Video

Shark Valley

Everglades National Park

Descriptive Transcript

Description Narrator: A group of alligators thrash into the water. Fish swim around underwater vegetation. A controlled fire burns a habitat. A bird appears in a hole in a dead tree. A ranger gives a guided canoe tour. Aerial footage of Mangroves. A snail glides along a tree branch.

Everglades National Park. National Park Service logo.

Aerial and underwater views of lily pads in a pond. Blooming sawgrass. A tram filled with visitors.

Shark Valley.

Visitors walking up the tower ramp.

Ranger Laurie: Well, hey there, I'm Ranger Laurie. I want to welcome you to Everglades National Park, and here we're at Shark Valley, which is the north entrance to the park. And you're actually in a valley, here. We are in the valley of the Shark River Slough.

Description Narrator: The camera pans 360 degrees to show the listed points of interest.

Ranger Laurie: When you come into Shark Valley, everything is right here. Visitor center, trams, bicycles, restrooms, you do not have to go far to go out on the path.

Description Narrator: Visitors walking and biking, and a tram driving on the paved trail that parallels a canal.

Ranger Laurie: And what we have when I say path, we have a 15-mile loop out here. It just takes you right out into the Everglades, immerses you into it. There's several different ways to explore. We have a two-hour guided tram tour. You can rent a bicycle or bring your own if you have it with you.

Another way to explore if you don't have two hours to ride a bike or take the tram tour, you can just walk right down the trail here behind the visitor center.

Description Narrator: A softshell turtle lays in the middle of the trail.

Ranger Laurie: What's really amazing is the midway point. You get out there, we have an observation tower, you get to get up to the 50-foot level, and from up there you get a nice, sweeping 360-degree view of the Everglades.

Speaker 1: Thank you.

Speaker 2: Have a great ride. Hello. Sure thing, ma’am. Ever been here before?

Description Narrator: Ate Atema, New York City. A group of four adults.

Ate Atema: We did the bike ride today. We rented these bikes and went all the way down to the observation tower. Hunted some alligators. Visually, visually.

You don't go ten feet before you run in your first alligator and there are alligators all over the place. And that's, I think, a pretty amazing experience that they’re just right next… And sometimes they're sitting right on the side of the road and, you know, by the time you're done with that, you're very, I don't know if you'd say comfortable, but you're used to seeing alligators and they’re very much, you know, the central part of the experience.

Description Narrator: A sign at the visitor center for Shark Valley Tram Tours. A National Park Service Concessioner. Office hours: 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. The sign also lists prices and departure/return times.

A bird skips across a stream, picks a small shell, and smashes it against the ground, trying to open it.

Ranger Laurie: Here at Shark Valley, we experience two seasons, the dry and the wet. We are just transitioning out of the dry season now into our wet season. It can get very dry in here. As you see what's around me looks very cracked, almost like a desert.

The wet season, then begins usually end of May and into June, all the way through November.

Description Narrator: A close-up of a hawk in a tree.

Ranger Laurie stands out in the dry sawgrass prairie.

Ranger Laurie: During the wet season, we will get 80% of our annual rainfall of about 60 inches. In the wet season in this area where I'm standing right now, I could be standing in three to four feet of water.

Here at Shark Valley, you're going to find yourself immersed into a sawgrass prairie.

Description Narrator: A panoramic view of the prairie covered in grasses.

A park ranger gives a guided tram tour through the sawgrass prairie.

Speaker 3: The Shark River slough here is basically the heart of the Everglades because without the water that flows through this area, the southern ends of the park and the Gulf Coast areas would not receive the amounts of water that they need.

So, we are going to be making our way down to the observation tower.

Description Narrator: Bicyclists ride on the road. River otters play along the rocky banks of the water.

Ranger Laurie: While you're out here exploring Shark Valley, you’re going to see different things at different times of the year. Now during the dry season, during the wintertime, this is the time of the year that we get a lot of migratory birds and different animals in here. So, this is the time of year here at Shark Valley when you're going to see more wildlife. During the wet season, because we're full of water, all the wildlife is going to spread out. So, you're not going to see as much wildlife.

Speaker 3: And from satellite, you'll see the slough system, which is predominantly sawgrass prairie. And then you'll see these little dots and these little dots are the tree islands. So, if you would like to come with me, we're going to take a short hike into the hammock. If not comfortable, you're more than welcome to stay on the tram.

Description Narrator: The visitors follow the ranger as she heads into the hammock.

Speaker 3: This is one of the highest places of elevation here at Shark Valley Slough. Many peoples that lived here in the Everglades for thousands of years and for years after, even up to current history, used the hammocks for their homes.

Description Narrator: The tram ride continues, stopping at the road to the observation center.

Speaker 3: There's also a very nice hammock trail that is just before the tower when you walk in. I'm going to be going down there, it's one of my favorite places.

Description Narrator: Wayside sign reads: “Borrow Pit Trail.” Alligators float idly in the water.

Speaker 3: Again, make sure you bring all your belongings with you so that the crows don't have a field day with your things, your items.

Description Narrator: Two crows land on a bicycle, taking cookies from a package in the basket, before flying off.

A nearby sign reads: Do not leave items or bicycles unattended.

Visitors walk the paved trails to the observation tower, examining their surroundings.

Visitors walk up a long, elevated circular walkway to the tower, pointing out birds and scenery along the way. Tricolored herons perch on the tree branches.

Ranger Laurie: From the tower, you're going to be, you know, looking down upon the canal behind it and there's going to be turtles swimming and alligators swimming. Sometimes it depends on the time of the year, like in the springtime, there could be a lot of juvenile birds running around, everything Tri-color Herons, to Night Crown Herons, to Green Herons, to Anhingas.

Description Narrator: A photographer uses a tripod to take photos of birds in flight. A bird balances on a swaying tree branch.

Visitors look over the edge of the observation tower to the canal below.

Ranger Laurie: When you come back on the west side, you're actually going to be following a canal. It's a little more enclosed area. You don't see the tree islands quite as much, but what you will see possibly is more wildlife. It actually offers an extra area of fresh water for our critters to enjoy. You know, just like us, they need fresh water to survive.

Description Narrator: Birds nest in trees, alligators sit in the water, a flower blooms by the canal, and a sign reads: Warning! Do not approach wildlife! Never get closer than 15 feet (5 meters) to an alligator. If it hisses or opens its mouth in defense, back away even further. Everglades National Park is a wilderness area. All animals are wild and should be viewed with caution. Feeding alligators is a violation of Federal and Florida state law. When people feed alligators, they lose their fear of humans and become dangerous.

Ranger Laurie: Here at Shark Valley, during the wintertime, which is our dry season, we offer many programs for people to enjoy.

It could be anything from our two-hour tram tour to a 30-minute shark bite. And then the best program of all is the full moon bike ride that'll get you out here in the Everglades, in the evening.

Speaker 3: Thank you very much for coming. I hope you enjoy your time in the park.

Description Narrator: Visitors disembark from the tram. An interview with Zack Milliron from Boca Raton, Florida.

Speaker 4: Have you been to the Everglades before?

Zack Milliron: No.

Speaker 4: This is your first time?

Zack Milliron: Yep.

Speaker 4: How was it?

Zack Milliron: It was fun. It's fun. Saw a lot of alligators, and turtles, and birds, and stuff. It's a great park and great area, and it should be taken care of by people because once it's gone, it's gone, and there's nothing you can really do to get it back. You know, you can always see stuff again, that's what's great about the Everglades because it's always changing. So, you'll never see the same thing twice.

Description Narrator: An interview with Sumayah Rahman of Coral Springs, Florida and Nausheen Iffath of Chennai, India.

Sumayah Rahman: I think the Great Blue Heron is my favorite. I've never seen such a big bird before, and I think it's really cool.

Speaker 4: Did you see the one right behind you here?

Sumayah Rahman: Oh, yeah, that's what, I think on the way back we spotted that one.

Nausheen Iffath: And the best thing that I saw was the view of all green, green, and green from the tower that is there. I would describe it as “Evergreen.” Everglades is evergreen.

Ranger Laurie: I chose to work here because you're right there. You can step out the back door of the Visitor Center and you're right there, you're right in the element. You can look out the back window and see the otters crossing the road and the birds flying around. And once I started working, I just fell in love with the Everglades, and that's why I'm here now, because I really love the place. There's so much to learn out here and every day it's different. And that's what makes it so exciting to come to work.

 

Description Narrator: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Everglades National Park.

Everglades National Park video.

Featuring: Ranger Laurie Humphrey and Ranger Heidy Seifert.

Producer, Director, Editor: Jennifer Brown.

Executive Producers: Allyson Gantt, Greg Litten, and Alan Scott.

Technical Support: Andrew Pringle.

Special Thanks: Fabian Kahn.

Music performed by: Trip Wamsley, ‘Firm Foundation’ from the It’s Better This Way album, and Jami Sieber, ‘Invisible Wings’ from the Lush Mechanique album. Magnatunes Records, www.magnatunes.com.

So, why is it called Shark Valley? Come visit us to find out!

Description

Informational video about visiting Shark Valley.

Duration

9 minutes, 26 seconds

Credit

NPS video by Jennifer Brown

Date Created

09/29/2009

Copyright and Usage Info