- October 16, 2024
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Hurricane Helene provided a tease with the temporary opening of Midnight Pass 40 years after it was closed by human intervention. Then Hurricane Milton came along and blew the inlet between Siesta Key and Casey Key wide open.
Amid the tragic aftermath of back-to-back hurricanes, kayakers, boaters and beachgoers have taken to social media to celebrate the natural reclamation of the free-flowing hydraulic exchange of water between the Gulf of Mexico and Little Sarasota Bay, some posting images of enjoying a beach day there with friends and family, on the Facebook page "Restore Midnight Pass Now” and the website RestoreMidnightPass.org.
Even Walt’s Fish Market Restaurant at 4144 S. Tamiami Trail joined in, declaring on its marquis, “Walt’s and Midnight Pass are now both open!”
Shortly after Helene’s storm surge carved a narrow channel, shovel-wielding volunteers began arriving in an attempt to keep the pass open, surfacing a memory of Derrick Jacobsen in recalling a similar previous effort.
“I was 14 years old in ’84, the last time we had over 200 people trying to keep Midnight Pass open with shovels for about four days straight,” Jacobsen posted. “We were the owners of Bill's Ideal Landing from 1979 through 1990, which is now Casey Key Tiki bar. I remember camping on our boat during and the community really came together BIG TIME doing our best to keep that NEEDED pass open!”
Jacobsen recalled one individual with a backhoe arriving to help just as the digging was shut down under threat of arrests.
The movement to reopen Midnight Pass in the decades since has never waned, and appeared to be making progress when the Sarasota County Commission on Sept. 10 voted to lobby the Florida Legislature to permit a reopening of the inlet.
Not to be handcuffed by mortal law, however, Mother Nature came along to intervene.
Posted Chris Bettle, “This is not just a movement, this is a community! Old and young coming together for a common love and purpose. It was amazing on Sunday to anchor up, set up the tent and cheer on the boats, kayakers and SUP’ers coming through our pass. I am screaming out “hit it” to the boats going through and everyone is loving what we have! Let’s keep enjoying this!”
Whether the natural reopening of Midnight Pass endures remains to be seen, but for the time being, the benefits of the hydraulic exchange of water are evident. On Tuesday Barbara Montefusco posted a photo of crystal clear water flowing through the inlet.
Wrote Jacobsen: "I will NEVER forget the sad day bulldozers were brought in from the county to finalize the complete (closure) of that pass. All of us knew it would be the end of the 3-foot-deep beautiful grass flourishing on the flats and the important estuary that Midnight Pass supported!"
