Lake Jackson AP supports a diversity of wildlife, including extensive bat populations and nesting wood ducks. Prior to three years ago, however, we didn’t know what kinds of bats lived and foraged here and there were a lot fewer resident wood ducks. To continue surveying and managing the diverse wildlife at the AP, staff went out this week to deploy acoustic detectors as part of the NABat program in collaboration with FWC.

On Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, Central Florida Aquatic Preserve (CFAP) helped facilitate a water conservation outreach event for Latino Heritage Week at Wekiva Island. CFAP hosted a group of high school students from Alianza Americas. The students participated in an Eco Paddle to Wekiva Springs State Park. Then, they learned how to measure water quality with CFAP’s datasonde.

Maurizio also visited The Florida Aquarium’s Coral Conservation & Research Center in Apollo Beach, FL where the DEP CPR Program has made significant investments. Although the Aquarium team was hard at work on coral spawning, they took the time to show Maurizio around their facilities, in which they are propagating and rearing thousands of priority corals for reef restoration.

The Garden Club of Verona Walk (a very large Naples community) recently visited the Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center, where they were welcomed by Verona Walk resident and longtime Rookery Bay volunteer Jeanne. A dedicated member of the Reserve’s volunteer team, Jeanne has contributed more than 2,000 hours of service. She has led countless groups through the center and helped visitors of all ages connect with the coastal environment.

This month Rosie Joy, a very cute BARK Ranger, came to the IRLAP office to pick up her swag! She enjoys traveling the country collecting BARK Ranger tags. To date, IRLAP has recruited 57 new Rangers to help spread the word: Bag your pet’s waste, Always leash your pet, Respect wildlife and Know where you can go.

This month was the first time that third graders from Franklin County Schools created vertical oyster gardens (VOGs) as part of their annual field trip that focuses on oysters as a keystone species in our bay. These oyster gardens were created with the help of Oyster Corps and their representatives.

The new “fall” instead of “spring” cleaning trend sweeping the nation has caught on at Rookery Bay this month. The Environmental Learning Center is closed while staff undertake many maintenance and cleaning projects. This includes organizing closets of outreach materials, buffing floors, power washing, weeding, steam cleaning and dusting the 20 ft. tall mangrove.

On Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, GTM Research Reserve attended the Cub Scout Pack 277 “Back to Pack” event, held at Christ Church in Ponte Vedra Beach. The purpose of the event was to get Cub Scouts excited about scouting in the upcoming year. Outreach Specialist Kristine Seager introduced the group to Princess Diana, a diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) turtle, one of the reserve’s animal ambassadors.

Friends, Romans, Countrymen, Lend Me Your Beach Debris! Fishy Fashions and the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve is pleased to announce a special installation in our nature center. Fishy Fashions are marvelously inventive costumes made from flotsam and jetsam and assorted beach debris. This exhibition will begin with a kick-off event, “Fishy Fashion Show,” on Tuesday September 30th at 5:30PM.

We here at the St. Joseph Bay State Buffer Preserve (SJBSBP) always enjoy it when researchers come to visit and share their expertise with us on a variety of incredibly interesting subjects. This past week we had the honor of hosting a USGS team that was researching alligator snapping turtles near SJBSBP property.