Nigel Foster - Encounters from a Kayak: Native People, Sacred Places, and Hungry Polar Bears

In the shallow water of the Florida Keys, transparent needlefish skate the wavelets to evade the jaws of predatory fish that feed on them from below. A gleaming bright streak of silver erupts from the water beside me: A barracuda has launched itself from the water along my paddle blade and come to rest across my arms, whacking its silvery body against my face, spreading me with the pungent smell of oily fish. A moment later it flicks itself into the water, leaving me with a distinct aftertaste and badly smeared sunglasses. Bills mouth is agape, having seen the sharp end of the fish.

A rhesus monkey watches from the mangroves at Raccoon Key, Florida.

Yes, today the fish are jumping as if waters gone out of fashion. I watch the many splashes on the brightly glaring water now with a wary eye, the sun burning with an intensity that makes me squint behind my sunglasses.

My friends Bill and Ellen and I reach Tarpon Belly Keys. Everywhere are No TRESPASSING signs. These keys were mutilated by developers before the plan to build a road out across the bay was dropped. Now the narrow canals and the white sandy platforms for waterfront houses are gradually vanishing beneath new growth. We pause to eat lunch in the shallow water tucked close beside the mangroves. The coolness of the water is refreshing against my legs. Around us is a horizon of low mangrove trees. The sky appears to push the horizon back to make the sea slope down in every direction. We know one of the mangrove strips must be Raccoon Key. We study the map, study the horizon, figure out which bits of horizon are closer than other bits, and identify our target. The compass makes it easy. Its not so far away, across the shallow water, so we cut straight toward it.

As we approach we see massive white boards with bold red writing in English and Spanish that say No LANDING. Bill explains a little about the place: Theres a colony of monkeys here. People tell stories about how big and fierce they are. Theyre said to pull passing fishermen from their boats and drag them into the mangroves!

Rhesus monkeys on Raccoon Key and on the not-too-distant Lois Key were bred to supply the laboratories of the US Food and Drug Administration. Monkeys were imported in large numbers from India until an export ban was implemented in 1977. A primate in many ways similar to man, the rhesus has long been used in drug and vaccine research, has been launched into space, and was instrumental in the discovery of the blood factor known as Rh (for rhesus) positive and negative. And just recently I read in the New York Times that scientists have managed to successfully transplant the head of one rhesus monkey onto another in a full body transplantor would it be a head transplant?

We pause at the edge of the mangrove. We have no intention of landing, but we do decide to creep, just a little way, into a waterway that weaves between the mangrove trees. Mangroves grow from the water with their spider-leg prop roots branching and reaching ever outward across the shallow water. Theres a gap in the mangroves wide enough for our kayaks, and we paddle through. We discover a tall, straight mesh fence blocking the channel. We are about to turn around here but discover a gap in the fence. We consider for a moment, and then we paddle through the gap. We still havent technically landed on the island, but Im feeling we are now somewhere we shouldnt be.