First Magnitude Florida

Water is life. Without it, there wouldn’t be anything on Earth worth talking about. You yourself are mostly made up of water, and you spent the first nine months of your life in a pool of it. At Silver Glen Spring in Florida, the beauty of this natural pool, in a strange way, makes you proud to be water. Something so pristine, clear yet colorful, inviting yet mysterious. Take a minute to read this post, enjoy the photographs, and remember to do what you can on a daily basis to conserve this life-giving resource.

The Ocala National Forest is a refuge where Floridian humans, flora, and fauna co-mingle. A place where the best natural attributes of the state are still on full display, protected and managed with future generations in mind. The forest is located in the center of Florida, boasting to be the second largest National Forest in the United States. Established in 1908, it is the oldest such protected area east of the Mississippi River. Given the important role of the watershed to the qualities of a natural spring, this protected land helps to collect and filter rain water which later resurfaces as beautiful, clear springs. The Ocala National Forest is home to: Alexander Springs, Juniper Springs, Salt Springs, and Silver Glen Springs.

Silver Glen is a first magnitude Florida spring with relatively constant discharge rates since the 1930’s, and very high water clarity. It serves as a success story, an example of the importance of a protected watershed. In 1989, it left private hands to be managed by the State, adopting the name: Silver Glen Springs Recreation Area.

Springs are equalizers. With the nominal entrance fee and a bathing suit, and you can enjoy the most beautiful natural display that Florida has to offer. Rich, poor, or in-between, you will be exploring the same natural wonder, beating the same summer heat in the same cool water, and chasing around the same schools of striped bass fish. This holds true whether you biked up to the park’s entrance, or motored in from Lake George in a new ski boat. Outdoor, state-owned attractions such as Silver Glen and other first magnitude Florida springs are an affordable opportunity to create an adventure, while simultaneously boosting your mood.

The Science of Schooling

A visit to Silver Glen Springs in the summer months will be crowded. Not just with people, but with beautiful schools of large striped and sunshine bass. The striped visitors typically populate the many river miles of the St. Johns River. The fish are naturally dispersed throughout the state’s longest river and its accompanying tributaries and lakes. These bass species are intolerant of warm water, unable to survive in water over 75-degrees Fahrenheit. During the summer, the fish flock to the cool spring vents. The large concentration of fish at Silver Glen creates an attraction for visitors, who marvel at the sheer quantity.

Generally speaking, scientists understand the basics of schooling. According to 2013 scientific studies conducted at the Cancer Research Center in Seattle and at Harvard Medical School, the behavior of schooling is driven by genetics within the genome of certain species, and is not a learned behavior. Fish have a system of sensory organs known as the lateral line which detects pressure gradients, movement, and vibrations in the surrounding water. Utilizing this lateral line, fish in schools are able to mimic the behavior of their neighbors. If the neighboring fish move suddenly, the lateral line alerts the fish to react and keep a “zone of repulsion” on all surrounding sides. This allows fluid, coordinated movements of hundreds or thousands of fish, without them all bumping into each other.

What scientists are having more difficult understanding is what sets in motion highly complex maneuvers. This is not a “follow the leader” approach, and there is no chief of the fish school. So who is in charge? There seems to be a collective intelligence at play, but not fully understood. In complex bait balls, different fish actually perform different functions. Scientists continue to study this complex phenomenon, deploying models which try to predict the collective behavior of a school.

It is good to know there are still some secretes in the natural world.

Silver Glen Springs is an absolutely beautiful swimming hole, with some of the clearest water in the state. Two main spring vents distribute about 65 million gallons of water a day, forming a cool bowl of 72 degree water all year around. The first magnitude discharge is powerful enough to forcefully push you away from the center, making it a challenge to dive to the bottom. The blue water can be described as a swimming pool: pristine and perfectly clear. It is a popular place to swim and picnic, forming a unique Florida resource perfect for responsible recreation.