WaterNotes

The St. Johns River Water Management District is circulating a warning of recent sightings of invasive Australian spotted jellyfish in the Indian River Lagoon near the Eau Gallie River. The first reported sightings of the spotted invaders came in the 2001 and 2002 seasons with no further jellies seen in the interim until just last [...]

Its been a hard few weeks here in central Florida. The torrential rains made it hard to work, hard to drive, and especially hard to carry out cleanups. Thankfully the skies parted this morning and a joint cleanup, including data collection for the Ocean Conservancy, got off to a good start out on the MINWR’s [...]

It’s Endangered Species Day!  Established in 2006 May 15th is a day to emphasize the ongoing attempts to protect endangered species of all kinds and to highlight the success stories while encouraging the public to continue to conserve their populations and the habitats these species need.  Listed species abound in Florida.  A search of RedList.org using [...]

Usually, when the lightning starts, we run. I dont know why humans are so afraid of a thunderstorm but willingly stand in a miniature waterfall in the bathroom everyday of their lives. Perhaps it is the lightning. We lose more people to lightning strikes than to sharks every year. Not that the lightning is a [...]

Ten years ago, at the very feisty age of sixteen, I had driven to Florida from Delaware on a quest to relax and have adventures while on spring break. Easter fell late enough in my school district that a beautiful thing happened; my break lined up perfectly with the first full moon in April and [...]

“For me it started with one hit of sardines…” says a dolphin in the latest video PSA released as a joint effort between NOAA, Mote Marine Laboratory, SeaWorld, Disney’s Animal Programs, Dolphin Quest, Dolphin Conservation Center of Marineland and several other supporting facilities. Don’t Feed Wild Dolphins is a website that shouldnt be necessary. However, [...]

Another day, another “I thought that was an invasive species” story to tell. This time, its the apple snails in the genus Pomacea that are on the line. At my current teaching spot we have an aquarium setup with Pomacea. They’ve taken to laying thousands of beautiful pink eggs in small casings on the glass [...]