During the summer months when we used to have an office at Watergate and took care of five free-range cats, I would fish for the cats. I had a cast net, and just after the sun would go down, I would get the net out, and then the five cats that you could not get near, were my buddys. I could reach down and scratch them behind the ears or the head. I would cast out and catch a net full of shad, dump the shad on the sidewalk, and the cats would have a field day. The interesting thing was that after a couple of weeks, we would have some Muskogee ducks show up to eat the shad and even some Nutria's.

These pictures show one of the problems that sometimes occurs at the Watergate Yachting Center. During the hot summer months, when there is not much tide or waterflow into and out of the marina, the oxygen levels in the water fall off. There are also millions of a small fish called a shad in the area. These fish are normally used as a bait fish. When you have millions of fish and no oxygen, all of the fish die, and float to the top of the water. Did I mention that this only happens in the summer in Houston, Texas? It only takes one day of that brutal sun, and no wind, and you really have a swelly mess on your hands. This particular even occurred in 2003.

We have not seen the problem in the two years we have been back to Watergate. This is because the Marina runs two aerators full time from April to September.

Believe it or not, the white "ice or snow" you see on the water are all dead fish!