Feeding time in the Florida Keys
Tarpon are star attraction at marina
Tourists feed hungry tarpon off a pier at Robbie's of Islamorada.
ISLAMORADA, Florida (AP) -- It's always feeding time at Robbie's of
Islamorada, where the 100 or so tarpon lined up like miniature submarines
below a bayside pier don't have to worry about getting a hook in the mouth
to get a meal.
To get the giant tarpon to leap up in the air at the marina on this island
in the Florida Keys, tourists offer dinner in the form of dead herring
tossed from a bucket or dangled a few inches out of the water.
The hungry tarpon have been the marina's star attraction for decades,
attracting visitors who want a close encounter with the fish nicknamed the
"Silver King."
Cynthia Maddox, on vacation with her family from Chicago, encouraged her
13-year-old daughter, Pattie, to hold her fish closer to a 7-foot-long,
100-pound-plus behemoth whose oversized eyes were focused on her.
"She's a coward," Maddox said, as her daughter decided instead to toss the
fish well out into the water as three tarpon raced to it.
Maddox, 59, said she learned about Robbie's from a tour book, and found this
was the cheapest entertainment in town -- $1 per person, and $2 per bucket
of herring.
The tarpon-feeding at the marina started nearly three decades ago, when a
lone injured tarpon was rescued by a kindly business owner who had recently
set up his bayside business at mile marker 77 on the north side of the
island.
Robbie Reckwerdt called a local veterinarian to help the tarpon with the
torn jaw, and the fish got stitched up and earned the nickname "Scarface."
The injured fish recovered in a tank and was released back into Florida Bay,
but he kept returning to the dock to get fed. More and more tarpon joined
him, and soon Robbie's was the local tarpon population's choice for a free
lunch.
It's not uncommon for tarpon to hang out at marinas and docks, but not in
the numbers that gather daily at Robbie's.
Scarface hasn't been seen in the last decade, and has since likely moved on
to "the big aquarium in the sky," said Robbie's manager Mark Poetz.
Tarpon can grow to up to 8 feet long and 280 pounds, and can live more than
50 years, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission.
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