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More than Fishing in the Indian River Lagoon
by: Jerry Fox

Between the Mosquito Lagoon at Edgewater, Florida and the City of Titusville, Florida lies the Indian River Lagoon. Like the Mosquito Lagoon, it is renowned for its flats fishing in the extensive shallow water, and also for something else. When you go fishing in the Indian River Lagoon, you need to stay alert at what else is around you. For the bottle nose dolphin and the Florida Manatee both hang out there. The Manatees can usually be found near the bridge over Haulover Canal on Florida State Road 3, rather than widely throughout the lagoon - but it's worth heading your boat that way just to have a look at the very large but gentle creatures.

The dolphins, on the other hand, like to swim and play - often in groups - and all over the Lagoon. The bottlenose dolphin is one of the wider known small whales because of its tendency to inhabit coastalwaters.It is also the dolphin you see at places like Sea World.

The large size bottlenose dolphin, ofen reaching 3 meters or more, is usually found out to sea. The small bottlenose is the one often seen in the Lagoon. They live on the average about 25 years, reaching maturity around five or six years old.

By some estimates, the population of bottlenose dolphins in the Indian River Lagoon goes as high as 800 in the summer, with about half as many in the fall.

So while you might be fishing the Lagoon for Redfish or Sea Trout, the two most popular catches, you can also have a free dolphin show if you just keep your eyes peeled. If you are having a slow day catching, you can still motor over to Haulover Canal to see the Manatees, and have a great time just enjoying the beauty of the Lagoon, and the dolphin show.

To learn more about fishing the Indian River Lagoon, go to abouttitusville.com/outdoors/fishing/IRL1.html

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