Rookery Bay Volunteer Orlando Hidalgo recently captured special moments of a bald eagle mother caring for her juvenile in the nest and in flight. The young eagle was observed being fed and preened by its parent and later shadowing her in the air to learn hunting and survival skills. Juvenile bald eagles look dramatically different from the iconic white-headed adults.
On Feb. 16, 2026, the Indian River Lagoon Aquatic Preserves (IRLAP) staff attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for St. Lucie County’s Oxbow Eco Center Palmetto Pavilion. With the new outdoor classroom, outreach and educational programs will be able to take place in a larger space. The county administrator, commissioners, Environmental Resources Department staff and many children were on hand for the event. Located near the North Fork St.
Last week the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve stewardship team worked in partnership with Florida Audubon, FWC shorebird biologists, and FWC botanists to tackle invasives plants on the St. George. Island Causeway in preparation for shorebird nesting season. This ongoing project aims to treat vegetation encroaching on shorebird nesting habitat on the Critical Wildlife Area island in the Apalachicola Bay.
Rookery Bay’s popular Lunch & Learn series continued its successful streak last week. The Environmental Learning Center auditorium was a full house for “Living with Bears in Southwest Florida.” This second program in the 2026 Birds, Bears and Bees series featured Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Bear Biologist Chris Boyce.
Lake Jackson Aquatic Preserve participated in the Tall Timbers Red Hills Fire and Nature Festival, where locals and visitors enjoyed the outdoors, learned about the benefits of prescribed fire for native wildlife and watched a live burn demonstration.
Attending with us this year were some of our invertebrate friends collected from Lake Jackson's waters.
Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve (EBAP) staff often find interesting flora and fauna while out in the field. This week was no exception. Commonly known as a lightning whelk, Sinistrofulgur perversum, is a type of mollusk or marine snail that can be found throughout Estero Bay. This snail creates a shell that spirals in the opposite direction of other locally found marine snails. Interestingly, it is one of the few left-handed snail species!
The Central Florida Aquatic Preserve (CFAP) team recently installed the Living Waters collection in the Lyonia Environmental Center gallery, in Deltona, Fl.
Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve (ANERR) research staff successfully completed winter trawl sampling! Trawling is conducted quarterly at nine sites throughout the Apalachicola Bay system. Fish and benthic invertebrates are identified to species level and the first twenty of each species are measured, while all are counted. Organisms are returned to the water as soon as possible after being processed to minimize mortality.
Each of the five aquatic preserves within the Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserves offers a unique visit of protected submerged state lands, healthy mangrove shorelines, seagrass beds and oyster bars. Southwest Florida’s subtropical climate is home to a variety of animals as well, in addition to migrating birds.
The Coral Protection and Restoration Program (CPR) continues to administer state and federal funding to implement priority reef management and research objectives.