BIG UPDATE: Big and Little Hickory Island Ep 2! Amazing Recovery! Bonita Springs, FL!

[@nails-ri2165]

My wife and I just went in a kayak tour with Mike and had a fantastic experience!! Great to see Mother Earth rebound so quickly. The drone shots in this video were great to see the extent of what originally happened!! Steve & Trish from RI

[@marykorson3383]

You are the best talker/explainer I've listened to.Thank you

[@richardpace5809]

Great upload, keep them coming. Florida Strong !

[@SSHitMan]

Glad to see the cleanup is progressing well. I've spent a week or 2 in that area every year in March since 2017 to kayak fish, but always launched from the other side of the road by where the water tower used to be so I could fish in the bay. I never knew that was private property on the other side! I stay at an older time share building on the south end of FMB that miraculously survived Ian with minimal damage and hopefully it will be ready by March and if so I'll be back. BTW I've always found you kayak tour guides to be very friendly and considerate of those of us who aren't part of their tour, sometimes it gets crowded there but they've always made room for me and even offered to help me load my kayak back on my Jeep. I never needed the help but appreciated the gesture! Thanks for this video I appreciate the updates.

[@mudflatproductions]

Yes one really important thing I forgot to mention is the parking lot is county property!

[@SSHitMan]

@@mudflatproductions Good to know!

[@AndyEmerson8]

Great video. This made me so happy to see all the work done. Can’t wait to get back on the water.

[@CarlosHernandez-rg7ch]

I really appreciate what you are doing to show us the locals . What transpired with the aftermath of Ian in and around Bonita. I know you have said soon you will be moving on to a different theme for your content . Would like to see if you could show what has happened down by keewaydin island I don’t believe there are any videos showing what occurred down there or what the current situation looks like. Love what you are doing 👍🏻👍🏻

[@mudflatproductions]

There’s a really good possibility I’ll get around to that!

[@meaghanblackman3165]

Thank you for the update! I grow up in Estero but moved to Marco . I’m a captain/tour guide in goodland and will help spread your contact info. If you have any rack card for business we can hand out in our store on Marco, come see us at ocean soul in the esplanade shoppes. Ask for Meaghan or Tyler. Love your videos! You would love camping on dickmans island, just south of Marco

[@mudflatproductions]

Wow thank you! I’ll have to stop by some time 🤙

[@Yankeegiant2]

Thanks so much for the update man. I just got a bug slinger Rackham. Love your tarpon board! How has it held up?

[@mudflatproductions]

It’s served me great for many years, I believe I got her back in 2016!

[@Yankeegiant2]

Great to hear. We love launching out of big hickory, hope to see you out there!

[@debnordman1640]

Thanks very much for this video! My sister & I have a timeshare week at the small resort (funny green color)right by that bridge! I kept hoping you'd be panning over on that side, but you stopped just short of it! We have explored all around those beach areas you landed on, & the mudflats; it was wonderful to see you there, & to see the cleanup that's been done. Keep up your interesting videos! Loved seeing the live lightning whelks! Tragic about the plastic bags. Some genius needs to come up with a solution to remove them from the trees.

[@joannbarthold3032]

We enjoy your content. We are pig farmers who live in Minnesota and also have a home in Bonita Springs. The areas you show are very familiar to us but you give us more background and info, we appreciate that, and it’s enjoyable to see the beautiful scenery you show. Thanks. I agree on the plastic bag issue. People should just use reusable bags. You can carry so much more weight in them they don’t tear, they really function so much better than plastic besides the benefit to nature by using them. I carry 5-6 in to every store I shop at. If you only need a couple you just take back the empties with you. It’s simple and what a difference it can make in the long run.

[@ghewins]

Thanks for the video. It’s really good to see debris leaving the mangroves and green returning. I don’t understand how someone can “own” mangroves. I’ve always thought that mangroves only occur naturally in tidal areas and that tidal areas cannot be privately owned. As for the scourge of plastic bags, I was unaware of the danger they pose for young dolphins. However, I remember learning that species of sea turtles that prey on jellyfish can mistake a floating plastic bag for a jellyfish and that these bags, when ingested, can cause fatal blockages of their digestive tracts. I hope the cold wave doesn’t have too big an impact on your holiday tours. Stay safe. Stay warm. It is obvious from your videos that you have been intensely interested in the natural world for as long as you can remember. What clicked, what made you so different from most of your peers? I live in a largely rural area in the middle of the Eastern Deciduous Forest of North America. I am in almost daily contact with a public school. I would be surprised if a single student could identify five tree species. As far as I can tell, only one, well, maybe two, of the teachers are capable of that. In other words, for the vast majority of children, adolescents, and adults, the natural world is seen as being irrelevant. Seems like a recipe for disaster, but maybe that’s just me. Anyway, I think I have some understanding of what made me weird, so my question is: “What made you, nature lover, so weird?”

[@mudflatproductions]

Thank you for your amazing comment! It’s very simple, I feel great when I’m outdoors, being closed in a square rectangle disconnects me from what makes me happy. There’s something about the feeling of the sun, getting some exercise, and seeing God's beauty that makes me deeply happy. It’s good to enjoy the small things. And not focus too much on the fancy things.

[@joannbarthold3032]

@@mudflatproductions I was impressed with you when 1) you have the maturity to be close with your parents and include them in some videos, 2) when in a different video another KZbinr met you and was talking about his big parties he throws and you were obviously so unimpressed hahahaha, that made me respect and like you even more. I love that you love nature and are down to earth. Sensible young man. Well done to you and your parents :)

[@ghewins]

@@mudflatproductions “… and not focus too much on the fancy things.” If there’s one lesson to be learned from Ian it’s that this week’s “fancy things” can easily become part of next week’s debris field. It appears that debris fields don’t discriminate; they will accept a Lamborghini or Bentley as readily as a dumpster.

[@AndyEmerson8]

Can’t believe how wide the pass is now. Wonder about the depth for boating. My bay boat could get through there if I hugged the mangrove line.

[@mudflatproductions]

There’s definitely some shallow spots where the beach use to be the boats for the most part unless you have a jack plate would have to take the normal path.

[@kathleenpomakis9383]

Have a Merry Christmas! Thank you for keeping us updated. It's so good to see Mother Nature fighting back!

[@mudflatproductions]

Merry Christmas 🤙

[@JustMeters]

Can you do a video showing new pass and dog beach in that general area?

[@HulaShack1]

We love watching your videos! Your voice overs are epic but even if you could just do unedited videos when you go out and take us along, that would be great. That way you could put up more videos and not have to do so much editing. We appreciate all your videos and love when you teach us things like you did with the shells. Thank you and Merry Christmas.

[@mudflatproductions]

Thank you! Merry Christmas

[@amyseidl8935]

What is the status of the other bridge at the south end of Bonita? If you were coming from Bonita Beach Rd. Can you fish off that bridge or launch a kayak there?😊

[@mudflatproductions]

If you’re talking about the first bridge before going into little hickory island, where the barefoot beach access is. That is still closed. But as for the bridge by big hickory pass, that crosses to big hickory island that is open and you can launch a kayak there 😄! Hope that helps 😁

[@mokieburns]

It’s looking great! Thank you for these updates…love to see those mangroves coming back