Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserves staff completed a one-year post planting survey on two hurricane impacted islands where they planted mangroves last spring. The two islands have had mixed results of success. The southern island showed a 76% survival rate and the northern island had a survival rate of only 40%.
OTG Invasions is a non-profit organization that provides occupational therapy-based trips. The OTG teachers promote independence through life skills and social skills. Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve was fortunate enough to meet students aged 11 – 24 on one of these trips. They learned about the watershed through art and science in the nature center and on the trails.
Nature journaling can provide another way to gather qualitative data on a field trip. A gale recently made a water quality data collection boat trip impossible for a visiting high school class. By remaining flexible, the education department was able to do a land-based version of the trip. Most of the data is collected using the YSI and other traditional equipment.
On April 10-12, the Coral Reef Conservation Program and its Citizen Support Organization, Friends of Our Florida Reefs, participated in the annual Tortuga Music Festival’s Conservation Village on Ft. Lauderdale Beach.
Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve (EBAP) staff have been hard at work processing the macroalgae samples collected as a part of February seagrass monitoring. Drift algae abundance is assessed in every monitored seagrass quadrat. In 2016, EBAP began collecting drift algae samples at a subset of repeat quadrat locations. These samples give EBAP important information on species composition, seasonal changes in drift algae biomass and trends over time.
On Sunday, April 12, 2026, the World Mission Society Church of God’s young adult group ASEZ WAO (Saving the Earth from A to Z) joined IRLAP for an Earth Day event to improve the native plant demonstration garden at the Titusville field office. The group weeded non-native and nuisance plant species and added 45 plants made up of seven native species to the garden.
The Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserves (BBAP), with funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), launched a pilot sponge propagation study in the Venetian Basin of Northern Biscayne Bay to explore the viability of using sponges to enhance water quality and ecosystem health.
Four students from Yale University, Nico Theunissen, Isabella Chiaravalloti, Mingyu Zhang and Rocco D'Ascanio, recently visited Rookery Bay Research Reserve to study the Fruit Farm Creek mangrove restoration site. Guided by Research Coordinator Nerea Ubierna and Stewardship Coordinator Jared Franklin, the team explored both the land and surrounding waters to better understand how the restored mangroves are functioning.
On April 1, Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve staff teamed up with Miami-Dade County’s Department of Environmental Resources Management (DERM) to remove and dispose of over one-half ton of marine debris from the State-owned Cocoplum Mangrove Preserve.
Last week, the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve (ANERR) research team kickstarted our biannual Surface Elevation Table (SET) monitoring efforts in the Lower River Marsh. Our small but mighty team collected data at 6 SET sites to investigate marsh elevation trends as part of the Wetlands and Water Level (WWL) program.