G MLW 4.99

NGS PID: AB2403
Coordinates: N 25.14355° W 80.922533°
Location: Florida
   Monroe County
      Flamingo Quad
Elevation: 2.73 ft.
Type: Survey Disk
Setting: Concrete Seawall
Monumented: Unknown
Monumented By: National Park Service
Status: Recovered
Condition: Good as of February 17, 2016
Google Map
A report on the condition of this survey mark has been submitted to NGS, along with the following recovery note:

Recovered in good condition. The houseboat rental building no longer exists.

While at Flamingo, we made a circuit of the corners of the marina seawall, finding and documenting the small USDI-NPS benchmarks we hadn’t recovered last time. They’re all easy to spot—just check each corner of the seawall! Quite early in the day we found G MLW 4.99. A while later, we were watching the crocodile that hangs out in the channel near the marina. He began swimming toward the dock. “Hey, it looks like he’s heading toward the dock near that benchmark.” We headed over, hoping we could catch him in a photo with the benchmark. As we approached, though, we couldn’t see the crocodile anywhere. I leaned over the edge and he was RIGHT THERE!!! I must have startled him because he made a strange sound, smacked the water with his tail, and dove deep. We didn’t see him again until he emerged back on the other side of the channel, near where we had initially seen him. Missing out on that photo opportunity was my only regret of the entire trip.

The disk itself is in good condition, obviously weathered from its location near the water but with deep, clear stamping and solid in its setting.