WaterNotes

 
Marine mammals and reptiles (and even some birds like shearwaters) have to hold their breath if they want to dive down for food in the ocean environment.  Its rather amazing how long some of them can go without fresh air.  Bottlenose dolphins can go about ten minutes, walruses can manage twenty, harbor seals can eek [...]

I’ve pondered in the past whether or not our culture’s perceptions of animals get in the way of our ability to understand and protect certain species.  Sharks are a perfect case in point.  Sunday starts the annual celebration of all things tiburon on Discovery’s famed Shark Week. 
In the past the documentaries have diligently attempted to [...]

Summertime on any Floridian beach makes my heart pound.  No, its not the scenery of half naked guys (ha!), its the invisible world beneath the sand grains that makes me nervous. 
Green and loggerhead sea turtles regularly nest on the Atlantic beaches in Florida and the coastline at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is routinely [...]

 
Ah, ze osprey. These gorgeous little birds of prey attract their mates by using French accents. No really, they do. I swear!
Okay so ospreys don’t use French accents; in fact the dynamics of mate selection and pair bonding in these raptors is not well understood. Are the females impressed by nest construction? Prowess in catching [...]

Living in Florida certainly has its advantages when it comes to climate.  Except when its the end of July.  Right now its so hot that M&M’s actually do melt in your hand before they ever make it to your mouth.  By ten in the morning the weather is absolutely steaming; nearly eighty-five Fahrenheit and easily seventy percent [...]