The Wekiva River Aquatic Preserve (WRAP) participated in Mead Botanical Garden’s annual Duck Derby, an educational, family-oriented event that drew more than 3,000 attendees from across Central Florida. The event featured three duck races along with a wide range of activities designed to engage participants of all ages in outdoor recreation and environmental awareness.
On March 13, the Florida Keys Aquatic Preserves' Ecosystems Assessment Specialist, Noah Singer, joined the Reef Injury Prevention and Response team as they conducted an assessment of a section of the coral reef in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park that was damaged by a ship grounding. Teams from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Pennekamp also joined the project.
Registration has just opened for Rookery Bay Research Reserve’s popular Student Institute for Marine Science Camp (SIMS). Now in its 20th year, SIMS gives students entering grades 7–10 the chance to explore Southwest Florida’s coastal habitats alongside real biologists from Rookery Bay.
Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve (GTMNERR) hosted its annual Spring TOTE (Teachers on the Estuary) professional development training in partnership with the Guy Harvey Foundation. GTMNERR also partnered with Awareness and Appreciation Coordinator Maya Bhalla-Ladd from the Coral Reef Conservation Program to debut a new set of educational lessons teachers will soon be able to reserve and take into the classroom.
On March 18, a group of 20 students from Miami University (Ohio) traveled from Jacksonville Zoo to the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve (ANERR) as part of their Regional Ecology class. Training and Engagement Program Coordinator Anita Grove and Apalachicola Riverkeeper Cameron Baxley met with the group to discuss the Apalachicola River and Bay and its watershed.
The Coral Protection and Restoration Program (CPR) continues to administer state and federal funding to implement priority reef management and research objectives.
Spring in Southwest Florida means the return of one of nature’s most remarkable events … nesting season for shorebirds and sea turtles. Beginning April 1, beaches throughout the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve become critical nesting habitat for shorebirds such as Black Skimmers, Least Terns, Wilson’s Plovers and Loggerhead Sea Turtles.
The Tomoka Marsh Aquatic Preserve (TMAP) recently partnered with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the University of Central Florida’s Coastal & Estuarine Ecology Lab (CEELAB), DEP's Tomoka State Park, the Marine Discovery Center (MDC) and the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) Florida to install a living shoreline aimed at restoring and protecting critical coastal habitat within the preserve. The collab
A decade and a half after Franklin Fifth graders first started planting a living shoreline at ANERR. It is exciting to see that the plant formerly known as Spartina alterniflora (smooth chordgrass) is flourishing. The most recent classes to visit and plant Spartina alterniflora dug into the sand and dug into the data with equal enthusiasm.
The Coral Protection and Restoration Program (CPR) continues to administer state and federal funding to implement priority reef management and research objectives.