WaterNotes

One of the truly wonderful things about environmental education in Florida is that it includes a large network of centers, zoos, aquariums, and museums,  with a relatively small community of colleagues. Thanks to organizations like the League of Environmental Educators of Florida and the Florida Marine Science Educators Association I’ve been able to build and [...]

There are many hunting techniques recorded for various dolphin species around the world. As opportunistic and inventive hunters, they’ve found ways to corral and catch many different types of prey using strategies that often involve barriers, physical prowess, and outright deception.  In Australia one group uses sponges as tools; the females carry sponges over their [...]

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s research institute said today that over 100 manatee carcasses were documented in Florida waters following the cold snap during the first half of January.  A full 77 of the deaths are currently attributed to cold stress with several losses of  perinatal (or newborn) calves.   This count beats last [...]

TreeHugger carried some interesting posts this week, and I nearly missed out on this one, detailing the recent sightings of African rock pythons in the Everglades.  Florida already has an established population of invasive Burmese pythons.   Apparently some state officials are concerned that it would be possible for the rock pythons and the Burmese [...]

The annual synoptic aerial survey for manatees in state of Florida waters came in officially yesterday with a whopping all-time high count of the cows: 5,067!!
This  is a staggering (and exciting) jump in population numbers from last year’s all-time high by over 1,200 individuals. While the survey will not be finalized (and thus truly official) [...]