Anclote Key Gathering 04/28/2007

[Fr. Frank]

The flight restrictions over Anclote Key are a minumum altitude of 2000' MSL (above mean sea level) within 1000' horizontal distance of Anclote Key State park. The park boundary also extends out into Gulf waters 1/4 nautical mile (1500') in all directions. I kept to those distances for 3 reasons: 1, it's the law, and I am a Captain in the Civil Air Patrol. 2, I had requested radar flight following from Tampa Center, and my exact altitude and location was being reported to the tower every 4 seconds through my transponder. And 3, there was a Coast Guard C-130 flying around within 5 miles of the island at an altitude of 300'-500', at times actually passing directly beneath me while I was at 2000'. They seemed to be circling the very same school of fish.

Hey guys, I've seen a lot of schools of fish from the air over the years, but only once have I seen a school of fish larger than this. That was back in the mid 90's off of Palm Beach, when I saw a school of ballyhoo that was 3-5 MILES long, and some half-mile wide. This school off Anclote was undoubtedly numbered in the hundreds of thousands or millions of fish, not just hundreds or thousands or ten-thousands. It was absolutely gorgeous to see.

Time to respool my reels.