Columns
EcoWatch: News reports ignore perinatal manatee deaths
September 19, 2024
“Consider the number of manatee deaths so far this year. Redesignating the manatee as endangered, which provides for the highest levels of federal protection and conservation efforts, is critical.”…
We were once among America’s greatest fisheries
September 19, 2024
Please consider that water quality issues have reduced fish stocks, and the significant influx of residents and visitors has reduced water quality. Businesses are eager to grab all this easy-growth…
Of 83 eggs, 36 had hatched. The day was looking up: Turtle Watch
September 19, 2024
BY ARLENE HALL, BGSTA SECRETARY
Only 17 nests remain as of September 14! Of those, 14 are loggerhead and three are green turtle nests. Since September 8, we have seen eight nests either hatch or…
Survey of sea turtles on Don Pedro, Gasparilla
September 19, 2024
This essay is part of a mini-series of stories from Barrier Islands Parks
BY THE BARRIER ISLAND PARKS SOCIETY
May through October is the official sea turtle nesting season in Southwest Florida…
EcoWatch: Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink
September 12, 2024
“Anything else you’re interested in is not going to happen if you can’t breathe the air and drink the water. Don’t sit this one out. Do something. You are not here by accident of fate, alive at an a…
Still 25 active incubating nests remain: Boca Grande Sea Turtle Assoc.
September 12, 2024
BY ARLENE HALL, BGSTA SECRETARY
As of September 7, the Boca Grande Sea Turtle Association’s (BGSTA) “completion countdown” is at 25 nests. 21 of those are loggerhead nests and four are green turt…
1949: Boca Grande’s first newspaper, the Boca Grande Journal
September 12, 2024
BY JAMES J. BLAHA, DIRECTOR, BOCA GRANDE HISTORY CENTER
The year was 1949, when NATO was established, West Germany was created, the People’s Republic of China was formally proclaimed and the Sovi…
EcoWatch: State Park plans stop due to brave informant
September 6, 2024
“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike.”
John Muir, naturalist and poet
Last week, residents of Fl…
Questioning the 15-day gag grouper season, nine snook zones
September 6, 2024
How can we expect small businesses to survive dealing with the uncertainty of National Marine Fisheries’ inability to factor into their decisions the crippling impacts on our marine and tourism? …
Three loggerhead hatches this week: Boca Grande Sea Turtle Assoc.
September 6, 2024
BY ARLENE HALL, BGSTA SECRETARY
As of August 31, the BGSTA turtle patrollers have officially phased out of monitoring the entire length of each of our zones and will now only focus on the remain…