On July 14, the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve team hosted Allix North from the Guana Tolomato-Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve for a hands-on demonstration of the YSI Hycat. This autonomous surface vehicle allows scientists to gather a variety of environmental data including water quality, sonar mapping and water flow. The Hycat is even equipped with its own EXO2 datasonde!

For the first time in ten years, Least terns have nested on Morgan Beach and for the first time in three years, Black skimmers have returned to Sand Dollar Island. These rare encounters are a promising sign that Rookery Bay’s avian monitoring is making a positive impact on these imperiled species.     

Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve (GTMNERR) staff assisted Dr. Serina Wittyngham of the University of North Florida with fieldwork on the Guana Peninsula as part of a long-term monitoring project tracking marsh migration into upland areas.

Van Morrison’s song “Tupelo Honey” contains the line “You can’t stop us ‘cause our eyes can see.” In the case of tupelo honey, we might add “’ cause our tongues can taste.” Tupelo trees and honey were featured in Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve’s second summer spotlight. Several visitors took part in a blended honey vs. tupelo blind taste test. The results were clear.

Last week, Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve completed the first phase of its aquatic acoustic telemetry array when Stewardship Coordinator Matt Bernanke deployed 11 receivers in the Matanzas River and its tributaries, bringing the total number of receivers within the NERR to 33.

FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) was recently awarded funding to pilot an environmental DNA (eDNA) fish study in a select number of Central Florida springs.

In May, Northwest Florida Aquatic Preserve finished spring field work for the Collaborative Science to Assess Restoration Success (CSTARS) grant project subaward received from the Pensacola and Perdido Bays Estuary Program (PPBEP) in 2024 to monitor the extent, species, and transitions of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) within the Pensacola Bay watershed.

Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve (EBAP) staff have been hard at work processing the macroalgae samples collected as a part of February seagrass monitoring. Drift algae abundance is assessed in every monitored seagrass quadrat. In 2016, EBAP began collecting drift algae samples at a subset of repeat quadrat locations. These samples give EBAP important information on species composition, seasonal changes in drift algae biomass and trends over time.

The Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserves (BBAP), with funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), launched a pilot sponge propagation study in the Venetian Basin of Northern Biscayne Bay to explore the viability of using sponges to enhance water quality and ecosystem health.

Last week, the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve (ANERR) research team kickstarted our biannual Surface Elevation Table (SET) monitoring efforts in the Lower River Marsh. Our small but mighty team collected data at 6 SET sites to investigate marsh elevation trends as part of the Wetlands and Water Level (WWL) program.