Outdoors Maryland; 1009

Coming up the ancient beauty of the big three discovers a curious elf hopping around the shore and the Chesapeake SP brutal 4.4 outdoors Maryland is produced in cooperation with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources DENR. Inspired by Nature. Yes I mean

yes islands evoke a sense of mystery. Escape. Exploration. Janes island near Chris Field and south Somerset County on the eastern shore is vintage Chesapeake Bay. A best kept secret for wilderness adventure in your home. The new water trails and primitive campsites are making Jane Simon a mecca for day trips and overnight canoeing and kayaking. Here's James Dennis Smith his regional coordinator for the nature tourism program with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The trails give people a pretty unique experience here even though we're within a couple of miles of developed areas in the town of Chris Field. You get in a kayak or a canoe and you're down on the water. And

it's only you and nature. You've got black needle rush grasses and reeds are way up above your head. You can excuse it pretty easily and think you're many many miles away in the back woods. Janes island off the park's mainland lies one and a quarter miles wide and six and a half miles long in the Chesapeake Bay 30 miles of long and short water trails lead from the mainland Marina providing full or part day trips to experienced and novice paddlers and fishermen alive. A dock on the interior side of the island accessible by small craft only gives way to a trail across the dunes leading to the beach on Tangier south. Alice Todd and Michael Park have been coming to Jane's island for seven years. They're experienced all season outdoor adventurers and avid canoeist. Today true to form they are trying something new.

Camping by sea kayak. Yeah. They've enlisted Tangier Sound outfitters for the venture owner's Carolan and Bob leaf have organized the trips and permits provided the boats and will show them the ropes or more accurately the paddles but very much an outfitter Carol finds Jane's Island ideal for beginning kayakers with a special thrill of kayaking is that it is ultimately that one of the easiest sports to Laurel. We call it the five minutes earlier but someone who's very scared of a kayak and talk about it within five minutes they're comfortable they're relaxed they're confident and they have a big huge grin across her face and they're they're good to go. Access a kayak can give a person is limitless. Small petite strains that you know go out to a beautiful as to where it's a beautiful beach beautiful marshland and it's it's a boat you just couldn't go these places in any other boat except a kayak.

Nice he's a big one outfitter Bob treasures the island. A world unto itself. The whole ecosystem in itself it's really a barrier island just like acetate or shrink it to is our own little barrier island we have here. This is actually what all the fuss is about protecting these particular type of areas they're very fragile kayaks and canoes are the ideal craft for exploring out here. It's about no impact compared to a motor boat or a jet ski. Very low impact. Michael sabers this first crack at kayaking. Never been kayaking before and three days experience in a kayak was really a lot of fun. A canoe you're up higher this year right down on the water and consequently you feel closer to nature closer to

the water. More a part of what you're involved in. The creek trail leads to the wide channel that separates Jane's island from the mainland. Michael and Alice now have the chance to paddle across open water another specialty of sea kayaking 10 knot winds and zest to the crossing. That's the fun part about it. That's when you get the spray when you get the water coming up and you have the rock of the waves. And actually I found I was able to do a little surfing with the kayak. We surf the waves in the waves and the kayak is even more fun. By late afternoon the kayakers are eager to set up camp for the night. We're here wonderful Bob explains the No Impact camping regulations including no open

fires or disturbance of vegetation. We've got three. So everybody you know playing with fire. I want to people who definitely prefer any day under any conditions on the water and outside to being inside doing any thing. Get some water boil and good food is always a magnet for hungry adventurers. Oh yes I can tell when the smell start going around the camp everybody starts gravitating towards towards the furred finally there's a circle around here just before dark. David and will brown father and son join the

group after a late start from Washington D.C. testimony to Jane's island's easy access for getaways. Sunset on an island the night casts its own enchantment. For me ever since I was a little boy camping has been my link to nature. The wind in the trees and the waves lapping up against the shoreline here is just like a lullaby. Just like you put your right to sleep if it doesn't put you sleep it will surely get you thinking. I love camping out here with my dad since he works in Washington. I don't have a lot of time during the week to talk with them. So it's really nice to be out

here with them. A cloudy morning puts no damper on these campers as they make ready for a new day's adventure. It's important to leave no trace at all that you were there. I even go as far as to sweep my footprints off it. Shoving off with a promise to return James Island is one of my favorite places and a wonderful place to be. I just love it here. Right from the first day when they were transplanted from Asia and introduced onto

the Eastern Shore of Maryland the curious ways of seeking a deer have attracted attention. They have an unusual pogo stick like mid-stride. A white rum patch flares when they are alarmed and both the male and female scream when they're frightened. Curious. Most unlike a deer. Doug your project biologist with a DNR. In my mind the most unique thing about secret deer is that they are not really a deer but there are miniature elk and they live in habitats which are totally on help like in people's mind people think of these big mountainous meadows and big timber.

And here we have a miniature elk living in an extremely thick marsh vegetation and swampy areas in 1016 Clement Henry released a half dozen or so CGC is under James Island Dr. Charles log did the same thing on land that would become the acetate national seashore in the one thousand twenty. Both herds prospered heads began to turn towards this invading curiosity managers fear the exotic Sica might outcompete the then threatened white tailed deer. There was concerns that as they moved on to the mainland where you had varied habitats of upland Martian woods that the second deer were going to expand into these traditional whitetail habitats and more agricultural areas and cause major problems for growers and to displace actually displace the whitetail deer. However seekers chose to

remain in the thick dense tall vegetation of the marshes swamps and associated woodlands of Dorchester coma co Somerset and Worcester counties. Habitat that white tailed deer often avoid. There are strange and curious ways attracted the attention of hunters. Tim Lambert president of the Maryland sportsman's Association for a lot of different white tail I started out hunting whitetail for gun running then I went to bow hunting and always looking for a challenge and thinking deer are a little bit more elusive. There are an exotic three Theda Maryland with more of a curiosity. At first you kind of say wow there's just a small white tail. Once you get into the study

and looking at the specie itself I get to understand it's much different. And they have a personality all their own. Sitting in a tree stand waiting for a seeker to pass by is a lonely but sometimes exhilarating experience. You spend a lot of time on the serving the habitat and the area the just enjoying nature. You know as one would just go out and walk through the woods. There's so much going on out it out here and in the wild and it's it's really soothing. Soothing Yes but on this one day no secret dear passed by

Lambert stand outside of protected areas like the Chincoteague wildlife preserve in Virginia and the acetate National Seashore citing a secret is an iffy proposition. At the rump Sica adults are only about two and a half feet tall. Males weigh in at about 75 pounds and females at forty five pounds the bulk of their grazing takes place at night. Seek it dear our browsers and grazers in other words eat leaves of different vegetation the young shoots of different vegetation and some of these vegetation would be things like three square poison ivy honeysuckle young young shoots of us we go there in the fall during the

breeding season. The seek the stags seek out females and formal groups called harems and they act very aggressive toward other other US seek a stag say they bugle to let go like an American elk to let other males know they're in the area and if they have a harem there and if you know there's two of equal size and they may actually end up sparring. Alternately grazing and gambling on short grass marshes near sunset on a late fall day this curiosity displays majesty and grace the curious Sica has become a fact of life on the lower Eastern Shore of Maryland. The mighty spans of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge represent many things

a marvel of engineering a milepost in the rush to the beach. A cultural gateway between Maryland's eastern and western shores and once a year the Bay Bridge is a monumental racecourse for swimmers competing in the great Chesapeake Bay swim which benefits the March of Dimes. In this rigorous race the soaring spans guide and inspire athletes across the 4.4 miles of open water which lie between the eastern and western shores of the bay here the great Chesapeake Bay swim is one of the most sought after races in distance swimming competition. Chuck named it is race director of the great Chesapeake Bay swimmer and chairman of the central Maryland chapter of the March of Dimes. So many fit and trained athletes performing and raising money for a very good cause.

It's really a great feeling that a personal sense of accomplishment but it's also a capsule for something that's greater than the individual. Planning and training for the event takes all year. Unbeknownst to many swimmers their success will depend upon tests undertaken a few days before the race on a DNA research vessel. That's when a team of scientists organized by Noah measures tide and current conditions along the racecourse. Derek corner with the National Marine Fisheries Service and Steve Suttles University of Maryland discussed changing the race start time due to unexpectedly high currents. What we're doing is actually measuring the currents and trying to slap water or you know current fighting the currents there just going you know themselves trying to finish the race. What we're seeing with the water trying get a little bit earlier in the years before race times were adjusted to slack conditions. Many racers were washed dangerously far out into the open bag less than 20

percent finished since testing 80 percent or more finished the still grueling race the day of the race start time has been advance due to the currents. Five hundred and fifty nine swimmers in waves. Wait anxiously for the start from the beach at Sandy Point the other side of the bay is lost in the distance. Thank you. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. Now the first wave launches it's more a watery sprint than a die. The bay remains shallow with distance from shore so most swimmers conserve their strength for deeper water.

I want the shots from above and reveal the water's running child. This swimmers head for the spans of the bridge. The official race course 15 minutes after the first wave. Wave two launches these yellow caps are the fastest swimmers many will soon catch up and overtake those in Wave 1 each swimmer sets individual goals. Some are determined to finish others race more competitive time all face the daunting challenge of an open water swimming. Crosscurrents chop and hypothermia are threats. Today the water

temperature is considered moderate at about 70 degrees whatever the water temperature. Swimmers carried by swells face bruising collisions with the bridge supports and jetting rocks. Some racers failed to finish because of swimmers seasickness brought on by the unrelenting toss of currents and by swallowing too much salt water in the world of swimming pool swimming and open water swimming are two entirely different sports because of the dangers of open water swimming a huge fleet of volunteers supports the swimmers. Today we have a large number of volunteers on board on the safety we have kayakers that are in the water actually in the spans of the bridge with swimmers if they get tired the summers can grab on to a kayak or if they need to before they grab on the high ground I suppose than outside his fans and reins to another another member has a fleet more of the smaller motorized that's all.

They then take them out to a mother vessel or mother boat that have emergency personnel food water blankets anything you would you would need as they are on the mother vessel. And no one and no one as the racers approached the Eastern Shore currents bouncing off the beach. Add an extra child at a time when swimmers are the most tired of families and friends have crossed the bridge to wait at the finish line. The average swim time is two hours 25 minutes today. A few moments after one hour the lead swimmer is spotted a single bobbing head against a shimmering flotilla of boats. All right thank

you very much. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. Thank God thank you in the very shallow waters approaching the shore. This swimmer is dolphin diving pushing off the bottom to propel himself forward. Thanks John a bromance. Adam spanking a 1 hour 26 minutes and 42 seconds. Thank you.

He's 26 years old from the fork in River New Jersey. When I restarted you were even he was on hold on. I didn't look back until he saw me right there. I came in a fairground. It's a complete solo finish. Nearly eight minutes ahead of any other contender Shaun's chief competitor was himself. He had also won last year. There's nothing better than being the best. I love the way I train hard. Like really I just got back two years ago. You know it was a fluke Iraq. I really thank you. When I did last year I felt it was a very I strongly got sick on the field as last year so I got myself pretty psyched up for other swimmers reach shore real overall female

champion is Susie Rabia 33 live from Shaker Heights Ohio. Susie finished in one hour 40 minutes and 43 seconds. It was her first amazing attempt the first in the first 25 minutes I just kind of went with the flow and then decided it was time to put that on. I don't ever want to pull it open water are just night and day different to completely different styles of swimming. You're really into the pool it's a lot more technical where you are what are a lot more strategic. You really have to know where you're going you really have to you really have to be aware of everything around her to pull you kind of just even one more time. Time doesn't mean anything in the open order. I could fish out there I'd get jelly fish I guess. I'm a few times but that's just it's what you expect you just have to meet a time when using your brakes. And that's just me babes that not every which way. The players that really had the full experience if people do that make sure they don't have

to pay for a lot of fun for all immersed in the great Chesapeake Bay swim a swimming success. Drop into our website at w w w dot MP t dot o r g to send us your comments and suggestions.