WaterNotes

It was a rare day this last weekend in Florida, full of gray drab skies and slate colored waterscapes.  A classmate and I drove out to New Smryna to check on our seagrass garden and to record some data about the transplanted quadrats, lines and stakes. 
It rained for a good part of the day and [...]

This isn’t exactly newly minted news in the world of science, but it is new to me.  I noticed a little blurb in the latest issue of Science concerning an invasive algae in Kaneohe Bay (thats in Hawaii y’know).  Initially cultivated for harvest of agar, a species of Gracilaria has been let loose on the [...]

February 29th kicks off a very big year in amphibian conservation, the Year of the Frog.  (Yes, its also the Year of the Reef in 2008.  We are going all out for wildlife!)  Take a look at the Amphibian Ark and read their petition online. 
Why February 29th?  Its a leap year silly!  And what’s a [...]

Its time for an update to our seagrass and seaweed library here at the ‘Notes.  Many of the following links lead to full blown papers for your reading pleasure.  A few lead only to abstracts, but if you’re lucky enough to make use of a nearby university’s library access, you’ll have the full paper.  Or, [...]

I’m not typically much of a bird person, but brown pelicans are too brilliant to go unnoticed.  The trouble is I have a personal tick that finds me constantly calling the poor things “penguins”.  A small flock gathered at a port on the Banana River yesterday.  Brown pelicans do breed in Florida in the summer [...]

If you were around me longer than three days you’d discover my (somewhat concerning) love for the movie Finding Nemo.  There are endless reasons why I think the film is fabulous, from the overarching themes and ideas it presents to the incredible detail the artists gave the ocean realm.  Plus, it gives me a ready door [...]

I’ve recently discovered that mangroves and seagrass are not the only coastal plants worth noting.  Florida’s dunes and shorelines host a large variety of beautiful plants, some of which are edible.  I’ve noted before that if I were ever lost in the wilds of the Indian River Lagoon I could nibble on glasswort and saltwort. Well, [...]