Bartram Trail High School student Ava Hunt is interning with GTMNERR’s aquarist this summer. Eventually, she wants to become a researcher in marine biology.

Charlotte Harbor AP staff started July rookery surveys in Lemon Bay AP last week. The peak nesting season is winding down in this Aquatic Preserve, but there are still parent-dependent chicks in the nest, resulting in some very adorable observations. Brown pelican chicks’ downy feathers are making way for adult feathers with a heart shape forming on their wings. CHAP staff also observed an American Oystercatcher chick on one of their islands.

Indian River Lagoon Aquatic Preserve (IRLAP) staff, under the direction of Emily Surmont, conducted biobox monitoring in the Indian River Lagoon as part of an on-going collaborative research project with the University of Florida, Florida Oceanographic Society and Smithsonian Marine Institute.

Lara Bracci, land-based sources of pollution coordinator for the Coral Reef Conservation Program, and Kylie Morgan, coral protection project coordinator for the Coral Protection and Restoration Program, assisted the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserves team in swapping data sondes in the bay. They snorkeled to clean the equipment and exchanged the sondes.