{"id":7133,"date":"2024-06-28T09:37:41","date_gmt":"2024-06-28T14:37:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/?p=7133"},"modified":"2024-06-30T12:33:29","modified_gmt":"2024-06-30T17:33:29","slug":"hidden-beauty-in-murky-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/?p=7133","title":{"rendered":"Hidden Beauty in Murky Water"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally posted in 2017. Currently (June 2024), the river is flowing too fast for snorkeling.<\/p>\n

Text and photos by the Old Naturalist.<\/p>\n

Minnehaha Creek\u00a0 flows out of Lake Minnetonka and lot of fish go over the dam during the spring runoff. I love to snorkel here until the creek gets too polluted by all the human activity on the lake. Winter is blessing for Lake Minnetonka because it is able to heal from the summer boating season.<\/p>\n

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Bullhead<\/p><\/div>\n

Brown bullheads are bottom dwellers and they usually skitter away when danger approaches. True, most people do not like bullheads.\u00a0 But when you are swimming in their element, it is easy to appreciate their uniqueness.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

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largemouth bass<\/p><\/div>\n

Eye to eye with a largemouth bass. <\/em>
\nOne of the little surprises that continually occur while snorkeling in the creek.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

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Crappie<\/p><\/div>\n

Crappies are like angels with fins instead of wings.
\nThey are so gentle and have a quiet beauty.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

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Northern Pike<\/p><\/div>\n

This young northern pike allowed me to get within a few feet of it. The beautiful camouflage pattern made it difficult to see.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

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Walleye<\/p><\/div>\n

Walleye are so mysterious. They lurk in the shadows.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

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Bluegill<\/p><\/div>\n

Male bluegill in breeding colors. I have not seen bluegill nests in the creek. Probably because the river’s current would wash them out.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

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Bowfin or dogfish<\/p><\/div>\n

Primitive, creepy and beautiful. Bottom feeder.
\nI only saw one bowfin this year. This photo is from 2016 when there were dozens of them.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

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Smallmouth Bass<\/p><\/div>\n

The creativity of nature continually amazes me.
\nThe subtle pattern of a smallmouth bass is food for the soul.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

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Bluegill<\/p><\/div>\n

In this photo you get a hint of how the light dances off the fish and the plants.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

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Northern Pike<\/p><\/div>\n

Nothing like seeing a large pike to make your heart stop.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Originally posted in 2017. Currently (June 2024), the river is flowing too fast for snorkeling. Text and photos by the Old Naturalist. Minnehaha Creek\u00a0 flows out of Lake Minnetonka and lot of fish go over the dam during the spring … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,16,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-animals","category-photography","category-summer"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7133"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12352,"href":"http:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7133\/revisions\/12352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/oldnaturalist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}