SPANISH FORT — Flying across the delta on a flat-bottom boat is what Geoff Woodliff loves.

The retired army veteran, who spent time in Iraq and Kuwait before coming home to Alabama in 2003, said he has always loved airboats.

“The first one I remember seeing was on Lake Guntersville when I was 14,” he said. “I even had a remote-controlled airboat when I was a kid.”

Woodliff has transformed his love into his own business: the Delta Airboat Express, which operates from behind the Original Oyster House on the Causeway in Spanish Fort.

Woodliff spends his day taking nature-lovers and tourists across the Alabama delta to get close to its natural beauty.

The last question he asks every passenger before they leave the dock is a very important one. “Do you have your camera?” Then Woodliff and his passengers are off on a journey in an area rich with plants, birds, animals and alligators.

“Alligators are the No. 1 attraction when we go out,” Woodliff said.

Last week, on a hot sunny day, the alligators were out and visible in the delta.

The first one Woodliff spotted was about 100 yards from the dock. The 9-foot gator was floating atop the water soaking up the sun.

“You can estimate the length of the alligator by looking at the distance between his eyes and the end of his snout,” Woodliff said. “Ever how many inches that is, that translates into how many feet long he is.

“Everything is all wild here,” Woodliff said. “We don’t trap them. We don’t feed them. We don’t mess with them. We try to get up close to them and let people take pictures.”

But some people do feed the alligators, and that can lead to the reptiles’ demise.

“When people feed them, they lose their fear of humans,” Woodliff said. “They associate us with food. Then they can become aggressive, and that is when the game warden and alligator control have to come in and eliminate that one.”

Alligators are shy, timid, non-aggressive creatures, according to Woodliff.

However, he did recall one incident last year that he called a first.

“It was just after the alligator hunt and we came upon an alligator, and he attacked the boat; He actually tried to eat the boat,” Woodliff said. “He bit it on one side of the bow and busted his teeth, then went to the other side and bit it.

“I had three people in the seats and they were like, ‘Wow, does that happen very often?’ and I said, ‘No!’”

Woodliff said it was a strange encounter that he attributed to that particular alligator possibly being injured during a hunt.

While alligators may be non-aggressive, Woodliff said they are very territorial.

“They usually stay in the same place and make a home, like the alligator called Popeye,” he said, referring to a 12-foot alligator that makes his home just north of the Causeway in the delta. The name was given because he is missing his right eye.

“He is not happy when we come into his area,” Woodliff said. “He will usually charge the boat just to let us know we are not welcome.”

Woodliff is knowledgeable about alligators but he also knows about plant life, birds and other animals that reside in the delta.

During the hour-long trip, he stopped and pointed out plants like alligator weed and bulrushes.

He also pointed out coots, herons, and at one point near the end of the tour, stopped to point out a bird nest atop a bald cypress tree.

“That is a nest for an Osprey,” he said, referring to a large raptor that has wing spans of about 60 inches and can weigh 70 ounces. The bird has a strong, hooked beak and large feet with sharp talons.

The delta is an exhibit of life filled with plants, birds, fish, animals and reptiles.

But if you plan to visit them, remember to take your camera.