In this episode of 'Another Walk with Mike' you'll witness a rare find. As you may know, my camera was inoperable during the summer and many shark and octupus encounters, along with other aquatic wildlife sigtings, were lost forever.

But, an amazing Sea Turtle Skull was found in the beautifully clear Gulf waters and is presented here in this edition of 'Another Walk with Mike'.

I think you will enjoy it!

I ventured along 30A to a different spot today and saw, as usual, the clear vibrant waters I'm use to. But, I came across some rather unusual sightings.

I was finding some rather nice shells, including intact Sunray Venus and non-attachyed Angel wings. Scallops, cones and conch were also on the bottom in addition to some Lettered Olive, with quite a pretty shine on them.

But a rarer shell I'm not as use to finding was a large Lightning Whelk. When I snorkel in deeper water, I float and look for anything that catches my eye. When I see something I stop and analyze whether it is worth the descent. Many times you can discover what the object is from a distance, or if it moves with the tide, you know it is either a grass, a sponge or other non worthy subject gyrating on bottom.

As I was coming up from gathering a nice Cockle shell, I was stunned by a shadow. Which as you will learn, was a theme of today. Anyway, the shadow was on the bottom and shaped like a tight school of fish, but because it was motionless, I pegged it to be either a sting ray or a man made object (beach furniture etc) But as I S-L-O-W-L-Y approached it, knowing from the shape that it was not a shark, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a very large Sea Turtle. The turtle had a school of fish that hugged above its shell.

The reptile slowly used its long, outward pointing legs to migrate away. I monitored it and by all means wanted to patrol behind...

Hey, it's me, Mike. I can't wait for my next, 'Another Walk with Mike' episode, but Olympus has not been able to provide me with a working camera. I just sent the inoperable one off again. But even without video, I can still tell you what I'm seeing in words. Here goes.

I sometimes take my kayak, at other times I just start snorkeling from the shore. When I do so, I start by going to the outer edge of the first sandbar where the breaking waves won't crash on me. I assemble my snorkeling gear there, and once I'm ready, I lay out and begin.

Lately, there is sometimes an algea/grass section there, but only very little. (A lot of grass in Panama City) It actually serves to attract fish. I see a lot of minnow type fish close in here. They use the grass to hide around. I also see a lot of larger fish here. I've seen a number of Mackerel, Spanish and King. Some of the king have been outright huge.

Today I saw a Ling/Lemon fish/Cobia in between sandbars in about 12 feet total depth, swimming in 5 feet. The fish was quite large and to be frank, quite intimidating to be in the water with. And yes, I saw another Nurse shark today. The life guards later told me they have been seeing it surface to where its fin protrudes from the water. When I saw it, like many that I see, its shadow became apparent first. This shadowy body was on the bottom. This particular one may have been 7 feet, and fairly thick.

When I saw it, it must have also...

This episode of 'Another Walk with Mike', like my others, is a journey of discovery. Come discover with me what jewels lay hidden beneath the ordinary mask of everyday life.

Eastern Diamondback, Pygmy Rattler, artifacts, Nature. It all gets found on this Peach creek paddle in the Florida panhandle.

Okay, okay, I couldn't wait anymore. I have some footage from a great trip I just went on a couple days ago, but finally decided to just put this one part of it online for now. It is an encounter with an Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake, shot when I was about to begin a kayaking trip. And this episode of 'Another Walk with Mike' is devoted exclusively to the one not-so-little snake.

I was about to remove my kayak from the back of my truck when I decided to use the outdoor 'little boy's room'. As I set myself into position and initiated the process, my eyes roamed down before me. Shocked and surreal, I saw Black Diamonds Laced in Gold!

The size of the beast halted my breath, but I calmly continued my duty and, when finished, walked the short distance to my truck to get my camera. Upon returning to take video of the rare find, I let out a quiet jolt of fear. The snake was no longer there. It had moved. And I'd just blindly stepped over a sizable root, nearly stepping on it.

I reversed my eyes to establish that in fact, it was a root I'd passed over. Whew! But without forwarding another step, I collected myself. It has happened many times before when I return to a spot I've just left, a spot with a snake, only to find the serpent has slithered to away. And it always shocks me into a frozen state, wondering if I haven't stepped to within micro-distance from a bite. And this big Diamondback...