Seventy nine invasive tilapia were removed from Oklawaha River Aquatic Preserve after a day of spearfishing with Nature Coast Aquatic Preserve staff and an evening of electrofishing with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). Since January 2025 when intensive tilapia removal efforts began, 1,400 tilapia have been removed from the aquatic preserve and an increase of native fish abundance has been observed.
Dr. Andy Gannon from the Dauphin Island Sea Lab presented “The Blue Crabs of Apalachicola Bay” during the Apalachicola Reserve’s September Sci-Café on September 24th, 2026. Dr. Gannon began the presentation by discussing the life cycle of blue crabs, and in particular how salinity influences their distribution in Apalachicola Bay.
Oklawaha River Aquatic Preserve and Nature Coast Aquatic Preserve staff teamed up for a day of invasive fish removal in the headsprings of the Silver River. Thanks to the regional team effort, we were able to remove 36 tilapia and 2 plecos in a few hours. Special shoutout to the alligators for being on their best behavior allowing us total access to the headsprings.
During Indian River Lagoon's third annual participation in the Great Southeast Pollinator Census, aquatic preserve volunteers counted 761 pollinator visitations within 30 minutes at the demonstration native plant garden at the Titusville field office. Five volunteers watched 11 native plants for fifteen minutes each, counting every insect that landed on the native plant during that time.
With another shorebird nesting season complete, Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve staff, partners and volunteers removed the ‘Critical Wildlife Area’ and ‘Nesting Shorebird’ closure signs from Second Chance Island. Now one of Southwest Florida's most popular shelling destinations is once again open to the public.
More BRUV (Baited Remote Underwater Video) deployments for the Nature Coast Aquatic Preserve staff at several of the hardbottom monitoring sites as part of the Springs Coast Resiliency and Biodiversity Monitoring Network. This week we deployed the BRUVs at two of our shallow sites that we are monitoring for the grant. Many fish species and several sharks were very interested in the sardine filled PVC tube.
Joe and Trisha spent a day on the lower Silver River and at the confluence with the Oklawaha River, scouting for invasive plecos and assessing a large fallen tree that is diverting water flow and creating a tussock. The male plecos should be wrapping up their burrow-building season for the year. After three hours of searching, only six plecos were removed, which is encouraging news.
The Central Panhandle Aquatic Preserve (CPAP) was honored to host Cooper as a special ambassador of the canine delegation. The BARK Ranger program was started by the National Park Service to promote responsible practices in our public wild areas by pets and their humans. With the success of the program, many other organizations have adopted the program to promote best practices on our public lands (and waters). BARK stands for:
Staff from Audubon Florida, Florida Coastal Islands Sanctuaries joined Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserves (CHAP) staff for the Pine Island Sound rookery monitoring last week. The direct mission of the day was to look at one specific rookery that has more than 80 tricolored herons (TRHE) nesting on it.
Sea turtle nests on both Little St. George Island (LSGI) and Carrabelle Beach were affected by storm surge from Tropical Storm Bertha. On Little St. George Island, 149 nests were present when impacts from TS Bertha occurred. Of these, 88 were washed over, one was partially washed out, and 51 were completely washed out.