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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

  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 [...]

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 [...]

Combining my love of words and language with my love of ocean life often has strange consequences.  For instance, I happen to be fascinated with the stories and origins behind common animal names.  In fact, I’m so often asked for the reasons for animal names that I’m beginning to prefer that we only use Latin [...]

The butterfly garden at the Florida Museum of Natural History is a gorgeous site.  I wouldn’t mind having something similar in my backyard; an aviary of fine mesh and butterflies dancing about.  Of course, I’d have to keep only Florida natives.  And it would be a tremendous amount of upkeep to maintain a stable population.  [...]