigating by the Stars
Lure of the Moon
Lust for Gold
1492
Christopher Columbus (Italian Sailor) / The Explorers / Neil Armstrong
Queen Isabella (Portuagal)
The World is Flat
Over the Horizon
Gold / Precious Stones / Treasure
Navigation
Wishing Upon a Star
VOYAGER
Carl Sagan / The Dreamers / Jules Verne / Mel Fisher
Nova (PBS)
Contact
Message in a Bottle
The Voyager’s Return
[PLANETARY SLALOM]
Glide Along The Cypress-lined River
Hover over Wachulla
Equator
Topic of Cancer
Atlantic Ocean
Gulfsteam
Beach / Sand
Coral
Marquesa — Jeff Cardenas
“Dry” Tortugas
Florida Straits / Havana, Cuba
Key West
Florida Bay
The Keys — String of Florida Pearls
— LARGO
— ISLAMORADA
— WEST
Stepping Stones to the Moon
HWY 50 — The Road Through Florida Time
Weeki Wachee
VAB (39A) The Last Stone
[PLANETARY SLALOM]
Glide Along The Cypress-lined River
Wakulla Springs
Into the past
river of grass (not a river)
Rivers are listed as they enter the Atlantic from north to south.
Tributaries are listed as they enter their main stem from downstream to upstream.
St. Mary’s River
Amelia River
Bells River
Nassau River
South Amelia River
Thomas Creek
Fort George River
St. Johns River —
— Juniper Springs,
— Salt Springs,
— Silver Glen Springs,
— Alexander Springs,
— Blue Spring,
— Beecher Spring
The St. Johns River (Spanish: Río de San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At 310 miles (500 km) long, it winds through or borders twelve counties, three of which are the state’s largest. The drop in elevation from headwaters to mouth is less than 30 feet (9 m); like most Florida waterways, the St. Johns has a very low flow rate 0.3 mph (0.13 m/s) and is often described as “lazy”.[2] It is notable among some that the river’s course flows north, a relatively rare characteristic.[3] Numerous lakes are formed by the river or flow into it, but as a river its widest point is nearly 3 miles (5 km) across. The narrowest point is in the headwaters, an unnavigable marsh in Indian River County. The St. Johns drainage basin of 8,840 square miles (22,900 km2) includes some of Florida’s major wetlands.[4][5] It is separated into three major basins and two associated watersheds for Lake George and the Ocklawaha River, all managed by the St. Johns River Water Management District.
A variety of people have lived on or near the St. Johns, including Paleo-indians, Archaic people, Timucua, Mocama, French and Spanish settlers, Seminoles, slaves and freemen, Florida crackers, land developers, tourists and retirees. It has been the subject of William Bartram’s journals, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’ books, and Harriet Beecher Stowe’s letters home. Although Florida was the location of the first permanent European colony in what would become the United States, it was the last U.S. territory on the east coast to be developed; it remained an undeveloped frontier into the 20th century. When attention was turned to the state, however, much of the land was rapidly overdeveloped in a national zeal for progress. The St. Johns, like many Florida rivers, was altered to make way for agricultural and residential centers. It suffered severe pollution and human interference that has diminished the natural order of life in and around the river. In all, 3.5 million people live within the various watersheds that feed into the St. Johns River.[6] The St. Johns, named one of 14 American Heritage Rivers in 1998, was number 6 on a list of America’s Ten Most Endangered Rivers in 2008.[7] Restoration efforts are under way for the basins around the St. Johns as Florida continues to deal with population increases in the river’s vicinity.
Pablo Creek
Sisters Creek
Broward River
Trout River
Ribault River
Little Trout River
Arlington River
Pottsburg Creek
Ortega River
Cedar River
Doctors Lake
Julington Creek
Black Creek
Rice Creek
Dunns Creek
Ocklawaha River
The Ocklawaha River flows north and joins the St. Johns as the largest tributary, and one of significant historical importance. The Ocklawaha (also printed as Oklawaha) drainage basin expands through Orange, Lake, Marion, and Alachua Counties, comprising a total of 2,769 square miles (7,170 km2). Ocala, Gainesville, and the northern suburbs of the Orlando metropolitan area are included in this basin. There are two headwaters for the Ocklawaha: a chain of lakes, the largest of which is Lake Apopka in Lake County, and the Green Swamp near Haines City in Polk County, drained by the Palatlakaha River. The Silver River, fed by one of Florida’s most productive springs expelling 54,000,000 US gallons (200,000,000 L) daily, is located about midway along the 96-mile (154 km) Ocklawaha.[45]
Confederate Captain John William Pearson named his milita after the Ocklawaha River called the Ocklawaha Rangers in the American Civil War.[46] Prior to the civil war, Pearson ran a successful health resort in Orange Springs. After the civil war Pearson’s Orange Springs resort declined in popularity due to the increasing attention to nearby Silver Springs—the source of the Silver River—at the turn of the 20th century, popularizing the Ocklawaha. Georgia-born poet Sidney Lanier called it “the sweetest waterlane in the world” in a travel guide he published in 1876.[47][48] The river gave Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings access to the St. Johns from her homestead at Orange Lake. The region served as a major fishing attraction until a decline in water quality occurred in the 1940s,[49] and since then further degradation of the river and its sources have occurred. In particular, Lake Apopka earned the designation of Florida’s most polluted lake following a chemical spill in 1980 that dumped DDE in it.[50] It has experienced chronic algal blooms caused by citrus farm fertilizer and wastewater runoff from nearby farms.[51]
The proliferation of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus), and bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) in central Florida is a major attraction for fishermen from all over the country. The St. Johns is home to 183 species of fish, 55 of which appear in the main stem of the river. One, the southern tessellated darter (Etheostoma olmstedi) is found only in the Ocklawaha.[52] Some are marine species that either migrate upriver to spawn or have found spring-fed habitats that are high in salinity, such as a colony of Atlantic stingrays (Dasyatis sabina) that live in Lake Washington in the upper basin. Ocean worms, snails, and white-fingered mud crabs (Rhithropanopeus harrisii) have also been found far upriver where tidal influences are rare.[53] In contrast, American eels (Anguilla rostrata) live in the St. Johns and Ocklawaha and spawn in the Sargasso Sea in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. After a year living in the ocean, many of them find their way back to the St. Johns to live, then, prompted by the phases of the moon, make the return journey to spawn and die.[54]
Orange Creek
Orange Lake
River Styx
Cross Creek
Silver River
Haines Creek
Lake Eustis
Dead River
Lake Harris
Palatlakaha River
Salt Springs River
Alexander Springs Creek
Hontoon Dead River
Wekiva River – Wekiwa Springs
Blackwater Creek
Little Wekiva River
Lake Jesup
Econlockhatchee River
Little Econlockhatchee River
Matanzas River
Tolomato River
San Sebastian River
Halifax River
Spruce Creek
Tomoka River
Indian River North
Indian River
Banana River
Eau Gallie River
Elbow Creek
Crane Creek
Turkey Creek
Saint Sebastian River
St. Lucie River
Loxahatchee River
Hillsboro River
Stranahan River
New River (Broward County)
Middle River
Oleta River
Little River
Miami River
