People closed Midnight Pass near Siesta Key decades ago; two hurricanes blew it open

Governmental officials and activists have been gridlocked for years over whether and how to reopen Midnight Pass, south of Siesta Key.

"See how this is brown?" Captain Danielle Nutten pointed to water the color of coffee in Little Sarasota Bay.

The water in Little Sarasota Bay used to be worse — even darker, and mucky at the bottom, but now, seawater is flushing it out and lightening it up, explained Nutten, owner of Salty Adventure Boat Tours in Osprey.

On a recent sunny morning, she steered her boat from the bay into the Gulf of Mexico, through an opening known as Midnight Pass.

"What you see to the right of that opening is the Siesta side, what you see to the left is Casey Key side," she shouted above the roar of the motor and splashing waves.

Boating through here is something she couldn't have done just a month ago. Midnight Pass has been closed off for decades.