Of Missiles and Mangroves: Part II (Snark Infested Waters)

After leaving the lighthouse, we drove past several launch complexes on our way to the 45th Wing Space Museum, including Complex 14, where manned orbital flights began. We had some interesting lessons in the development of launchpad bunker technology, including a look at some of the earliest made of little more than sandbags piled about 15 feet high and 5-10 feet thick that were only a few hundred feet from the pad. (Ignition was hardwired and there was a limit to how far the wires could be strung.)

The Freedom 7 memorial site sits at the beginning of the approach road to Complex 14. Surrounding the abandoned pad (all that remains is a concrete pad, everything else has been "recycled" in some way) is prime scrub habitat, home to some of the families of scrub jays and dozens of gopher tortoises. Biologists on the cape take their job as guardians of endangered species seriously; during one launch, two owl nestlings were removed from a nest close to the launch pad for two nights and taken to the Maitland Center for Birds of Prey; they were safely returned to the nest after the launch, where their parents immediately took up their care and successfully fledged them.

One of the most important projects underway at several sites around the cape is the removal of the invasive Brazilian Pepper (also known as Florida holly, even though it is not a holly but is closely related to poison ivy and sumac). Along roadsides, where scrub and hammock oaks should thrive and along river edges where mangroves should be growing, the Brazilian pepper has crowded out most native species. The shrub was imported from South and Central America in the 1800s as a decorative accent tree. Two species were imported: one planted on the west coast of Florida and the other on the east. The two species did so well that they grew across the state and hybridized in the middle.

Birds love the berries and, oddly enough, gopher tortoises apparently have done well living under the stuff, as biologists are discovering dozens of tortoise dens beneath the trees as they are being removed. Unfortunately, they have a spreading growth pattern that crowds out mangroves and scrub species.

This effort to remove the peppers and reline the edges of the causeways with red mangroves is a project that could lead to improvements in eradication and control efforts accross the state. An unfortunate downside to eradication efforts is the loss of the attractive berries, which have encouraged migrating songbirds to stopover in the spring and fall. However, both the scrub and the mangroves harbor resources that support certain native species, some of which are currently threatened or endangered.

At our final stopover on the cape we met one extinct species of which nobody mourns the loss: the Snark.



 The Snark (named after Lewis Carroll's snark) was one of the first Intercontinental missiles, propelled by rocket fuel and jet engines. It was pretty much a failure, with only a handful ever being deployed after dozens were launched that flew short and fell into the ocean (hence, the idiom "snark infested waters" and the drawing of a shark's jaw on the nose of the model on display in the museum hangar.)

It's good to know that eleven threatened and endangered species are being watched over by the environmentalists of the 45th Space Wing, including loggerhead turtles, green sea turtles, leatherback turtles, scrub jays, and southeastern beach mice.

Interesting factoid: concern about the health of the Poseidon submarine turning basin led biologists to conduct a survey of marine life in the basin; they counted more than 200 hundred species living there! Yay.