Our Apalachicola NERR education staff recently collaborated on a pair of Teachers on the Estuary (TOTE) workshops hosted by the Rookery Bay NERR education staff. This TOTE was put on as part of a collaborative partnership between the 2 NERRS and with the Everglades Foundation.
We are currently in our final year of monitoring for the NRDA propeller scar restoration project in St. Joe Bay. We’ve had some great success in areas showing complete recovery of scars in ~3-4 years or less. We’re about 90% done with the monitoring for the NRDA restoration project in St. Joe Bay and hope to have the final report to our project manager before the end of next month.
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.
Oklawaha River Aquatic Preserve and FWC Freshwater Fisheries biologists partnered together to attempt an electrofishing event on the Silver River to remove invasive tilapia. FWC’s past attempts in spring systems earlier in the day were not successful because the tilapia were spooked before the electrofishing boat could even get close enough to deliver an effective electrical pulse.
On July 14th, the Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) along with Friends of Our Florida Reef and Southeast Florida Action Network (SEAFAN) successfully held the 14th Annual Southeast Florida Reef Cleanup. Five dive shops participated throughout Palm Beach County, Broward County and Miami-Dade County, including, DECO Divers, ACE Diving, Pura Vida Divers, Kyalami Divers, and Sea Experience.
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.
One month following the mangrove planting event with the help of the Coastal Conservation Association, Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserve staff visited Terrapin Key to see how the new mangrove plantings are faring. While on site, staff mapped the planting area, took photo points and measured the height of randomly selected red, black and white mangroves. Overall, the plantings are doing very well, and no mortalities were noted.
With a short week due to the holiday, Big Bend Seagrasses Aquatic Preserve was able to get in a day of fieldwork by heading out to Keaton Beach to monitor the seagrass where the 2023 urchin mass grazing event took place. In February 2023, an urchin bloom was reported off the coast of Keaton Beach. Staff began monitoring the urchin front and the seagrass response with monthly surveys.
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.
Dr. Serina Wittyngham from the University of North Florida and members of the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve staff selected sites to monitor the upland edge and transition zones of the marshes on the Guana Peninsula. This will be part of a long-term monitoring project that focuses on marsh migration into the uplands. Dr. Wittyngham also installed one of her plots.