We heard that call on the VHF radio today. No response. "The bridge" here can mean two possibilities: the swingbridge that gets us onto our island, or the 2 1/2 mile long Queen Isabella Memorial Causeway that goes across the Laguna Madre to South Padre Island. We were in a spot that we could see the causeway... no traffic on it. That's not good.
A quick search on the phone turned up "the situation": someone called in a threat to the bridge. There seems to be some discrepancy as to whether the call to the SPI Police Department was a threat or notifying them that someone saw something wrong with the causeway. It was first reported as a bomb threat, then backed off from that. Regardless, traffic from both directions was blocked.
The empty causeway is very strange to see...
(That is an image capture from one of the causeway webcams.)
The bridge was closed for about three hours while TXDOT examined the bridge from above and the Coast Guard checked it from the water. Nothing was found, and it was opened for traffic again about 2:30. Hopefully, the authorities will find who made the call and find out what that was all about.
As mentioned, we were out on the water; an absolutely gorgeous day to be on the boat. Temps in the upper 70s, clear blue skies, sunshine, low humidity, and a light breeze. Some bird watching on the way out our canals...
The view once out of the canals...
I brought two cameras today, so we'd each have one if we saw dolphins or other interesting stuff. Joan said, "I don't need a camera, I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the views today." Then, I pointed out the first dolphin...
For the record, there may be some "wandering" with this post, because: between the two cameras, we took about 220 shots! On with the dolphin viewing...
Look who grabbed a camera and went to the front of the boat...
About that time, we heard two horn blasts. A pause, then 5 blasts (that means: impending emergency situation). Then, 5 more blasts!! It was like watching a slow motion train wreck...
This is at a water intersection. The oblivious driver of the shrimpboat was actually turning towards the tug pushing two barges! The tug was in a position where he had very limited room to maneuver, and the shrimper seemed to be unmanned, since they made no effort to give the tug the necessary maneuvering space. Finally, after the third group of 5 blasts, there was a puff of black smoke from the shrimper and it turned away! A LOT closer than it appears in the image above... I only grabbed the camera when it was clear that they wouldn't collide. It is not unusual for a shrimper coming down the ship channel to have an unmanned helm. Not smart OR safe. Over the years, we have had to dodge them several times. Sadly, the shrimp boat operators aren't required to have a captain's license (I have no idea how that can be), and generally aren't listening to the VHF radio.
By this time, we had a decent view of the causeway...
Yep, pretty creepy with no traffic on it.
We turned east in the ship channel, and the dolphins followed us...
Yeah, she's taking photos.
All kinds of fun behavior today. Here's a tail slap...
Some porpoising...
This dolphin has a dorsal fin that appears to be torn and folded over...
Yes, they can still swim and maneuver. Dolphins all around us...
This one was showing us his catch...
And when I say "close," as this one ducked under the pontoon by me, I got sprayed with dolphin spit...
Yes, I had to clean the camera lens and my sunglasses!
We came by this bait shrimper at work...
Joan thought it looked like a painting; this guy thought it looked like lunch...
He swooped close by us on his way to that small shrimper.
Some dolphin, um... afternoon delight...
Although the temp was comfortably cool, the sun was intense (if you weren't under the bimini)...
Making our way back home, we had two dolphins run with us...
We turned into our canal; another Great Blue Heron...
Another pontoon heading out as we were heading in...
Nice day on the water. Joan packed us a lunch. Beautiful weather. Lots to view. And, the bridge opened back up to traffic (nothing found). One of the weather weasels said, "This will be one of the few low humidity days in May - hope you were able to get out and enjoy it."
Happy Cinco de Mayo!
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