If you have met me or know me...you know I love to travel and just DO. My parents, niece, and nephew were visiting from Montana so we decided to take them to The Island Pier. In just that one afternoon, after eating an early dinner at Rockin' Tacos, we got to see the sunset and plenty of wildlife. I highly recommend the steak tacos, cheeseburger tacos, and the tequila flight 😋🤤

As we strolled down the pier we were eyeballing what everyone was catching. Lucky for us there was a young gentleman that was willing to show us exactly what he caught. He displayed his fish, the Remora, to us by letting it attach to his forearm. We were in immediate awe of this young man and his fish. I have never seen a fish do this before so I was easily amused. Since we were obviously amused, the other young men that were with him continued to tell us facts about the remora - such as that it is also known as the suckerfish and that it attaches itself to sharks and other large fish. They also explained that if left attached to your arm too long, it would give you the biggest hickey ever 😂🤣

Further strolling led us to see some sea turtles (about 5 in all). Obviously, this was prime time to see sea turtles since the nesting season lasts from the beginning of May to the end of October. It is especially common to see sea turtles during July and August in and around Destin and Okaloosa Island.

The dolphins were out frolicking, as well, and stealing hooked fish from the fishermen. This was quite the site to see and we were pretty amused by their intelligence. They stole the body of the hooked fish and allowed the fisherman to keep the head 🤣😂. Unfortunately, I did not get a video or a picture of this incident😔However, I did get some regular dolphin pics. The most common dolphins in and around the Island Pier are Common Bottlenose dolphins, but there are also eight other species of dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico. Other dolphins you might see close to shore are Fraser's, Pantropical Spotted, and Spinner dolphins. Dolphins that are further offshore in the Gulf are Clymene, Risso's, Rough-Toothed, Striped, and Atlantic Spotted dolphins. 

At the end of the pier, we saw a Great Blue Heron guarding the bathrooms. He was definitely keeping his eyeballs peeled and on alert. 

Finally, as we were walking back down the pier the sun was starting to set. All-in-all it was a great day on the pier with the breeze blowing, cloudy skies, wildlife, new friends, and a beautiful sunset.