The current climate cycle (regardless of cause) has exposed a canoe,
an old steamship, a dredging barge, etc down in Florida. As lakes
recede in areas where droughts become frequent and extensive,
archeologists will have a lot of opportunities to sift through past
technologies and evidence of pre-Euro civilizations.

*************************

Drought reveals human bones, other finds at Lake Okeechobee's bottom
By MATT SEDENSKY
AP
MIAMI (AP) - A Florida drought that has exposed parts of Lake
Okeechobee 's bottom also has been a boon to archaeologists , exposing
human remains, boats and other finds that could date back hundreds of
years.

Thousands of pieces of pottery, five boats and scores of human bone
fragments have been discovered as the lake - the second-largest
freshwater one in the continental United States, behind Lake Michigan
- reached a historically low level. It is the first time in years some
areas have been exposed, prompting archaeologists to scour the
lakebed.

"Right now, it's just a rush to identify things before they go back
under water," said Chris Davenport, the archaeologist for Palm Beach
County.

The state has alerted the Seminole and Miccosukee tribes of the bones,
but no decision has been made on their fate. No studies have been done
on the human remains, but State Archaeologist Ryan Wheeler said they
likely were 500 to 1,000 years old, possibly older.

Davenport said an examination of the style of pottery found in the
lakebed might tell more about the tribes who lived in the area than
the bones themselves because the human remains are so fragmented.

The boats include a steam-powered dredge believed to have been used to
dig a canal, a steam ship whose remains are scattered across a mile
and a half, a wooden motorized canoe, an early 1900s catfishing boat
with a large one-cylinder engine and a fifth boat so badly decayed it
is hard to determine its purpose.

Archaeologists have left most of their finds where they were found,
though an anchor, bottles, tools and some pottery have been excavated
from the massive lake, which is at its lowest level since officials
began keeping track in 1932. On Monday, it was about 8.96 feet (2.7
meters) deep, up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) below normal. The drought has
bared a rim around the lake, up to 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) wide at
some points.

Davenport said he considers it a once-in-a-lifetime experience to
examine the dry lakebed, but that with thieves seeking his finds, he
is left yearning for rain.

"I'm hoping that the rains come back," he said. "Once it's covered,
it's protected."

On Wed, 06 Jun 2007 12:43:34 -0400, wrote:

This has a lot more to do with SFWMD and the army corps draining down
the lake than the drought. You didn't really hear much about it but my
son in law (water manager for SFWMD) told me they almost lost the
Hoover dike during Wilma and the order went out to drain down the
lake.

Any idea when Lake O might make it back up to navigable (for me)
depths of 5.5 to 6 ft?

Right now I have to detour over 200 NM through the Keys to the east
coast.

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 06 Jun 2007 12:43:34 -0400, wrote:

This has a lot more to do with SFWMD and the army corps draining down
the lake than the drought. You didn't really hear much about it but my
son in law (water manager for SFWMD) told me they almost lost the
Hoover dike during Wilma and the order went out to drain down the
lake.

Any idea when Lake O might make it back up to navigable (for me)
depths of 5.5 to 6 ft?

Right now I have to detour over 200 NM through the Keys to the east
coast.

Yes, but hasn't the water been much prettier around here (SW Florida) lately
now that the SFWMD isn't dumping all of that ugly brown polluted water down
the Caloosahatchee?

On Wed, 06 Jun 2007 17:17:11 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:

Yes, but hasn't the water been much prettier around here (SW Florida) lately
now that the SFWMD isn't dumping all of that ugly brown polluted water down
the Caloosahatchee?

Oh for sure. The river has cleaned up considerable and you can
actually see the shallows now on a clear day.

How has your fishing been this year?

Wayne.B wrote:
On Wed, 06 Jun 2007 12:43:34 -0400, wrote:

This has a lot more to do with SFWMD and the army corps draining down
the lake than the drought. You didn't really hear much about it but my
son in law (water manager for SFWMD) told me they almost lost the
Hoover dike during Wilma and the order went out to drain down the
lake.

Any idea when Lake O might make it back up to navigable (for me)
depths of 5.5 to 6 ft?

Right now I have to detour over 200 NM through the Keys to the east
coast.


Awwww. Well, you could always rent a flatbed rail car.

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 06 Jun 2007 17:17:11 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:

Yes, but hasn't the water been much prettier around here (SW Florida)
lately
now that the SFWMD isn't dumping all of that ugly brown polluted water
down
the Caloosahatchee?

Oh for sure. The river has cleaned up considerable and you can
actually see the shallows now on a clear day.

How has your fishing been this year?

Still no keeper-size grouper on the nearshore reefs, but a spot that I fish
about 15 miles out of Wiggins has a ton of undersized grouper on it...which
is a very good sign.

The wind on the weekends has been relentless for the past 3 weeks, so I
haven't fished much. It's too bad, because May/June is typically one of the
best times of the year.

"HK" wrote in message
. ..
Wayne.B wrote:
On Wed, 06 Jun 2007 12:43:34 -0400, wrote:

This has a lot more to do with SFWMD and the army corps draining down
the lake than the drought. You didn't really hear much about it but my
son in law (water manager for SFWMD) told me they almost lost the
Hoover dike during Wilma and the order went out to drain down the
lake.

Any idea when Lake O might make it back up to navigable (for me)
depths of 5.5 to 6 ft?

Right now I have to detour over 200 NM through the Keys to the east
coast.


Awwww. Well, you could always rent a flatbed rail car.

I know a Dr. in town who has his 36' boat trailered across to Ft. Lauderdale
when he wants to make a trip to the Bahamas because it saves him time and
fuel.

NOYB wrote:
"HK" wrote in message
. ..
Wayne.B wrote:
On Wed, 06 Jun 2007 12:43:34 -0400, wrote:

This has a lot more to do with SFWMD and the army corps draining down
the lake than the drought. You didn't really hear much about it but my
son in law (water manager for SFWMD) told me they almost lost the
Hoover dike during Wilma and the order went out to drain down the
lake.
Any idea when Lake O might make it back up to navigable (for me)
depths of 5.5 to 6 ft?

Right now I have to detour over 200 NM through the Keys to the east
coast.

Awwww. Well, you could always rent a flatbed rail car.

I know a Dr. in town who has his 36' boat trailered across to Ft. Lauderdale
when he wants to make a trip to the Bahamas because it saves him time and
fuel.




Sounds like a smart move to me. Getting there is not the kind of boating
I enjoy. Being there is.

wrote in message
...
I left about the same
time when they were rationalizing cutting down a stand of Australian
pines on Donax to build a golf course in the name of "exotic removal".


Isn't that what WCI and Hyatt did on the island to the South of New Pass?

"HK" wrote in message
. ..
NOYB wrote:
"HK" wrote in message
. ..
Wayne.B wrote:
On Wed, 06 Jun 2007 12:43:34 -0400, wrote:

This has a lot more to do with SFWMD and the army corps draining down
the lake than the drought. You didn't really hear much about it but my
son in law (water manager for SFWMD) told me they almost lost the
Hoover dike during Wilma and the order went out to drain down the
lake.
Any idea when Lake O might make it back up to navigable (for me)
depths of 5.5 to 6 ft?

Right now I have to detour over 200 NM through the Keys to the east
coast.

Awwww. Well, you could always rent a flatbed rail car.

I know a Dr. in town who has his 36' boat trailered across to Ft.
Lauderdale when he wants to make a trip to the Bahamas because it saves
him time and fuel.




Sounds like a smart move to me. Getting there is not the kind of boating I
enjoy. Being there is.

I'd burn about 200 gallons of fuel each way just to get to the East Coast.
But more importantly, I'd waste two full days just travelling between Naples
and Ft. Lauderdale and back. If I take my boat to the Bahamas, I'm
definitely looking into getting someone to trailer it over to Lauderdale,
and leaving from there. Time is my most valuable commodity right now.